Insyte Weekly: Music streaming trends, Kenya eyes 200,000 adventure tourists in five years, and more

From AI policy shifts to the latest trends in fintech and music streaming, a lot happened in the business world. Here’s a breakdown of some of the week’s top stories.

Media & Entertainment

As reported by Maria Sherman, the global music industry reached a record-breaking 4.8 trillion streams in 2024, a 14% increase from 2023, with the U.S. contributing 1.4 trillion on-demand audio streams. Contemporary music, particularly songs from 2020-2024, dominated, and Taylor Swift emerged as the most-streamed songwriter globally. Pop music became the leading genre in the U.S., fueled by female solo artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter, who collectively drove two-thirds of the streams among the top 100 pop artists. Latin music maintained its growth, with Regional Mexican music overtaking Latin pop as the largest subgenre, amassing 28.57 billion streams. Despite Pop's rise, R&B and Hip-Hop remained dominant in the U.S., accounting for over 25% of all streams, followed by Rock, Pop, Country, and Latin. Key global streaming songs included hits from Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpenter, and Billie Eilish, reflecting the diverse and evolving preferences of listeners worldwide.

Using the same data from the Luminate report, Andre Paine reported that while mature markets like the U.S. and UK experienced steady growth, emerging markets, particularly Asia, saw the largest increases in premium streaming share. Artists from Mexico, Brazil, and India made notable gains, while those from the UK, U.S., and Canada faced declines, with UK artists seeing the steepest drop in global premium streaming share. Domestically, UK acts lost 2.7 percentage points in their home streaming market. Despite challenges, the UK remains the second-largest music exporter globally, with its repertoire most popular in the U.S., Ireland, and Australia. However, UK artists struggled internationally, with no representation among the global top 10 songs, underscoring increased competition in a rapidly expanding global marketplace.

Edtech

As reported in Presswire, EssayGrader, the world’s leading AI essay grading platform, has released EssayGrader 2.5, an update designed to ease the grading workload for educators while ensuring fairness and efficiency. With features like Canvas integration, side-by-side views for grading reports, and AI detection for student submissions, the platform streamlines workflows, saving teachers valuable time. Addressing teacher burnout caused by long hours and increasing responsibilities, co-founder Chan Yerneni emphasized the importance of supporting educators' well-being. Looking ahead, the company plans to launch industry-first AI grading features in February 2025, further revolutionizing education technology.

According to Emma Stokes, Uplevyl has launched the Future Forward Accelerator, an initiative to empower 1,000 women leaders with skills in AI and digital transformation. Leveraging AI-driven tools for leadership development, mentorship, and career growth, the program addresses the stark underrepresentation of women in AI, where only 22% of the workforce and less than 14% of senior executives are women. Participants will gain access to AI leadership frameworks, networking opportunities, expert guidance, and practical tools for integrating AI into business strategies. Uplevyl CEO Shubhi Rao emphasized the program's goal to prepare women for leadership in an AI-driven future, encouraging timely applications via Uplevyl’s website.

Fintech

According to Omar Faridi, Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform, has partnered with Carwow, an online car-changing marketplace, to streamline payments for car transactions. By integrating Airwallex’s Scale Native API, Carwow enables enterprise dealer groups to process payments for cars purchased from private sellers via its online auctions. The integration ensures immediate payments for sellers and simplifies operations for dealers, including same-day payment settlements and managing payments to multiple beneficiaries. Dealers benefit from secure Airwallex accounts for seamless transactions, while sellers receive timely notifications for transparency. Both companies emphasized the partnership's role in enhancing trust, efficiency, and the overall car-changing experience for dealers and customers.

As reported by Sion Geschwindt, LemFi, a London-based fintech company founded in 2021, is revolutionizing remittances by offering fast and affordable money transfers for diaspora communities in North America and Europe to 18 countries in the Global South, including Nigeria, Kenya, China, and India. With over 1 million users conducting $1 billion in monthly transactions, LemFi’s growth is fueled by its zero-fee model (in most regions) and competitive foreign exchange rates. Recently, the company secured $53 million in Series B funding, led by Highland Europe, bringing its total funding to $85 million. Founded by Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran, the platform is expanding rapidly, adding new features and targeting new markets to address the inefficiencies of traditional remittance methods in the $1.3 trillion global remittance industry.

