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Spotify Showcases Nigerian, Other African Artists Impacting the Global Stage

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Music has always been at the core of African tradition, weaving a rich narrative that showcases the variety of cultures and influences across the continent. Marking pivotal moments in Africa’s history, music has provided the backdrop to progress, evolving from songs of freedom to songs of expression.

While the annual commemoration of Africa Day is an opportunity to celebrate the strides that the continent has made, it’s also a chance to address some of the challenges that it continues to face. In a similar vein, the impact of African influence on the global music scene has also been a journey.

With exciting collaborations taking place and access to a broader audience, African creators now have more opportunities than ever before to discover new audiences and have their unique voices heard.

To mark Africa Day Spotify took a look at the top streamed artists globally from the African continent. With fans from London to Paris and Amsterdam to Sydney streaming their music via Spotify, it’s not surprising that popular Nigerian singer and songwriter, Burna Boy, takes the top spot.

Africa’s diverse music landscape with its distinctive genres continues to give rise to musical collaborations both on the continent and abroad. Burna Boy has used his particular sound to drive successful collabs including ‘Loved By You (feat. Burna Boy)’ with Justin Bieber and ‘Location (feat. Burna Boy)’ with British rapper Dave. Over the past 90 days (March – May 2021), ‘Loved By You (feat.  Burna Boy)’ has amassed over 31 million streams, globally.

Similarly, the phenomenal global success of Master KG’s hit Jerusalema (feat. Nomcebo Zikode), which led to an Afrobeats inspired remix featuring Burna Boy, garnered over 43 million streams, globally over the last 90 days (March – May 2021). African artists are not just featuring on the global stage they are owning it.

“Spotify has always celebrated Africa’s abundance of talent and diversity. Now with Spotify’s presence across Africa, we will continue to use the power of the platform to amplify African creators  to a global audience. This serves to offer artists even more opportunity to further strengthen their connection to their audiences as well as drive the discovery of their music to new audiences which, for us, is an integral part of the user’s listening experience. says Phiona Okumu, Head of Music, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Spotify continues to drive initiatives that support African creators including, promoting key curated, flagship playlists such as African Heat, AmaPiano Grooves, RADAR Africa, and most recently, Gengetone Fire, which has driven further discovery and celebration of African influence.  Spotify also houses the Afrohub platform that promotes and brings to the surface culturally diverse music to users around the world.

The expansion of RADAR – Spotify’s global artists program that supports artists along every step of their music journey – has been instrumental in promoting talent from across the continent.

To date RADAR Africa has welcomed several creators including, Elaine, rapper Willy Cardiac, Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems and AmaPiano hitmaker Focalistic (who also featured extensively in Spotify’s recent African Heat campaign) to the roster of  Africa’s RADAR artists.

These young artists all have been influenced by the sounds of Africa with Focalistic listing South Africa’s classic Bacardi house music as the music he grew up on that continues to  influence his expressive AmaPiano. Focalistic also names top Nigerian producer, Fresh as one of his biggest African influencers.

As Spotify continues to give listeners across the continent streaming access to the best African and international audio continent, it will continue to drive education around Spotify for Artists, a powerful  free tool that artists are encouraged to make use of to better understand and build their audience and gain insight on how to best promote themselves.

This, together with the expertise of Spotify’s music team and all the platforms’ initiatives will ensure that Spotify remains an instrumental vehicle for African creators looking to feature on a global stage.

Additionally, kicking off on 24 May and running during the week of Africa Day, there will be an African takeover of Spotify’s Global X playlist.

The playlist will spotlight Africa’s biggest artists across regions and on each day, the playlist cover will be dedicated to artists including Lady Du (SA), DaVido (NG), Sarkodie (GH), Sauti Sol (KE), ElGrandeToto (MR), Mohammed Ramadan (EG) and Diamond Platinumz (TZ). The Global X playlist is a key part of Spotify’s Global Cultures Initiative that promotes culturally diverse music from around the world.


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Broadcasting

Price Hike: DSTV, GOtv Subscribers Threaten Boycott as FCCPC Summons Multichoice

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Subscribers in Nigeria have threatened to boycott the services of Multichoice Nigeria, the parent company of satellite television, DSTV and GOtv after a shocking review of their tariff plans by over 20 per cent.

Price Hike: DSTV, GOtv Subscribers Threaten Boycott as FCCPC Summons Multichoice

This is coming as the he Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), summoned the PayTV company to explain its proposed subscription price increase.

Recall that in a surprise notification to customers, DSTV on Monday, announced an upward review of their plans effective March 1, 2025.

It is uncertain whether DSTV received regulatory approval to proceed with the upward review which is the second in the last 10 months.

The company reviewed its prices in April last year.

In this fresh development, Multichoice told subscribers that its premium DSTV package has been reviewed to N44,500 from N37,000 and Compact Plus reviewed to N30,000 from N25,000.

DSTV Confam plan was raised from N9300 to N11,000; Yanga and Padi reviewed to N6,000 from N5200, and to N4,000 from N3,600, respectively.

Similarly, the price for GOtv Supa Plus was raised to N16,800 from N15,700; the Supa package reviewed to N11,400 from N9,600; the Max plan was reviewed from N7,200 to N8,500, the Jolli plan was reviewed to N5,800 while Jinja and Smallie were reviewed to N3,900 and N1,900 respectively.

Although Multichoice admitted that consumers were also battling economic challenges, it said it arrived at the decision after “in-depth analysis”.

The decision by DSTV and GOtv has heightened the frustration of subscribers who are still battling with the April 2024 price list.

