{"id":9146,"date":"2026-08-01T15:05:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T15:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/nairobi-has-africas-youngest-streaming-audience-kenyas-royalty-system-spent-the-year-in-court\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T15:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T15:05:27","slug":"nairobi-has-africas-youngest-streaming-audience-kenyas-royalty-system-spent-the-year-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/nairobi-has-africas-youngest-streaming-audience-kenyas-royalty-system-spent-the-year-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Nairobi Has Africa’s Youngest Streaming Audience. Kenya’s Royalty System Spent the Year in Court."},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotify’s June 2026 listening data handed Nairobi a distinction no other African music capital can claim right now. Listeners aged 18 to 24 generated 53.7% of all streams in the city<\/a>, the highest Gen Z share among Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

The curves underneath that number are steeper than the headline. Ywaya Tajiri was up 6,151% year on year with that age group. OnlyMoh grew 5,117%, Virusi Mbaya 4,692%, Codey 3,622% and JayLo 3,015%.<\/p>\n

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Established names moved too. Prince Indah rose 221%, Brandy Maina 205%, Maandy 201%, Nyashinski 147% and Nikita Kering’ 96%. By genre, dancehall grew 95%, bongo flava 75%, gengetone 48% and gospel 37%.<\/p>\n

“Discovery isn’t replacing legacy, it’s expanding it,” said Agnes Opondo, Spotify’s artist and label partnerships manager for East Africa.<\/p>\n

The collection side did not have the same year<\/h2>\n

A CMO, or collective management organisation, is the body that licenses broadcast and public use of music and pays rightsholders. Kenya’s best-known one has spent the 2025-2026 licensing period unable to do that job.<\/p>\n

The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) rejected the Music Copyright Society of Kenya’s licence renewal on 14 October 2025, citing missing certified annual returns and audited accounts for the five preceding years. The Copyright Tribunal discharged the interim orders that had let MCSK keep collecting on 25 November.<\/p>\n

Justice Linus Kassan at Milimani High Court then declined to stay that decision<\/a> and sent the dispute to a full hearing set for 21 July 2026. KECOBO licensed the Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) and the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) for the period instead.<\/p>\n

The harder problem sits underneath the licensing fight. A July 2025 ruling nullified Kenya’s music tariff structures for insufficient public participation, which means even a properly licensed society has no approved rates to invoice against. PAVRISK’s first documented payout, roughly KSh24 million in September 2025, is the honest scale of what is currently moving.<\/p>\n

KAMP has had its own scare. Kenya’s Copyright Tribunal blocked KECOBO from revoking its licence<\/a> while an appeal is heard.<\/p>\n

The ringback line is Kenya’s oldest music money, and it is also disputed<\/h2>\n

Before streaming, Kenyan artists were paid by caller ringback tones. Safaricom’s Skiza service has more than nine million subscribers, and creators have taken 40% of sales since 1 July 2021, up from 30% and from 7.5% at the 2009 launch, per Business Today Kenya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Copyright (Amendment) Act No. 14 of 2022 says telcos should remit a minimum of 52% of ringback revenue directly to artists, cutting premium rate service providers out of the chain. Justice John Chigiti ruled against a petition to enforce that on 19 August 2025. In December, a separate group of five producers was cleared to proceed with a royalties claim against Safaricom, per Music In Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What a Kenyan independent can actually control in 2026<\/h2>\n