Barely six months after Boomplay Nigeria raised $20 million in a Series A Funding, the company has continued to expand, whilst positioning itself to become Africa’s answer to Spotify, Tidal, and other large music streaming platforms. The latest news from the company said it is now making inroads into French-speaking African countries in addition to the English-speaking countries where it currently operates.
Dele Kadiri, who acts as the company’s General Manager, disclosed this recently in Lagos. According to him, some of the countries on the company’s target list include the likes of Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroun. It is also targeting North America and Europe where there are sizable concentrations of migrants from African countries.
“We have started to look at the Francophone regions such as Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as the areas where there is a large diaspora community such as North America and Europe.”
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Boomplay is a Chinese-owned enterprise which launched operation in 2015. It currently operates in Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya. This year alone, it has witnessed considerable growth by recording two million new users every month between April and now. Altogether, it has grown its active userbase to 53 million people.
Can Boomplay succeed in its dominance bid?
The company is owned by Transsnet Music Ltd. It is also backed by Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co., the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer which produces popular phones such as Infinix, TECNO Mobile, OPPO, Xiaomi, and ZTE.
Thanks to the company’s special partnership with Shenzhen Holdings Co., the Boomplay music app typically come pre-installed in the aforementioned phones which are manufactured by the company. Interestingly, millions of Nigerians and other Africans use a lot of these phones. These people also love to listen to a lot of music, especially music from top African artists such as Yemi Alade and Burna Boy. Consequently, by making the music app readily available for use, Boomplay makes its cool cash in the process.
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So, can it succeed in its bid to become Africa’s Spotify? The answer is YES. Already, it has demonstrated this capability, judging from the level of growth it has recorded over the four-year period that it has existed. Therefore, unless a new competitor comes in and disrupts the market, Boomplay’s chances to continually dominate abound.
