Wakadinali to Nadia Mukami: List of winners at the 2024 Mdundo Artist Awards

24 May 2024

• The Mdundo Mixer serves as a key platform for enhancing collaboration within the music ecosystem

• Singer Nadia took home the award for the most downloaded female artist of the year.

On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, Mdundo.com, a leading digital music platform in Africa, awarded several Kenyan musicians with prestigious awards during ‘The Mdundo Mixer’ event held at Nairobi Street Kitchen.

The awards ceremony dubbed the Mdundo Artist Awards crowned Wakadinlai as the most downloaded Male artist of the year.

Singer Nadia took home the award for the most downloaded female artist of the year. Vijana Barubaru won the award for highest Growing artist, while Sweetstar received the award for Most downloaded hyoer local artist.

At the same time, Jacob Ayoo took home the award for Best Creative Content.

The awards ceremony happened during ‘The Mdundo Mixer’ – a session that hosted industry leaders to deliberate on the future of the Kenyan music industry - focusing on trends, prospects, and music innovation.

The Mdundo mixer had the following panelists; Anyiko Owoko, Gloria Kaburu, Moriasi Omambia, Nameless, Ryan Majiwa and Bilha Ngaruiya with Muthoni Irungu as the moderator.

Music contributes significantly to employment, entertainment, education, and identity building. However, under-investment, piracy, ineffective music distribution and poor management of intellectual properties have hindered growth among African artists.

This highlights the need for enhancing the economic potential that the music industry holds. Under the theme, "Reaching Africa's Masses through the Power of Music,” advertisers, industry players, and music enthusiasts gathered to explore the transformative potential of music in Africa and beyond.

“The Mdundo Mixer serves as a key platform for enhancing collaboration within the music ecosystem and with brands, aimed at catalysing positive economic growth and nurturing growth in the current dynamic consumer landscape.

Our ongoing commitment revolves around uncovering invaluable consumer motivations and preferences through mutual and meaningful engagements thereby empowering artists and brands. This underscores the profound impact of partnerships between music platforms and brands, driving results that elevate the promotion of Kenyan music content and artists,” said Martin Neilsen, CEO - Mdundo.com.

Mdundo Mixer explores various facets of the music industry such as the role of technology in revolutionising music distribution, consumption and advertising opportunities driven by insights derived from user behaviours and consumption patterns which continue to guide the ever-evolving music scene.

“We have witnessed the transformative impact of building strategic alliances with Mdundo for positive change. Through these partnerships, brands and advertisers contribute to Mdundo’s exponential growth and enhance their visibility and engagement with diverse consumer segments across Africa while building capabilities among artists,” adds Martin.

Mdundo.com reached 34.5 million monthly active users in March 2024 which is attributed to regional expansion with the launch of Mdundohausa in Nigeria and Kalenjin Music in Kenya. Mdundo targets the unique musical tastes of our audience. Kenya’s active users grew by 41% from the previous year.

In December 2023, Mdundo.com in partnership with Safaricom launched a new subscription service that offers Kenyans to access DJ Mixes at Ksh 5 per day. The initiative has improved monetization of music among artists and reshaped user experiences.