Mdundo hits right note with payout for artistes

Levixone’s footprint on YouTube is not earth moving by any stretch of imagination. A 4K video of one of his most popular bangers—Turn the Replay—has managed to command just under 906,000 views across six years.

While this pales in comparison the most viewed Ugandan songs on YouTube (Eddy Kenzo’s Sitya Loss, for one, has mustered 58 million views across a nine-year period), a dataset from Mdundo.com—a leading African music platform—shows that during the 2023/2024 period Levixone’s growth in payment climbed by a respectable 70 percent.

The music platform announced a remarkable projection of a substantial payout to right owners, record labels and musicians like Levixone. In total, the payout totalled anywhere between $1.2 to $1.5 million for the 2023/2024 period.

How Uganda fares

The innovative payment system implemented by Mdundo benefitted approximately 156,000 artistes in the 2023/2024 period. Kenya led the way with 56,000 of its active artistes receiving 44 percent of the pie. Others were Tanzania (19 percent for 15,200 active artistes); Nigeria (17 percent for 25,000 active artistes); South Africa (seven percent for 7,500 active artistes); Uganda (six percent for 19,800 active artistes); and Ghana (six percent for 6,900 active artistes).

“In addition, we have also seen a growth in payment for some major artistes in East Africa including Kenya’s Vijana Barubaru at 68 percent, Tanzania’s Bonny Mwaitege at 64 percent, and Uganda’s Levixone at 70 percent,” the company says in a statement.

Mr Wanjiku Koinange, Head of Music and Licencing at Mdundo.com, emphasised the platform’s commitment to ensure that the voices of African artistes “are heard, and their earnings well-deserved.”

On his part Mr Boniface Mutinda, the CEO of Afrisauti, said, “Afrisauti is proud to join forces with Mdundo in rewriting the melody of artist support. As partners, we are harmonising our efforts to ensure that every musical note translates into tangible success for the creators. Mdundo is not just a platform; it’s a stage for transformative change.”

New frontier

Mdundo’s impact on the African music landscape extends further with strategic partnerships aimed at expanding artists’ reach and monetisation opportunities. Its collaboration with Safaricom since last December has seen the music platform introduce a subscription service exclusive to customers of the Kenyan telco, offering DJ Mixes at Ksh5 per day. The collaborations aim to boost the monetisation of music for artists, providing a consistent income stream, and supporting sustainable music careers.

According to Mdundo, the Artist Royalty Payment Programme remains a beacon of hope for musicians across Africa. Mdundo.com boasts of a diverse and extensive roster of over 172,000 content providers. Collaborating with esteemed labels across Africa, Mdundo guarantees its 30.8 million monthly active users as of December 2023 access to a wide array of music spanning different genres, styles, and regions.

Ambitious target

Mdundo.com previously set itself an ambitious target of reaching 50 million monthly active users as well as achieving a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) operation by 2025. The company places a strong emphasis on providing locally relevant service and content, acknowledging the significance of cultural diversity and local preferences. The platform curates a diverse range of music from various genres and local artistes, ensuring an engaging and relevant experience for its users.

Mdundo has previously announced that approximately 80 percent of all music consumed within the focus markets is African catalog. It also hastened to add back during the pandemic period that its service was approaching 500,000 African songs directly uploaded to the service by +140,000 African creators.

Optimistic

With a vast library of African songs, curated playlists and a focus on low internet usage, Mdundo.com is redefining the way people discover, listen to, and engage with African music. Currently, over 145,000 artistes have accounts with Mdundo.com. The company says its strategic approach to drive growth, deliver value, and revolutionise the music landscape in Africa.

“With an anticipated 35 per cent growth in monthly active users, we are set to significantly extend our influence in key African markets,” Martin Møller Nielsen, the Mdundo.com chief executive officer, told this newspaper last year, adding, “This growth in users reflects the rising popularity of our platform and reinforces our commitment to our current strategy.”

Nielsen also proffered back then that a focus on services that are locally relevant to mass-market consumers would ultimately “augment revenue per user” through the company’s premium offerings.