Velona Ayuko
The most streamed artists on Spotify in Kenya are popular Kenyan music group Sauti Sol and Canadian rapper Drake, who is based in the United States.
Spotify, a Swedish audio streaming platform, launched in Kenya last month, providing users with access to over 70 million songs, 2.2 million podcast titles, and over four billion playlists.
Drake’s songs were the most streamed, followed by the “Extravaganza” hitmakers. Sauti Sol is an afro-pop band that formed in 2005 and has provided Kenyans with some of the country’s most popular radio hits.
“The first 30 days have seen Kenyan listeners navigating the vast world of music discovery with the list of the top-streamed artists consisting mainly of international hitmakers,” Spotify said in a statement on Wednesday.
American rapper Pop Smoke, Canadian singer Justin Bieber, and “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD are also among the most-listened-to artists.
According to the list, Kenyans on the platform prefer pop music by Western artists.
The “African Heat” playlist, which features well-known Kenyan artists such as Blinky Bill, Bensoul, and Nyashinski, came in fourth place among the most popular playlists.
“When it comes to podcast consumption, Spotify Originals and Exclusives seem to resonate with listeners in Kenya with The Joe Rogan Experience coming in first and President Obama’s podcast with Bruce Springsteen Renegades: Born in the USA taking fourth place,” said Spotify.
The majority of platform users were from major cities and urban areas, with Nairobi and Mombasa topping the list. The other cities on the list were Nakuru, Eldoret, and Kisumu.