South African music streaming explosion

Music revenues surged in South Africa in the past year, driven by the growing adoption of smartphones and streaming apps.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI’s) latest Global Music Report, Sub-Saharan Africa’s music revenue surged past $100 million (R1.84 billion) for the first time in 2024.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s music revenue increased 22.6% to $110 million (R2.03 billion), making it the second fastest-growing region overall.

South Africa remained the largest market in the region, accounting for 74.6% or $82.06 million (R1.51 billion) of revenue. That represented a 14.4% jump over South African music revenues in 2023.

It comes on the back of a 20% increase in 2023, preceded by a 32% surge in 2020.

Music streaming services are a major driving force behind the year-on-year revenue increases — internationally and locally.

On an international level, the IFPI’s report found that music revenues increased 4.8%.

69% of global music revenues were contributed by streaming services and 51.2% by streaming service subscription fees.

According to IFPI’s sub-Saharan Africa director Angela Ndambuki, the region has registered significant growth in digital music revenues, especially in subscription streaming.

“Without a doubt, technology is an important driver of this success and, therefore, it is crucial for the region to prioritise the improvement in national policies and regulatory environments so as to attract further investment in the wider recorded music business,” said Ndambuki.

According to Similarweb, South Africa’s most popular music streaming apps are Spotify and YouTube Music.

Spotify reported a 101% increase in music playback time in South Africa in 2023.

In the same year, the royalties it paid to South African artists reached R256 million, 3.4 times higher than in 2019 and six times greater than in 2017.

South African artists have also featured more frequently on user’s curated playlists, showing how music streaming services are increasing their exposure on a global level and how local usage of these apps is on the rise.

Mobile networks playing a critical role

In addition to increased smartphone adoption, better mobile network coverage and lower data prices have been fundamental in enabling a flourishing streaming environment in South Africa.

The two major cellular networks — Vodacom and MTN — have expanded their 4G connectivity to reach nearly 100% population coverage.

Mobile and fixed networks have regularly told MyBroadband that video and music streaming has been among the biggest data traffic drivers in the past few years.

The average mobile data consumed by a Vodacom smart device increased from 966MB to 3GB between the company’s 2019 and 2024 financial years.

MTN subscribers’ data usage has also more than doubled over the past five years, with postpaid usage in particular seeing substantial growth.

While the government has repeatedly called for mobile data prices to “fall” in recent years, mobile networks have already reduced their prices substantially.

According to analysis by Cable.co.uk, the price of 1GB mobile data in South Africa declined from $7.77 to $1.81 between 2019 and 2023, working out to a 77% drop.

Factoring in the rand’s devaluation against the dollar, the decrease is slightly blunted but remains at a substantial 70% over those four years.

Key to this was the country’s first radio frequency spectrum auction in 2022, which provided mobile networks with valuable additional spectrum to enhance and expand 4G and 5G connectivity.

With increased capacity, cellular networks are able to handle the increased demand on their infrastructure when reducing prices.

A plethora of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) have also launched highly affordable mobile data packages in the past few years.

Capitec Connect has been particularly successful, growing to over 1.3 million active subscribers in less than three years.

Afrihost’s Air Mobile also recently went through an overhaul, most recently launching monthly smartphone bundles with prices as low as R2.99 per GB.

The additional competition has empowered consumers with more affordable mobile data options, boosting their Internet usage and benefitting streaming services and South African artists in the process.