Chinese music streaming service Boomplay’s subscriber base is increasing rapidly in Africa, supported by the increased proliferation of its parent company, Transsion Group, in the continent’s smartphone market.
Boomplay is reportedly updating its content with the assistance of a prominent American music company. Moreover, the increasing income of the population and extensive use of smartphones in Africa is supporting the service penetration in the region.
For the record, Transsnet Group launched the Boomplay service in Nigeria in West Africa in 2015, providing multiple subscription options including daily, weekly, or monthly.
Boomplay has a well-defined plan of specializing in the African market and becoming the largest digital music platform in the continent. Besides offering many African tracks to appeal to local listeners, Boomplay is advancing itself as a stage for African musicians to launch their work to the world.
Boomplay reportedly announced an agreement with Universal Music Group of U.S. in March, to expand licensing of UMG's catalog on its service from seven to 47 countries in Africa including South Africa and French-speaking nations like Ivory Coast.
The music app currently has over 50 million monthly active users. This rapid growth is credited to the prevalent use of smartphones produced by Transsion. Transsion's dominance in the African market is not just because of the prices and marketing strategies but also due to the adoption of technologies in line with the needs of the consumers.
As per credible sources, phones manufactured by the company under brands such as Tecno captured a 48.2% share of the African market for smartphones in Q4 2020, followed by South-Korea based Samsung Electronics at 16.1%.
Although Boomplay is enjoying its position now, competition is intensifying in the market as Spotify declared in February to launch its service in 40 countries in Africa. Meanwhile, Apple expanded the accessibility of its Apple Music service in more African nations in 2020.
Local streaming services such as Kenya-based Mdundo are also looking to capitalize on the opportunity.
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