---
title: "Why Spinlet shut down"
description: "Spinlet, a Nigerian music streaming pioneer that began as a Finnish-built music player before being acquired by Nigerian investors and relaunched as a streaming service, shut down around January 2016 after failing to convert its ~2 million downloads into paying subscribers amid intensifying competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Boomplay."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/spinlet"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/spinlet.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/spinlet/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Spinlet shut down

Spinlet, a Nigerian music streaming pioneer that began as a Finnish-built music player before being acquired by Nigerian investors and relaunched as a streaming service, shut down around January 2016 after failing to convert its ~2 million downloads into paying subscribers amid intensifying competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Boomplay.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Spinlet](/graveyard/spinlet)

## Summary

Here lies Spinlet. Built in Finland, revived by Nigerian investors, it aimed to be Africa's first music streaming service. Two million downloads never became paying subscribers, as clumsy card payments and Spotify's arrival closed in. The track ended before the royalties arrived.

Spinlet, a Nigerian music streaming pioneer that began as a Finnish-built music player before being acquired by Nigerian investors and relaunched as a streaming service, shut down around January 2016 after failing to convert its ~2 million downloads into paying subscribers amid intensifying competition from Spotify, Apple Music and Boomplay.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | ShutDown |
| Primary cause | Competition |
| Stage at shutdown |  |
| Lifespan in days | 3652 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

Spinlet aimed to be Sub-Saharan Africa's first music streaming and download service for African artists and listeners, later expanding into VAS licensing and pivoting to offer white-label 'streaming-as-a-service' infrastructure to banks and telecom operators.

## What worked

Reached roughly 2 million app downloads by October 2015, reported about $1.2 million in cumulative revenue, was appointed Nigeria's first ISRC manager by IFPI, obtained an NCC VAS license in 2014, and partnered with Etisalat on a customized music app.

## Early warning signs

Former head of legal services Rotimi Fawole noted that automated recurring card payments were impossible for a long time in Nigeria, forcing manual monthly payments that hurt user retention; the company also churned through four CEOs between 2013 and 2016.

## What happened

Originally developed in Finland in 2006 by brothers Sami and Ville Leino as a music player, the platform was acquired by Nigerian investors via Verod Capital Management (led by Eric Idiahi) in 2011 and relaunched as a streaming service in 2012-2013. Despite strong download numbers, poor local card-payment infrastructure suppressed paid conversion, and the entry of Spotify, Apple Music and Boomplay eroded its 'Africa-focused' differentiation. Spinlet attempted a B2B pivot into streaming-as-a-service for banks and mobile operators but ultimately ceased consumer operations around January 2016.

## Sources

- [The Difficult Business of Music Streaming in Nigeria: Udux, Spinlet](https://techcabal.com/2019/11/15/the-difficult-business-of-music-streaming-in-nigeria-udux-spinlet/?ref=startupgraveyard.africa): TechCabal
- [Spinlet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinlet): Wikipedia
- [Nigeria's Online Music Platform Spinlet Has Generated U.S.$1.2 Million in Revenues, Transitioning to Offering Streaming-As-a-Service](https://allafrica.com/stories/201910070654.html): AllAfrica

## Related pages

- [Spinlet alternatives](/spinlet/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/spinlet)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)