Safaricom partner with Kenyan artists in Baze music launch

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. This comes months after the telco launched Baze, a mobile-first, video-on-demand service that offers a wide selection of local and regional short-form videos in the entertainment world. As a way of promoting and supporting Kenyan talent, Baze Music will feature a vast collection of local music genres including gospel, Gengetone, urban local, reggae, and Bongo Flava, with over 45,000 local songs and 1.1 million international tracks available. Among the key artists whose content will be on the platform include two-time Afrima Award Winner Nikita Kering, gospel artists Daddy Owen and Guardian Angel, Trio Mio, Jua Cali, Bahati, Mejja, Nviiri The Storyteller, Femi One and Ohangla maestro Prince Indah among others. Safaricom Chief Executive Peter Ndegwa said the telecommunication firm's goal is to provide Kenyans freedom, choice, and control over the content they consume. “I am delighted our customers have enjoyed a variety of content on Baze since the platform was launched in May 2021. To further enhance their 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,” he said. Baze Music is accessible via *544*55# or www.bazemusic.co.ke, with three affordable subscription plans available. These include an all-day pass with 50mb at Sh10, a weekly pass with 300mb at Sh50 or a monthly pass with 1.5gb at Sh200. New customers will also enjoy a 7-day free trial with 500mb daily. Customers using Baze Music will be able to set any of the tracks that they love as their Skiza tune directly from the portal. “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,” added Mr. Ndegwa. 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 percent, enabling more than 20,000 artists and content-creators to benefit from increased earnings from all their tunes on the platform.