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Mandoza’s biopic driving up streaming numbers of his music on Spotify
Actor Wiseman Mncube portrays Mandoza in the six-part biopic.
Mandoza’s numbers on Spotify have seen an increase since the release of his biopic on BET. Picture; Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Vathiswa Ruselo)
Since the premier of his biopic on BET last month, there has been a spike in the numbers of people streaming Mandoza‘s music on Spotify.
BET premiered Nkalakatha: the Life of Mandoza, a six-part biopic which delves into the life of the late Mduduzi “Mandoza” Tshabalala, on August 16.
“A look at Spotify data shows a streaming spike between that date to 28 August, with Nkalakatha leading as the most streamed song,” read a statement by Spotify.
“It was also his all-time top streamed song, since Spotify launched in South Africa. It is followed by Respect Life, taken from the Mandoza album.
You will not watch a Springbok rugby game and not hear Mandoza’s Nkalakatha pumping through the speakers.
It is evident even to the layman the song is Mandoza’s best crossover track and now Spotify has released the numbers to evince this.
The song has been streamed just below three million times on the streaming platform. The kwaito legend passed away in 2016.
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Post death impact
After his passing, Back For More a single celebrating his life was released and re-introduced his music to the public.
It was available on Spotify from 2017, but his older millennials and Gen Z fan base were only able to stream his music from 2018.
Indoda, Sgelekeqe – Mindlo Mix, and Tsotsi Yase Zola tally in the top five most streamed Mandoza songs.
Nkalakatha, the album, is the top most streamed album and rounding up the top five albums are Mandoza, Tornado, Phunyuka Bamphethe, and Champion, all of which their positions remained pretty unchanged pre-and post-announcement of the biopic.
“Technology advances within the audio space enables music released pre-streaming to be discovered which in turn aids the growth of the creator economy at large,” said Spotify’s Sub-Saharan Lead, Music Strategy and Operations, Warren Bokwe.
“Our intent is to further make the discovery on the platform more meaningful.”
Age preference
In terms of the ages, 35 to 44-year-olds lead the pack followed by 30 to 34-year-olds when it comes to Mandoza’s listeners. These youths when Mandoza’s songs were hits of the day.
Unsurprisingly, Gen Zs, who were either young or not yet born when the top five songs and albums were released, are trailing behind.
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