How Ziki Sound is an Artist Discovery and Streaming Platform for East Africa Musicians

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• Stream and discover new African tracks and artists. 
• Share your sounds, connect and grow your audience. 
• Sell your music online.

Ziki Sound has been investing heavily on the platform to support careers of upcoming musicians with the aim of generating a fresh, unique supply of high-quality content and now it is giving them power to earn money.

The platform provides an interactive music community for musicians and users all on one platform that is compatible with platforms and devices. 

“Ziki Sound is revolutionising the way in which artists are now able to share music as well as interact with fans,” says Dan Coded, its developer. “Artists are able to sell their songs, and the beauty about it, they set the price,” he adds.

The online music streaming service allows a 30-second playtime for premium sounds and the entire sound for the free version. 

“It is all about encouraging artists to make good music because people are listening,” says Coded who says their task at Ziki  Sound is to ensure the best user experience for both the fan and the artist.

“On Ziki, fans can listen to an artists’ music, decide if they like it, and if so, pay an artist directly for it.” Coded says an Artist can charge whatever price for the music they choose and change it whenever they like. 

Ziki Sound’s simplistic user interface allows any artist who signs up to be able to organize his/her tracks. The artist is also able to easily manage the account; which tracks are the most popular and how many have been downloaded.

A preliminary study of Africa’s music industries ‘Music Industries in Africa, Opportunities, challenges, interconnections and Potential Actions by Paula Aciego de Mendoza Sagaseta de Ilurdoz, finds out that “The African continent represents a massive potential market for music consumption, especially in the streaming era. 

This exponential growth seems to go hand-in-hand with the sheer volume of smartphone users and the active role of telecommunication companies.”

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This growth has led to the vibrancy of various platforms. One such is the Midem African Forum, whose ambition is to assist with the development and internationalization of the African music markets.  The African Music Forum consists of a series of conferences, workshops and showcases.

Midem places an emphasis on assisting music professionals from all around the world and encouraging business development and talent discovery.

On the other hand, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) recognises the creative economy as a significant sector and a meaningful contributor to national gross domestic product. 

“The creative economy has both commercial and cultural value. Creative work promotes fundamental rights, such as respect for human dignity, equality, and democracy, all of which are essential for humans to live together in peace. Its potential to make a significant contribution to the achievement of sustainable development goals continues to gain international recognition and support.”

Creative work promotes fundamental rights, such as respect for human dignity, equality, and democracy, all of which are essential for humans to live together in peace.

According to UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Outlook: Trends in international trade in creative industries report, “Digital disruption will completely reshape trade, and the world. “ For developing countries, it will shift markets and jobs. Coupled with increased infrastructure needs and the mismatch between education and the job market – and the required soft skills – it is critical that developing countries plan by paying attention to emerging trends and move quickly, and sustainably, to catch the digital headwinds.”

PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, the evolution of the entertainment and media industries has entered a dynamic new phase: Convergence 3.0.

The Outlook projects overall global spending on entertainment and media will rise at a compound annual growth rate of 4.4 percent over the next five years. 

“To succeed in the future that’s taking shape, companies must revisit every aspect of what they do and how they do it,” says Christopher Vollmer, Global Advisory Leader for Entertainment and Media, PwC US. “This means going ‘above and beyond’ in how they envision their business, generate revenues, create and organise their capabilities and build and retain trust.”