Google Play Music has launched in South Africa, marking the music platform’s first entry into Africa. The service includes all three ways to listen on the Google music platform: uploading to personal libraries, buying tracks as digital downloads, and using the subscription streaming service. The South African launch comes at an introductory price of 49.99 Rand ($3.50); normally the membership costs $9.99.
There is a growing music business in South Africa. Research by PricewaterhouseCoopers found solid projected growth for radio, but digital music is only expected to reach 14% of the nation’s music retail sales by 2017.