AI

The UK government, under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has unveiled an ambitious AI Opportunities Action Plan, adopting all 50 recommendations from Matt Clifford’s proposal to drive a decade of national renewal. The plan integrates AI into public services, enhancing NHS capabilities, expediting planning consultations, streamlining teachers’ administrative tasks, and improving infrastructure management. By embracing AI fully, the IMF predicts a potential 1.5% annual productivity boost, translating to £47 billion in economic gains per year. Key measures include the creation of AI Growth Zones to fast-track infrastructure development. Additionally, £14 billion in new AI-related investments by Vantage Data Centres, Nscale, and Kyndryl will create 13,250 jobs, supplementing the £25 billion pledged at the International Investment Summit. Starmer emphasized that this initiative positions the UK as a global AI leader, promising transformative public services, increased jobs, and economic growth.

As reported in Tech Central, The US government has announced stricter regulations on the export of AI chips and technology, aiming to maintain its global dominance in AI while restricting access for adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The new rules, set to take effect 120 days from publication, limit AI chip exports to most countries and impose controls on advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) critical for training AI models. However, US allies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon will be able to seek authorizations for building data centers, exempting their projects from quotas. The regulations also impose stringent conditions on companies seeking approval, such as security requirements and human rights adherence. These moves build on a four-year effort by the Biden administration to curb China’s access to advanced technology, although some industry leaders, including Nvidia and Oracle, have criticized the rules as an overreach that could bolster China’s AI capabilities. The regulations also address the global market for AI "model weights," a key element in machine learning.

Tourism

According to Tourism Update, a collaboration between George, Wilderness, Uniondale Tourism, and the George Tourism Advisory Committee is focused on enhancing the George trail network and promoting the region as Africa’s top golfing destination. The committee, made up of tourism stakeholders, works closely with the tourism office to ensure effective marketing and industry feedback. In March 2024, the Section 80 Committee for Planning and Development tasked local tourism with creating a non-profit entity to lead joint initiatives with private partners. This initiative aims to preserve and develop the region's trails while boosting its status, especially the Garden Route as Africa’s “Home of Golf.” The George Joint Marketing Association was launched in October 2024 to support public-private partnerships for regional tourism growth. Progress includes collaborations with trail clubs and businesses, safety initiatives, and the relaunch of the George Trails website, which now includes plans for advertising and membership-based revenue. This effort underscores George's growing recognition as a prime destination for adventure tourism and sports.

As reported by Xinhua, Kenya's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has set a goal to attract 200,000 travellers over the next five years by expanding into the adventure tourism market. The country has launched the Magical Kenya Mountain and Trail Series to diversify beyond beach and wildlife tourism. This initiative includes activities such as hiking, biking, cultural immersions, and farm tours across five counties: Laikipia, Elgeyo Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Baringo, and Nandi. The aim is to promote both local and international tourism, creating economic opportunities for local communities. The Kenya Tourism Board's CEO, June Chepkemei, emphasized that adventure tourism will uncover hidden gems in Kenya's diverse landscapes and cultures, helping to boost tourism revenue. The sector is critical to the country's economy, contributing significantly to foreign exchange alongside tea, horticulture, and diaspora remittances.

Retailtech

As reported by Meghan Hall, AI has increasingly impacted retail, focusing on personalization, backend efficiencies, and omnichannel strategies. At the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference, experts discussed the evolving role of AI, with retailers like Tapestry benefiting from AI tools that reduce coding and collect feedback from in-store associates. While H&M recognizes AI's potential, it has yet to see significant business impact. Personalization is a major focus, with AI moving toward hyper-personalization, but scaling it remains challenging. Retailers are also exploring how AI can enhance legacy technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and computer vision, which help gather insights into customer behaviour and improve store operations, design, and labour productivity.

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