Is Spotify launching in South Africa next week?

Well well well. It seems that Swedish music streaming giant Spotify may finally make a play in South Africa.

The company today sent out invites for a media event taking place in Johannesburg next week, and we’re promised there will be “some news to share”.

Coy? Extremely. But this isn’t the first time Spotify has teased us with news regarding its South African presence.

In 2014, there was a suggestion that Vodacom was set to partner with the streaming music service. But again, this was more wishful thinking.

In September 2017, the company posted a job placement for a South African music editor.

“You will identify and curate first rate music playlist listening- and programming experiences for a multitude of our moods, moments, and genres, demonstrate a passion for performance-oriented analytics, and will have your ear to the ground in the music community, focusing on South Africa,” the post read.

But the latest teaser is perhaps the strongest indication that Spotify will join the ever-growing South African streaming music scene.

MyBroadband, quoting the IFPI, notes that the country’s streaming music industry grew by more than 300% between 2016 and 2017 — this compared to less than 30% for the likes of China and India.

But while Spotify does have the brand recognition, and an ad-supported free tier, it will have to impress on price if it wants to really compete for users and a slice of the country’s streaming revenue and grow its base of 71-million paying users.