Ayoba, the African super app, has announced the addition of a new music section to its app. The new ayoba Music webpage has a much better appearance, with an improved player and fantastic artist/playlist images.
Users are encouraged to update their apps to the most recent version available on ayoba.me to see for themselves. Users will also have access to the complete feature set of the Superapp following this update, which includes the recent addition of voice and video calling to the present chat and channels offering.
‘Building a music service in Ayoba has been a fantastic journey,’ says CEO Burak Akinci. ‘We started the year with 40 000 monthly music users and are now up to 300 000 monthly music users.’ South Africa, Nigeria, and Cameroon are the top three countries, and we expect this trend to continue.
The new music site in ayoba will improve music discovery in the app even more, and we expect positive feedback from users”.
Simfy Africa, the company behind the ayoba app, has also announced that its standalone music streaming service, MusicTime®, will be discontinued. MusicTime debuted in South Africa in December 2018 with MTN as a partner, and was then expanded to other MTN territories in succeeding years.
Simfy Africa has chosen to integrate music into ayoba rather than split their efforts by running two separate apps. New users will be unable to download the MusicTime® app this week, while existing users will be able to do so until November 30, 2021. MusicTime is a spinoff of the Simfy Africa music streaming service, which was decommissioned earlier this year.
We’d like to thank all of our Simfy and MusicTime users for their continued support. The music industry and rival environment have altered dramatically since the Simfy service was introduced ten years ago. With the music offering in ayoba, we see more room for expansion,’ says Akinci.
‘A direct comparison of the growth of the MusicTime® and ayoba music services over the last year reveals a clear preference for the ayoba service, both in terms of user numbers and plays.’ The music homepage redesign in ayoba is the first in a series of app updates that will reflect our increased focus on music and content.’
Ayoba’s music offering includes 20 localized playlists per territory per week. Nigerian music fans, for example, have a different experience than Cameroonian music fans. Weekly playlists are updated with new tunes, and favorites are swapped. South Africa has had the most success with ayoba music to date, with Nigeria and Rwanda close behind.
This year, the service has received millions of plays, with Master KG as the most popular musician on the continent and Summeryomuthi by Blaq Diamond as the most popular song. The same song is the most popular in South Africa, with Makhadzi as the most popular artist. Olamide is Nigeria’s most-played artist, with Zinoleesky’s Naira Marley as the most popular song.
Sarkodie is the most popular artist in Ghana, and DarkoVibes’ Inna Song is the most popular song. Diamond Platinumz takes home the award for Rwanda, and the top song is Ed Sheeran’s South of the Border (with Camila Cabello and Cardi B). Cameroon and CongoB have been listening to Fally Ipupa’s top song, Rosny Kayiba’s Mon Meilleur Ami.
Top Songs and New Music Fridays playlists from Ayoba have proven to be popular across all territories. Gloire à Dieu for Cameroon and CongoB. Ziyaduma! are two other notable top playlists. Olamide’s Birthday Playlist in Nigeria and Ghana’s Top 50 Songs are both available in South Africa.
