2021 should be tagged ‘the year of market expansion’ because with just two months into the year, we have seen a lot of market expansions as well as ground breaking milestones being set in different areas of tech and industry. For instance, Apple has dethroned Samsung and has become the king of overall smartphone sales.
Global music streaming platform; Spotify is taking a big leap into the African space by launching its platform into 39 more African countries, and this is going to happen in a matter of days. Prior to this new development, only users in South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia had access to the Spotify platform after its launch in 2018. Users in other African countries could only access the platform through a VPN. But now Users in other countries are about to kiss their VPNs goodbye as the streaming platform is coming to the following countries; Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroun, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Estwani, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Spotify also revealed that new features alongside upgrade for its podcast catalogue would be made so that it can fit into its new markets. Apart from Africa, Spotify also has plans to set foot into the Caribbean, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
It is about time Spotify made this move! Alex Norstrom, one of the executives of the company revealed that the streaming platform is moving into more than 80 markets and in more than 36 languages. According to him, ‘we believe there could be more than 1 billion potential Spotify users’. Spotify’s expansion means that the audio streaming platform will be available in more than 173 countries. This comes about a year after Apple Music announced that it is moving into 52 new global markets.
Spotify moving into Africa means that it is coming to face big contenders like Apple Music, Shazam, MTN MusicTime, BoomPlay, AudioMack, YouTube Music, Deezer and what have you. Spotify is arguably the largest streaming platform in the world, so it is safe to say that these new markets have been waiting for them, and it would be no trouble for the company establishing itself in the new markets.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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