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The music streaming giant, Spotify, is now available in Ethiopia. The new development allows users in Ethiopia to access over 80 million tracks, including 4.7 million podcasts, for free.
Users in Ethiopia will also be able to access Spotify in Amharic. Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, with 456 million users, including 195 million subscribers, across over 180 markets. In Africa, Spotify was initially only available in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia.
In 2021, Spotify kicked off its expansion into another 38 African countries, adding hubs like Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Senegal. However, Ethiopia was still not on the list. While it was still unavailable in the region, many Ethiopians managed to listen to songs on Spotify using a VPN. However, Ethiopian artists have been releasing their songs on Spotify, hoping to reach the massive Ethiopian diaspora community.
In Ethiopia, the local streaming scene is also picking up after several years since the first platforms such as Arif Zefene and Awtar were launched. Samrawit Fikru, the founder and CEO of RIDE, is also venturing into the streaming business with Sewasew, a multimedia distribution app that brings music, podcasts, and audiobooks onto one platform. Last month, Teddy Afro joined Samrawit Fikru’s streaming platform Sewasew and will be releasing his upcoming album exclusively on the Sewasew app. Spotify, the world’s leading audio streaming service, has now made its platform available in Ethiopia. This allows users in the country to access over 80 million tracks, including 4.7 million podcasts, for free, and in the Amharic language.
Prior to this expansion, Spotify was only available in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia in Africa. In 2021, the company expanded to an additional 38 African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Senegal, but Ethiopia was not included in this expansion. Despite its previous unavailability in the region, many Ethiopians were able to access Spotify through the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).
While Spotify’s arrival in Ethiopia is new, the local streaming scene has been growing in recent years, with the launch of platforms such as Arif Zefene and Awtar. In addition, Samrawit Fikru, the CEO and founder of RIDE, has created Sewasew, a multimedia distribution app that offers music, podcasts, and audiobooks on a single platform. Teddy Afro, a popular Ethiopian artist, recently joined Sewasew and will release his upcoming album exclusively on the app.
