Hello everyone,

I hope you are doing well. Let’s try to find happiness and hope in this Covid-19 season. The pandemic has hit very hard cultural and entertainment industries, more specifically the music industry. Music executives are finding solutions with Artificial Intelligence and virtual performances. In April 2020, US rapper Travis Scott performed a live set inside the online shooter Fortnite and more than 12m players took part in the spectacle. Many more are expected to have watched via streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube according to The Guardian.

The African market does not respond to the same rules. On the continent, performances are expected to be allowed by public authorities in the upcoming months. Live streaming is not yet structured in African countries. After Apple Music and Audiomack Africa, Spotify is expanding into over 80 new markets including key territories across Africa such as Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya and Angola (among many African countries). The question is : will they be able to change the standards of music consumption in Africa ? Who are the customers ? The conversation started this afternoon on Clubhouse with Joey Akan, founder of Afrobeats Intelligence.

If you are interested in these topics, feel free to follow me on twitter. It is the place where I curate content about music.

For now, let me share with you my “Afro-French” playlist.