Boost for Kenyan artistes as Safaricom launches Baze Music

Safaricom has announced the expansion of its Baze platform to include music, enabling its customers to enjoy a mobile-first, ad-free, music streaming experience from as little as Ksh.10 per day.

Speaking at the Baze Music Launch, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the platform is looking to give Kenyan artists a new avenue for monetizing their music.

“To further enhance customer experience, we are introducing Baze Music, which will also provide Kenyan artists a new avenue for monetizing their music in addition to the Skiza platform,” said Mr. Ndegwa.

“With such a unique digital platform, I call upon our artists to be part of this journey and utilize this opportunity to earn while showcasing and growing their musical talents.”

New customers will also enjoy a 7-day free trial with 500MB daily.

With over 45,000 local songs and 1.1 million international tracks available, Baze Music will feature a vast collection of local music genres including Gospel, Gengetone, Urban local, Reggae and Bongo Flava, as a way of promoting and supporting Kenyan talent.

Among the key artists whose content is on Baze Music include: two-time Afrima Awards winner Nikita Kering, Gospel artists Daddy Owen & Guardian Angel, secular acts Trio Mio, Jua Cali, Bahati, Mejja, Nviiri The Storyteller, Femi One as well as Ohangla maestro Prince Indah among others.

Content creator Azziad Nasenya addressed her expectations following the expansion, noting that the Kenyan music industry is thriving.

“As a content creator, I love promoting Kenyan local music. We have a lot of talent and potential. On TikTok, most of the sounds that go viral are international, but of late, a lot of Kenyan sounds have been going viral," said Azziad.

The launch of Baze Music is a continuation of Safaricom’s commitment to growing Kenya’s creative and music industry.

In August 2021, the service provider increased the Skiza revenue share by 33%, enabling more than 20,000 artists and content-creators to benefit from increased earnings from all their tunes on the platform.