Ebuka Michael with X handle, @e_bukamichael said, “Nigerians wake up! It is time to boycott Multichoice! We can’t be struggling to feed and still struggle to pay half the minimum wage to watch DSTV. This is extortion and it must stop”.

In a further effort to boycott DSTV subscribers, an aggrieved consumer, @silentwilsn shared “Websites where you can stream football, movies, soap operas, kids’ shows, and even live TV offering everything available on DStv and GOtv for free”.

Other subscribers like Adetokunbo Ademola with X handle, @iamade040482, blamed lawmakers and regulatory agencies for DSTv’s constant upward review.

He lamented, “I don’t blame them ,DSTV. I blame Nigerian lawmakers who give them this chance due to corruption. What exactly is stopping Nigerians from getting ‘pay as you watch’ package?”

FCCPC in reaction, said, “Exercising its mandate under Sections 32 and 33 of the FCCPA, the FCCPC directed the Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria to attend an investigative hearing at the Commission’s headquarters on Thursday, February 27, 2025, according to the statement issued by Ondaje Ijagwu, director, Corporate Affairs on Tuesday, the commission’s summon is in line with its mandate under Sections 32 and 33 of the FCCPA.

“This action follows MultiChoice’s formal notification of the price adjustment, which raises concerns about recurrent unilateral price hikes, potential market dominance abuse, and perceived anti-competitive practices in the pay-TV industry.

“The FCCPC is deeply concerned that Nigerian consumers continue to face frequent price increases, amid accusations that MultiChoice applies different pricing strategies in other markets, heightening questions about fairness and market abuse”.

FCCPC said Multichoice will be sanctioned if found wanted.

“Should MultiChoice fail to provide satisfactory explanations or be found in violation of fair market principles, the FCCPC will be left with no other option than to impose regulatory penalties, sanctions, or other corrective measures to protect Nigerian consumers”, the commission said.

The FCCPC said it is engaging the sector regulator and other relevant agencies to ensure fair competition and consumer protection within Nigeria’s broadcasting and digital subscription landscape.

 


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MultiChoice Announces Fresh Price Hike for DStv, GOtv Packages

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MultiChoice Nigeria has announced an increase in subscription rates for its DStv and GOtv packages, effective March 1, 2025.

MultiChoice Announces Fresh Price Hike for DStv, GOtv Packages

In a statement issued to customers on Monday, the company cited the need to maintain the quality of its service as the reason for the price adjustment.

The statement, titled “Price Adjustments for DStv and GOtv Packages,” read, “Dear Customer, please note that effective 1 March 2025, there will be a price adjustment on all DStv packages. This is to enable us to continue to offer our customers world-class homegrown and international content, delivered through the best technology.”

This increase came nearly a year after the company’s last price review, reflecting rising operational costs.

MultiChoice attributed the hike to economic pressures, including the depreciation of the naira and high inflation, which have significantly impacted its business operations in Nigeria.

According to the new pricing structure, the DStv Compact bouquet will rise from N15,700 to N19,000, while the Compact Plus package will now cost N30,000. The Premium subscription will increase to N44,500.

For GOtv subscribers, those on the GOtv Jinja package will now pay N3,900, up from N3,600.

The GOtv Plus package will increase from N4,850 to N5,800, while GOtv Max will now cost N8,500. The GOtv Supa and Supa Plus packages will be priced at N11,400 and N16,800, respectively.

MultiChoice has consistently defended its price adjustments, pointing to economic realities that have made running its services in Nigeria more expensive. The company maintained that the price review is necessary to sustain its offerings and ensure continued access to quality content.

 

 


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KongaFM Basks in Rave Reviews from Nigerians

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KongaFM -103.7, Africa’s pioneering hit music and commerce radio station, is reshaping the broadcasting space with utter broadcasting professionalism and Nigerians are happy.

KongaFM Basks in Rave Reviews from Nigerians

With its unique blend of music, advertisements and shopping, KongaFM is winning hearts.

Operating on terrestrial frequencies in Lagos on 103.7 and streaming online for listeners globally at www.kongafm.com, KongaFM has quickly become a favourite among audiences.

Promoters of the station are basking in the rave reviews.

Chris Uwaje, tech policy adviser, global speaker and former president of Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), said described the station as revolutionary.

“Awesome, very incredible and very futuristic entrenurship strategy. I predict very soon, KongaFm will be the numero-uno radio in Africa” he said

Louisa Olaniyi, one of Nigeria’s finest broadcasters simply said “Wow, brilliant”

Bargain hunters and shoppers are also thrilled by genuineness of deals on the station.

Nicholas Isiobi, a shopper said “I am happy with the quality and affordability of the products promoted. It is worth all my while”

Every day, the station kicked off with an exciting mix of hit music, motivational content, and commercial activities, setting itself apart as a trailblazer in the radio industry.

Grace Yusuf, one listener, mentioned how the station has positively impacted her daily routine.

“KongaFM is my go-to station every morning while commuting to work. The gospel music is great, while other content and inspiring discussions keep me motivated throughout the day,” she said.

Tunde Obaposh, currently pursuing his PhD in Robotics in Kansas, shared his experience streaming Konga FM online.

“I believe KongaFM is going to redefine the standard in the radio space. I love how they incorporate AI into their broadcasts, making the experience seamless and engaging,” he noted.

Perhaps the major standout of KongaFM and Konga.com is turning live radio broadcasts into an interactive shopping experience, allowing listeners to place orders seamlessly, even without expending much cash on data.

Nigerian shoppers now have more options with Konga.com, and most importantly, they can enjoy unbeatable prices on all items announced live on radio.

 


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