African music streaming service Boomplay is coming to Zim after expanding Universal license

African music streaming service Boomplay is coming to Zimbabwe and 46 other territories after it agreed on a licence expansion with Universal Music Group (UMG).

This is a big jump for Boomplay as it went from 7 countries to 47 almost overnight. The deal looks like a response to Spotify’s expansion in new territories and I think the folks over at Universal thought it prudent not to be left out after the rapturous welcome Spotify got.

Who is in Boomplay’s catalogue?

Boomplay is an afrocentric music streaming service and features Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), Nasty C (SA), Mi Casa (SA), Sauti Sol (Kenya), Cassper Nyovest (SA), Toofan (Togo), Tekno (Nigeria), Suspect 95 (Côte d’Ivoire), Brenda Fassie (SA), Tenor (Cameroon), Black Coffee (SA), Dena Mwana (DRC), Singuila (DRC), Locko (Cameroon), Hugh Masekela (SA), Charlotte Dipanda (Cameroon), Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Alpha P (Nigeria), Tomi Owo (Nigeria), Cysoul (Cameroon), Major League Djz (SA), Fior De Bior (Côte d’Ivoire), Larry Gaaga (Nigeria), Prince Kaybee (SA).

It also has international artists by way of Universal music group and include names like Drake, Billie Eillish, Ariana Grande, Da Baby, The Weeknd and more.

What is the app like?

Having spent more time than I care to admit on Spotify over the last couple of weeks, I can say Boomplay is alright. Its a lot better than I expected it to be and installation, registration to playing music was pretty quick.

After registration users get the premium version of the app for a month and and when that expired you’ll be getting ads. The premium version costs US$1.99 which is a full dollar cheaper than Spotify.

However, from my exploration of the app, it doesn’t have a catalogue as big as Spotify’s so US$1.99 make sense. You can check out Boomplay for yourself with the links below:

Boomplay (Android, iOS)

Other Terittories where Boomplay is now available:

• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cameroon
• The Central African Republic
• Comoros
• Congo
• DRC
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea Conakry
• Guinea-Bissau
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Sao Tomé and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Tchad
• Togo
• Uganda
• Zambia