Streaming service Mdundo reports 45% surge in subscription revenue as it sets sights on users outside Africa

Mdundo, an Africa-focused music streaming service, has released its earnings for the first half of its fiscal year, showing a 45% YoY increase in subscription revenue and an improvement in EBITDA.

With African music becoming increasingly popular worldwide, the company is putting greater emphasis on users outside Africa.

Mdundo, which trades on the Copenhagen stock exchange and reports earnings in Danish krone, reported subscription revenue of DKK 4.5 million (USD $653,000 at the average rate for 2024) in H1 of its fiscal year, which ended December 31, 2024.

However, ad revenue fell by 44% YoY to DKK 1.4 million ($203,000), which the company said was due to a steep drop in digital ad rates between June and November last year. As a result, total revenue advanced 3% YoY to DKK 5.85 million.

“Despite limited total revenue growth within the period, our transition towards a subscription-led model is accelerating… supported by new partnerships with Glo Nigeria and Vodacom South Africa,” CEO Martin Nielsen and Chairman Jesper Drescher said in a letter to shareholders.

Due to a lack of payment cards in its key African markets, Mdundo relies heavily on partnerships with telecom providers to drive paying subscriber growth, as these partnerships allow users to pay via their phone bill.

At the end of fiscal H1, the company counted 38.8 million monthly active users (MAUs), up 26% YoY and up by 1 million from the first fiscal quarter. Mdundo forecasts 40 million MAUs by the end of the fiscal year (June 30), which would be an 11% YoY increase. The company doesn’t offer a breakdown of paying and ad-supported subscriptions.

Mdundo reported a 36% narrowing of its EBITDA loss for H1, with EBITDA coming in at DKK -2.1 million (-$305,000), compared to DKK -3.5 million a year earlier. The smaller loss is the result of “optimizing the company’s operations around core revenue drivers,” Mdundo said in its earnings report.

The streaming service is now setting its sights on a new revenue driver: African music fans outside Africa.

“Our newly launched Progressive Web App (PWA) targets audiences outside Africa, tapping into the growing global interest in African music,” Nielsen and Drescher said.

Mdundo says it sees “strong interest in the service” from African diaspora communities in the US, UK, Germany, and France.

The company’s track library remains focused on African music, with 87,000 new African songs uploaded during the period, bringing the total library to 772,000 tracks.

“Our transition towards a subscription-led model is accelerating.”

Martin Nielsen and Jesper Drescher, Mdundo

Mdundo has left its guidance for the full fiscal year unchanged. It expects revenue to come in at DKK 12-15 million ($1.66-2.08 million), up 26% YoY at the mid-point.

It sees EBITDA at between DKK -4 million and DKK -5 million, marking an improvement of DKK 1.4-2.4 million compared to the previous fiscal year.

The company says it’s “on track” to land two or three more telco partnerships this fiscal year.Music Business Worldwide