Spotify to launch in 85 new markets including Ghana

Spotify unveiled plans to launch in 85 new markets over the next few days, areas that represent more than 1 billion potential new listeners, according to the company.

The company made the announcement Monday at its Stream On event for creators and partners. The 85 new markets — which include Pakistan and Bangladesh — span Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Spotify now supports more than 60 languages natively, after adding native support for 36 new languages.

Currently, Spotify is available in 93 markets, after the company officially launched in South Korea, the world’s sixth-largest music market, on Feb. 1. The biggest single country Spotify remains shut out of is China, which is not unique to Spotify.

Spotify’s total footprint will cover 178 markets with the additional countries and territories, which the company says is its biggest concentrated market expansion to date.

“Having more listeners on our platform creates more opportunities for artists and podcasters to make a living from their work. And more creators means more audio content for our users to discover,” said Alex Norström, Spotify’s chief freemium business officer. “This creates an essential flywheel between creators and listeners that is the foundation of our business — and in the end, it is what will propel the audio industry forward.”

As of the fourth quarter of 2020, Spotify reported 345 million total monthly active listeners (up 27% for the year), including 155 million Premium subscribers (up 24%). The service offers more than 70 million individual tracks, including over 2 million podcast titles.

Here’s the full list of 85 new markets Spotify is launching in:

Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Curaçao, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Macau, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

According to Spotify, its full global music catalog will be available in each of the new markets and the entire podcast catalog will be available in the majority of them. In each new market, “we will work with local creators and partners to expand our music offerings and deliver a Spotify experience that meets the unique needs of each market,” Spotify said.

Source: ghanaweekend.com