More than 10 years ago, Spotify was founded to give consumers something they could not easily access — music any time, for every mood and situation. With our commitment to providing everyone connected to the internet with legal and easy access to music from all over the world, we were able to break the tight grip that piracy had on our industry and restore the growth of global music through paid on-demand streaming. Amid a transformative digital landscape, audio proves itself to be a formidable force through its increasing consumption, innovation and impact. Audio is the medium for 2021 and beyond. With a growing internet penetration rate in Egypt and with Egyptians spending almost half of their waking time surfing the internet, it is clear that consumers are constantly seeking personalized content that they can connect with. This is the perfect space for audio, as a companion that seamlessly connects us with ourselves and with others. If we look at music, it is an integral part of people's lives and a universal language that we all share. With that in mind, we are always looking for new ways to deepen engagement and create value for our listeners. We have been powering music discovery and learned that personalisation was the key to being the best audio platform for listeners. AS a result, we want to make it easy for any and all listeners to have a seamless user experience. This is why we are creating a hyper-personalised discovery of music that keeps driving higher and higher engagement. We also want the user experience to be as frictionless as possible, so we have made your favourite playlists more easily accessible on the Home screen, which is always being updated based on your listening activity. Our focus on discovery also ensures that audiences are able to access their favorite artists or genres from all over the world – for example, the growth of K-Pop has been really fascinating to watch amongst our Arab listeners. The performance of Arab artists outside of the MENA region has been skyrocketing too, with rising Jordanian star Issam Alnajjar topping Spotify Viral Charts around the world, and Moroccan rapper Inkonnu making it to number 7 on Spotify's Global Top Debut Album charts. The future of audio also focuses on creating the best user experience while paying attention to listeners habits. We capture more than half a trillion "events" on our service every day from listeners interacting with audio on Spotify, and leverage that data to power the recommendations that users know and love. Back in 2016, we introduced our own Gaming Hub, packed with music and OSTs for all gaming sessions. With the growth of e-gaming in Egypt and with a population of over 17 million gamers that play live games streamed on the internet, we made it easy for them to access a variety of playlists to soundtrack their gaming anthem. Through innovation, strategic partnerships and app integrations, our ambition is to take users on a journey to reevaluate audio and get more out of their lives with content from creators, in the right place at the right time. So it might not come as a surprise that we are currently available on more than 2,000 devices from more than 200 brands. We have also seen that most of our users are coming in on their phones, where in Egypt around 32 million people are using mobile map services. It is really important for us to always think mobile-first. We have already established innovation in this area with the launch of Spotify Connect back in 2013 – allowing your phone to become your universal remote for all of your listening experience. The future of the music industry is a very exciting one, and one that changes very fast. It is amazing to see how the industry has experienced a bounce-back from the piracy doldrums of ten years ago, with revenues closing in on the all-time high of the 90s CD boom. With more than 345 million users around the globe, Spotify is one of the world's most-used apps, and we want to be your go-to platform for audio. For us, the future is audio and all our innovations will be towards becoming the world's leading audio platform for listeners, creators and partners. Claudius Boller, Managing Director of Middle East and Africa
