Safaricom continues to expand its product offering for customers, and has now announced the launch of its music streaming service in Kenya.
The Kenyan-based mobile operator has officially launched its all-inclusive music streaming service, called SONGA, according to ITNewsAfrica.
The service will allow music-lovers the ability to stream their favorite music from local and international artists, while providing a platform through which artists will be able to sell their music and make it available to consumers on a large scale.
The SONGA for Safaricom app curates, codifies and classifies vernacular, local and international music catalogue with over two million songs from as many as 400,000 artists, including local hit artists Sauti Sol, Mercy Masika, Nyashinski, and Eric Wainana among others, according to TheStar.
The app offers online and offline play interfaces, track and full album downloads, playlist creation and an ability to share links with other subscribers, and will cost users just under $5 per month.
Sylvia Mulinge, director of consumer business at Safaricom, discussed the benefits for both users and the artists who will be featured on the app.
“Our aim is to delight our subscribers with a carefully curated world-class collection, a fantastic user interface and a smooth streaming experience,” said Mulinge, according to Techweez.
“We are excited to launch yet another service that will provide an additional revenue stream to Kenyan artists and increase their earnings because we believe in working together to make great things happens,” she added.
In August last year, Safaricom announced the release of revamped M-Pesa Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), providing the capabilities for developers to build and deploy their solutions on top of the platform, according to AfricaBusinessCommunities.
Users can now accept M-Pesa for e-commerce payments in Kenya through a simple Application Programming Interface.
The East African mobile operator has been busy over the last six months, and in October the world’s biggest mobile money operator announced the launch of Masoko, an e-commerce platform that is focused on supporting and enabling small businesses to sell their products online, according to CNBCAfrica.
It will compete directly with the likes of Takealot, Jumia and Kilimall, stocking products in categories that include fashion, cosmetics, electronics and even beverages.
