Apple has been growing its music business in Africa for some time now, from Apple Music and Shazam to its Platoon artist-development team. This week, the company has been talking about some of the progress it’s seeing across the continent.
It told Billboard that streams of African DJ mixes have grown by 500% in the last year, including a whopping 3,000% increase in Nigeria (which the article notes makes it “one of the top 10 countries for DJ mixes” on Apple Music). The caveat to these figures is that Apple launched its DJ Mix initiative to clear (and thus be able to launch more) DJ sets on its services, so the initial base for that growth may have been small. It’s the fact that Apple is choosing to highlight Africa in the growth story that feels notable.
In separate news, Apple’s Shazam has launched its Top 200 charts in a number of African (as well as Asian) countries this week, with the company telling MBW that Shazam is playing a key role in helping African artists’ tracks be identified by listeners globally. Again, Apple’s decision to talk about this to a media outlet – including hailing the role its editorial playlists are playing in breaking African artists – signifies its desire to be seen as a key player on the continent.
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