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Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz named most popular in Kenya
By
Lucy Ilado
9 Apr 2019 - 10:37
Published under the Creative Commons Licence
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Tanzanian artists reign supreme as they are named the most popular artists in Kenya. This is according to Kenya’s music market analyst Research 8020 Limited’s March 2019 Celebrity Watch report on the top Tanzanian artists in Kenya.
Diamond Platnumz is the most popular singer in Kenya.
Research 8020 Limited collected data between 21 and 31 March 2019 from professional music DJs and radio presenters of urban radio stations. The company also used YouTube views as the proxy to measure the artist’s popularity.
Diamond Platnumz and
Harmonize have been ranked as the first and second most popular artists respectively, by total YouTube views and airplay across Kenyan radio stations.
“Diamond is the most popular musician in Eastern Africa having a significant lead over other musicians in the region," the report reads. "The only other musician who comes close to Diamond’s popularity is Harmonize – these two are the only Platnumz rated artists in the region only rivalled by their counterparts from Nigeria."
Singer
Nandy was the only female solo artist that appeared on the list at number ten. The most interesting revelation was the ranking of Tanzania’s boy band,
Yamato Band at number eight, three years after its disbandment. Two out of four of its members
Mbosso and
Aslay, were featured on the list at number five and six respectively.
“Mbosso has been rising steadily to beat all other former band members including one of the most vocal members, Aslay,” the report reads.
Speaking to Music In Africa, Research 8020 Limited marketing associate Esther Wakarima said the results from the study reveal that the songs, which topped the charts, are those that conform to current musical preferences of mainstream music, which all tends to sound similar.
“We realised there was a gap where there was no scientific data about the ranking and popularity of various artists available either in the public and private domain," she said.
"This data is designed to help artists, as well as managers, promoters or even marketers, benchmark how the industry is performing and make more informed decisions.”
Wakarima said that from the research, the only element that accounts for a song’s popularity in Kenyan is the number of times it has been requested on the radio or played on-demand online.
“Soon, an artist who focuses on a strong online presence may not need TV and radio airplay,” Wakarima said.
The report also revealed that the success of an artist is hugely dependent on the effort from the record label.
“Wasafi dominates are a force to reckon in the Tanzanian music scene. This is because, out of all the top ten musicians, seven are signed to Wasafi WCB [
Wasafi Classic Baby]. The record label is destined to grow significantly,” the report reads.
The report goes further to predict that as much as the bongo flava genre is thriving in the Kenyan music scene, gospel music is on a downturn in Tanzania's music scene.
“Secular musicians dominate the Tanzanian music scene unlike in Kenya where half of the top ten musicians are gospel artists – this implies that the Christian values in the country are under threat.”
To view the full Celebrity Watch Report report Research 8020 Limited, download it below.
Diamond Platnumz
Wasafi Classic Baby Records
research
Music industry in Kenya
