For many upcoming musicians in Kenya, recording a song is only the beginning.
The harder part starts after the music is released. Artists must find an audience, build a following, earn money from their work and convince promoters to give them a stage.
In an increasingly crowded digital market, simply having a good song is no longer enough.
Getting heard in a crowded market
Streaming platforms and social media have made music distribution easier, but they have also increased competition.
Independent musicians can release songs without a traditional record label and reach listeners beyond Kenya. A 2024 study on Kenyan independent artists found that streaming services provide opportunities for global exposure, but artists need digital skills to understand algorithms, analytics, curation and audience engagement.
That creates another challenge for new musicians.
An artist may spend money recording, producing a video and promoting a release, only for the song to struggle to gain visibility.
“The challenge is no longer just making music. It is getting people to notice it.”
Kenyan listeners streamed more than 200 million hours of music in 2025, according to recent industry reporting, while the average listener reportedly engaged with 124 different artists every month.
Those numbers show the size of the opportunity, but also the competition facing emerging acts.
Streaming does not always mean income
Getting streams is another part of the problem.
Streaming has created a new route to monetisation, but smaller artists can find it difficult to generate meaningful income without large audiences.
Research on independent Kenyan musicians has highlighted concerns over relatively small royalty payments from free streaming services.
There are signs that digital platforms are still putting money into the ecosystem.
Between January and June 2025, Kenyan artists collectively received KSh64.5 million through Mdundo, according to KBC. The figure was distributed among 150,000 creatives.
For an upcoming artist, however, building enough streams to make a living remains a significant hurdle.
The struggle for live performances
Live shows remain another important route to income.
A study of Kenya’s music industry found that live performances were the most significant revenue source among the artists surveyed.
But securing those performances can be difficult for artists without an established following.
Promoters often need evidence that an act can attract an audience before offering a slot. This can leave emerging musicians caught in a cycle: they need exposure to build a following, but need a following to secure bigger performance opportunities.
Kenya’s live music market generated about US$1 million in ticket sales in 2024, with PwC projecting a 2.1 per cent annual growth rate through 2029.
For new artists, the opportunity is there.
The challenge is getting through the door.
More than talent
For many upcoming musicians, building a sustainable career now requires more than musical ability.
They must market themselves, understand digital platforms, develop an audience and create relationships with promoters.
The modern Kenyan musician is therefore not only an artist. They are also a marketer, content creator and businessperson trying to turn attention into a sustainable income.
