Kenyan musicians have embraced digital music streaming to distribute their work worldwide.
However, earnings from platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and Boomplay vary significantly due to different payout models and regional pricing. Understanding these systems can help artists optimize their revenue and choose the best platforms for their audience.
Spotify: The Most Popular but Low Payouts
Spotify uses that pro-rata model, where pooled money is then distributed based on total streams.
Spotify pays:
- $0.00318 per stream; it depends on other factors such as location and subscription type.
- Premium subscribers generate a higher payout than that of ad-supported free users.
Challenges for Kenyan Artists
- A lower subscription ($2.99 monthly subscription in Kenya versus $9.99 monthly in the USA) gives a much lower contribution of revenue from streams of Kenyan listeners.
- Getting on editorial playlists like African Heat can have an impact on increasing streams drastically.
Estimated Possible Earnings: 1,000,000 streams at $ 0.00318 on Spotify will equal $3,180 before distributor fees.
Apple Music: Higher Per-Stream Payouts
Apple Music pays between $0.007 and $0.01 per stream, almost double that of Spotify. One great advantage of Apple Music over Spotify is the absence of a free tier; hence, all of its streams are from paying users.
Challenges for Kenyan Artists
- Comparatively, there are fewer Kenyan listeners on Apple Music than on Boomplay and Spotify.
- For an artist to gain traction, it would need to be editorially placed on playlists
Estimated Possible Earnings:1 million streams on Apple Music at $0.01 per stream = $10,000 before distributor fees.
YouTube Music: Ad Revenue & Premium Payouts
The earnings depend on whether the listener is on YouTube Premium or ad-supported.
- Premium users earn $0.005-$0.01 with every stream.
- Ad-supported streams can make anything from $0.00069 up to $0.005 depending on ad interaction.
Challenges for Kenyan Artists
- The CPM ad rates are lower in Kenya than in the more favorable Western market.
- Music videos only earn revenue through advertisements if monetization is enabled on the YouTube Partner Program.
Estimated Possible Earnings:
- From 1 million streams from Premium users: $5,000 – $10,000.
- From 1 million streams from ad-supported views: $500 – $3,000.
Tidal: High Payouts, Smaller Audience
Tidal pays $0.01284 per stream, which is among the highest among streaming platforms. The streamer also has Direct Artist Payouts where a fraction of a subscriber’s monthly fee goes straight to the artist that subscriber streamed the most.
Challenges for Kenyan Artists
- Africa’s user base for these platforms is smaller than that of Spotify or Boomplay.
- Best for artists targeting international listeners from regions that pay well (US, Europe).
Estimated Possible Earnings: $12,840 from 1 million streams on Tidal at $0.01284 per stream before fees.
Boomplay: Africa’s Leading Music Platform
Boomplay pays artists through:
- A freemium model whereby artists receive payment through ads from free users and subscriptions from premium users.
- Per-stream payout is pretty low considering they rely heavily on ads.
Challenges for Kenyan Artists
- Even with a huge number of fans in Africa, per-stream payout is lower.
- Placement on playlists (like Boomplay Afro Hits or EA Bangers) is crucial for visibility.
Comparison of Payouts Per Stream
| Platform | Estimated Payout per Stream | 1M Streams Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | $0.00318 | $3,180 |
| Apple Music | $0.007 – $0.01 | $7,000 – $10,000 |
| YouTube Music | $0.00069 – $0.005 | $500 – $5,000 |
| Tidal | $0.01284 | $12,840 |
| Boomplay | Varies | Lower revenue due to ads |
Strategies to Maximize Earnings as a Kenyan Artist
- Go After The High-Paying Markets While Targeting: Boosting music in America, the United Kingdom, and Europe will bring in more revenue per stream.
- Playlist Positions: Submit music for Spotify Editorial Playlists (like African Heat, New Music Friday Africa). Use Boomplay For Artists to help with playlist visibility.
- Earn with Monetization on YouTube Music: Enable ads on streams from YouTube Premium and the YouTube Partner Program. Use Super Chat & Memberships to generate more fan revenue.
- Diversify Income Streams: Merch, tours, and brand deals offer some relief from low streaming payouts. Try other platforms that provide exclusive content for fans to support directly.
Conclusion: What’s the Best Platform for Kenyan Artists?
- Spotify has the largest audience but pays little per stream.
- The money sourced from Apple Music and Tidal is higher, but they don’t have too many Kenyan users.
- YouTube Music has options for monetization other than streams.
- Boomplay is more localized in Africa but pays poorer from ad-driven payouts.
For Kenyan artists to earn maximum money, they need to put their works on as many platforms as possible, optimize their playlist placements, and influence their fans beyond streaming revenue.
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