2021 Vskit Creator Ecosystem Report

By Xinhua - Global Times Source:Xinhua-Global Times Published: 2019/9/4 17:43:40Video app Vskit is addictive, and &quot;I cannot stop using it,&quot; said Kenyan Claire Fenty, referring to a Chinese-developed app specializing in African, short-video sharing. &nbsp; &nbsp; The app, designed by Transsnet, is a joint venture between two Chinese tech giants and has attracted more than 12 million subscribers since its launch in 2018, most of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa. Like many active, young users, Fenty said she uses Vskit for hours every day. &quot;When there is a good location, there is enough light and I see something interesting,&quot; she said, &quot;I want to upload to my Vskit at that time.&quot; According to the app&#39;s developer, the name is composed of &quot;V,&quot; meaning video and victory, and &quot;skit,&quot; meaning a short dramatic piece made by amateurs. Lin Minqi, Vskit&#39;s head of overseas business, said he believes an innate musical talent is widespread in Africa. &quot;Many people here like to express themselves in front of the camera by singing and dancing, which is an ideal cultural foundation for creating short videos in Africa,&quot; he added. According to him, the company attaches great importance to &quot;content localization,&quot; and has set up a creative team composed of local employees to localize the content of short videos. &quot;Our team discusses interesting ways of short-video shooting, then we reinterpret them in local languages and perspectives, to finally produce interesting clips that are specific to the local taste,&quot; Lin added. The team&#39;s efforts have proven effective. &quot;I like Vskit,&quot; Fenty said, &quot;because it gives you a chance to showcase your creativity and you also get to learn from the people there.&quot; Kenhillary Owuor, a 24-year-old Vskit celebrity, said that Vskit is an amazing app because of a lot of things that it involves, like a range of ages and a range of talent. In recent years, cooperation between China and Africa has boomed, with an increasing number of Chinese companies setting up shop in Africa, bolstering people-to-people ties. African experts have said that platforms such as Vskit can not only help the Chinese to better understand African customs, but can give African culture an opportunity to shine around the world. &quot;When I&#39;m tired, I&#39;ll check comedy videos [on Vskit], which are good for entertainment and relaxing,&quot; Owuor said. &quot;I think people should use Vskit.&quot;

Chinese video app Vskit thrills African youth, bolstering bilateral ties

2020 Vskit Annual Data Report, the best-in-class African short video content in review

Source: Weird, Original article link: <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/boomplay-african-spotify">https://www.wired.co.uk/article/boomplay-african-spotify</a><img src="http://www.cdnmore.com/maker/news-images/news-image-1633769154647-boomplay新闻.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" data-bizcode="10000" data-data="http://www.cdnmore.com/maker/news-images/news-image-1633769154647-boomplay新闻.png"> Spotify dominates the global music industry, with 217 million monthly active users streaming its catalogue of more than 30 million songs. But it&rsquo;s a different story in Africa. Of the 54 countries on the continent, Spotify is only officially available in five: South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt.&ldquo;In the rest, people try to use Spotify with VPNs and the process can be quite tedious,&rdquo; says Victor Ekwealor, senior editor of Techpoint Africa.Boomplay is filling the void and enjoying rapid growth on the continent. Launched in 2015 by Chinese tech industry veteran Joe He, the streaming service was first introduced as a pre-installed app on phones produced by Tecno, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer.&ldquo;The original thought process was to design an app that would best match the technical specifications of the music-focused Tecno Boom series phones,&rdquo; says He, who used to work at Apple-supplier Foxconn and now splits his time between Boomplay&rsquo;s headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, and parent company Transsnet&rsquo;s offices in Shenzhen, China.&ldquo;However, we soon realised there was a real need for an Africa-centric music streaming service that not only provided legal and licensed music for users, but that was transparent and could be responsible for helping artists earn the royalties and revenue they deserve.&rdquo;By April 2019, Boomplay had reached 44 million active users, and at the same time it revealed it had raised $20 million (&pound;17 million) in a Series A funding round. Due to its focus on music streaming, Boomplay has inevitably been dubbed the &quot;African Spotify&quot;, even though it has comfortably outgunned its Swedish rival on the continent.It was not necessarily a safe bet that the service would thrive in Africa&rsquo;s music streaming market, let alone dominate it. Indeed, many tech companies struggle to cope with a challenging environment, where issues such as rampant piracy, prohibitive data costs and poor internet infrastructure are common.&ldquo;Africa is still largely unconnected to the internet, and a lot of people do not have access,&rdquo; says Ekwealor. &ldquo;Where there is access, the internet is mostly either too spotty or expensive or both. Because of this, most people consider streaming services a luxury.&rdquo; Unreliable payment systems pose another difficult challenge, although new fintech products are launching regularly.&ldquo;Nobody really knew what to expect,&rdquo; says He. &ldquo;Before us, there were many services that had tried and failed to build a sustainable solution, but we were quietly confident.&rdquo;Boomplay is not resting on its laurels. &ldquo;We have big plans to invest directly into the music industry by co-producing content and also nurturing artists to help them reach their full potential,&rdquo; says He. The company recently announced plans to invest $1 million in the Kenyan music industry &ndash; and a licensing deal with Universal has helped propel Boomplay internationally.&ldquo;Prior to the deal, we were mainly focused on bringing the best app experience and music for users in Africa,&rdquo; He says. Now, however, there&rsquo;s an increasing interest among the African diaspora &ndash; the service is gaining a foothold in Europe and around the world.As other companies play catch-up, Boomplay is looking to make its mark in countries that typically receive little attention from investors and the music industry. &ldquo;We are expanding our team and operations into different regions in Africa as there is so much great music, and undiscovered, talented artists in places such as Mali, Congo and Zambia,&rdquo; says He. &ldquo;With the correct investment in infrastructure and technology, the sky really is the limit for Africa.&rdquo;

Boomplay beat Spotify in Africa. Now it's coming for Europe

Source: CNN, Original article link: <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-49234308">https://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-49234308</a>(BBC)The rise of music streaming in Africa is helping a wave of new artistes gain popularity worldwide.One such artiste is Teni in Lagos, Nigeria, who went on her first tour this year after her YouTube music videos garnered millions of views from all over the world.According to PwC, revenue from music sales in Nigeria is expected to grow to $88m in 2019.