Left Behind? The Challenges Holding Back East Africa’s Musical Success
African music seems to be taking the world by storm. As South Africa’s popstar Tyla wins a Grammy with her breakout single, her compatriot and famed Amapiano DJ, Uncle Waffles, headlines the UK’s largest music festival – Wireless. Nigeria's established cohort of acclaimed Afrobeats artists has grown accustomed to regularly selling out the US and UK’s largest arenas respectively, with Burna Boy’s ‘I Told Them’ Tour generating a record-breaking $15.5 million from fifteen shows by mid-2024. Meanwhile, Diamond Platnumz securing his biggest hit in years, Komasava, by tapping into South Africa’s breakout genre, Amapiano, begs the question – is there room for an authentic East African sound on the global stage?
As the critical components of a thriving music industry are examined, an exploration of whether the region is equipped to harness the kind of global outreach that its neighbours have enjoyed is sought. So far, promises of East African music becoming a powerhouse on the world stage are yet to come to fruition. Attempts to join the ranks of influential genres that have recently captivated global audiences have been marked with failure. However, as global audiences gravitate toward emergent musical influences, East Africa could still use this to bolster its unique sounds for international acclaim and harness this newfound global enthusiasm for the advancement of the East African creative cause.
The Challenge Ahead
East Africa’s musical terrain is undoubtedly marked with unique sounds. From the sweet-sounding romantic music of Kenya’s zilizopendwa, to Uganda’s upbeat kidandali and Tanzania’s bombastic bongo flava that gave birth to the rise of Diamond Platnumz. Despite this wealth of burgeoning musical culture, artists – big and small – have faced many challenges in making a living from their music. Tabu Osusa, Nairobi-based author, music producer and record label executive, attributed the absence of Kenya’s music from the African stage to a lack of an identity. By this he meant a consistent sound, melody, and turns of phrase that pervade Kenyan music from year to year. This loss of tradition, unlike Afrobeats and Amapiano, is what has led to Kenyan music not being distinguished globally. The article also attributes the stagnancy to an ‘inevitable loop: the industry is underdeveloped because people don’t pursue art full-time. People don’t pursue art full time because the industry is underdeveloped.’ This begs the question; how can this pattern be rearranged?
Investing in Artistic Development
Cross-continental collaboration may be to the key to success for East African artists, as it broadens their audience. For example, Kenya’s Bien featuring on Joshua Baraka’s breakout hit ‘NANA’ significantly contributed to Baraka’s meteoric rise in 2023. Bien's was also a beneficiary of a similar relationship, featuring on Burna Boy’s ‘Twice as Tall’ album – winning him a grammy. Furthermore, a notable feature of the growing popularity in regional music are RnB influences. The recent COLORS x Spotify session held in Nairobi spotlighted East Africa’s RnB scene and signified a growing commercial interest in the uniquely blended sounds of the region. Granted, many local artists only target a local audience to make an income. It can also be contended that including more Western sounds undermines the African identity of these artists’ music. However, whilst not jettisoning their roots, these artists have creatively weaved more Western sounds into their music – making it more relatable to a wider audience. In turn they stand to earn more from their music, though perhaps risking alienating local audiences.
Collaborations grow the audience of smaller artists which they can leverage when negotiating agreements with sponsors and digital streaming platforms (DSPs). Artists with larger, more international audiences tend to receive more money from streaming. Advertisers in Western countries pay a higher cost per mille (CPM), the amount of money paid to DSPs per one thousand listeners, to streaming companies. Nonetheless, streaming in Africa is predicted to generate close to $500 million by 2025, nearly five times the revenue generated in 2017. Regionally, music streaming is expected to dominate digital music markets with Kenya expecting to have a volume of $21.63 million from streams while Uganda sees a 15.3% revenue growth in 2024.
Popular Kenyan RnB singer, Nikita Kering, received on average $2,330 per month from streaming in 2022. However, despite increased streaming revenues, live shows are still the primary sources of income for most artists. [AN3] Kenyan singer, Vivian Wambui, described the returns of Boomplay, a regional streaming platform, as ‘not the best... but they add value to the artist by helping you with marketing.’ Whilst streaming is financially profitable for larger artists, smaller artists do not benefit in the same way from DSPs.
A report by Hivos on the creative economy in East Africa, noted that many artists lack the business acumen and management skills to properly manage their careers. However, firms and development organisations can fill in the gap and invest in training artists. For example, the Music Business Academy for Africa gives free training to youth to gain skills relevant to the industry. In 2020, Afrexim bank launched a $500 million Creative Industry Support Fund for the creative and cultural industries on the continent. In parallel, private enterprises have developed technologies that enable fans to directly support their favourite artists where audiences can directly invest in musicians through PopRev, a digital investment platform. Investing in the development of musicians, as artists and businesspeople, could enable production of higher quality sounds and the building of necessary structures to build livelihoods from talents.
Whilst Mdundo, a Kenyan DSP, pays artists nearly half of its income and in 2023 announced a $775,000 payout to artists and distributors, regional streaming platforms ought to revise their payment models to more equitably remunerate artists and to remain competitive. Boomplay pays artists royalties based on meeting targets per stream and are made quarterly. Furthermore, information about how artists are paid remains confidential and up to negotiation. Camilla Owora, former regional marketing head for Ziiki Media East Africa, noted that many East African musicians are not on international streaming platforms which have better monthly payouts. Spotify and Apple music have recently expanded in the region and are now in twenty-five and forty countries on the continent respectively. Whilst these DSPs are more expensive and as such may not be used by customers of local DSPs like Boomplay and Mdundo, their practices can influence market standards.
To enact meaningful change within the music industry, artists must present an organised and united front. Artist associations are crucial for lobbying for better working conditions, pay, and are essential for a sustainable creative and cultural sector. Whilst these associations are in every nation, their effectiveness is limited. In a 2014 British Council report, participants noted that associations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania tend to be either weak, fragmented, disorganised or non-existent. To improve their pay, artists must take the lead and strengthen these industry associations by focusing on their shared interests.
Despite being unified, one major hindrance to all artists is weak enforcement of intellectual property laws. This enables piracy to remain rife and limits the ability of artists to claim payments for their royalties. All case studies referenced in the Hivos report show that government policy has the biggest impact on the creative sector, but that artists face corruption when dealing with regulatory bodies and distributors. It also notes that government policies do not prioritise the music sector despite its potential to create jobs and promote tourism. Poor funding for government offices that deal with the cultural sector, which are often shifted from ministry to ministry, exacerbates the governance issues. Problems with the operations of the legal and policy framework governing the sector creates an unfavourable macroeconomic environment which undermines efforts to grow the sector. This complacency is shameful against the reality that a vibrant music industry not only increases a countries’ cultural capital but also creates jobs and develops national pride and unity.
Nonetheless, efforts are being made to improve the governance of the sector. Kenya’s National Music Policy for example has established a digital copyright licensing system to combat piracy and copyright infringement via the Kenya Copyright Board. As such, lawyers, consultants and creative organisations have a role to play in providing affordable advice to artists, creating resource banks and advocating for better standards in the industry.
Conclusion
As East Africa laments not boasting the same success from its breakout musical genres as its neighbours, it is important to guard against hopeless despair. To harness the potential of East African music, there needs to be a comprehensive investment in artistic development that can take shape in the form of financial, collaborative and even structural initiatives. In confronting these options, artists ought to meaningfully coordinate their efforts and leverage the negotiating power of the creative voice in the fight for better governance and compensation. As frameworks emerge and platforms blossom, we could still yet see the rise of the East African voice in the third leg of Africa’s sonic sprint across the globe.