Why The Kenyan Entertainment Industry Needs The African Diaspora

We as Kenyans are constantly saying and shouting Kenya To The World but has anyone ever stopped to wonder how Kenyan music is actually supposed to reach the world?  The obvious answer is of course the internet, but having your music on the internet does not guarantee that your music is going to reach or be seen by a global audience.

After much thought and deliberation, we think that Kenyan artists and creatives must start to rethink their approach when seeking to grow their audience outside of Kenya. Why? Because posting your music or content on YouTube and streaming platforms does not guarantee your music will be listened to by people outside of Kenya, it only guarantees that the music is available.

What we as an entertainment industry need to focus on is not making our work available globally because that has already been made possible by the internet but growing and cultivating an audience of people that listen to Kenyan music and consume Kenyan content outside of Kenya. We are constantly watching Americans on TikTok, but are Americans watching our TikTok videos? We are constantly listening to Nigerian and Tanzanian music here in Kenya, but people in those countries listen to very little of our music. Do you know why? Using Tanzania and Nigeria as examples, artists from both of these countries have been very intentional about making Kenya a market for their music. So when they release new music or start their careers, they PAY to advertise their music to Kenyans as well as hire publicists and PR companies to help introduce them to the Kenyan market.

As Kenyan artists we cannot compete with this if we are only putting out our music online and marketing our music and content within Kenya. Going on a media tour to Tanzania or Nigeria as a Kenyan will not guarantee that your music will be played there.

What was the last Kenyan song to go viral? It doesn’t matter what answer you give; Kenyan songs go viral in Kenya, and if it is big enough, then our neighbors (Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, and Rwanda) will hear it. Unfortunately, this is not enough, and that is the problem.

We want Kenya to the world, not Kenya to East Africa. As Kenyans, we are a great market for other countries music but a horrible market for Kenyan music and Kenyan artists.

The first thing that we have to do to reach other music markets is invest in marketing. As a Kenyan artist, you don’t have to fly to South Africa to reach a South African audience. You can, from the comfort of your home, develop a campaign online that specifically targets the region where you want your music to be heard, and social media ads can help you narrow this down to the age, gender, and location you want to target. We need to start working smart, not hard.

We are constantly being beaten at home simply because we aren’t playing the game, and it is time we get Kenyan music on the world stage where it belongs. We are by no means advocating for Kenyan creatives to ignore the Kenyan audience and go focus on other markets but simply encouraging Kenyan artists to use the internet wisely to promote their music both to Kenyans as well to audiences outside of Kenya.

The last point we are going to stress is the need for Kenyans, not Kenyan artists and creatives, to share Kenyan music with their relatives abroad. The Kenyan entertainment industry needs the African diaspora if it is to get to the world stage. Without an audience in the diaspora, it is very difficult for Kenyan creatives to get streams or even tour outside of Kenya. We need to find ways to package Kenyan music and export it so that it can leave Kenya and be consumed by others outside of Kenya. That is Kenya to the world.