There is no doubt that music production in Kenya has grown enormously. Unlike before, when there were few production companies in the country, now there are many production studios and many highly talented producers who have emerged over the years.

In the early 1990s, the music business in Kenya was at a very low ebb. This was due to declining sales and competition from pirates. The presence of pirates meant that, as a singer, you couldn’t get your money back from your recorded music.

This discouraged many people from recording, and only a few songs were produced as a result.

In the mid-90s, a number of factors emerged that changed the Kenyan music scene. One of the main factors that brought about the changes is the take-off of commercial FM radio stations. As radio stations emerged, there was a huge demand for high-quality songs.

Initially, these radio stations played a lot of western music like reggae, raga, hip-hop, dancehall, and American R&B.

As people were introduced to Western culture, music production studios had to come up with new techniques and tools that would allow them to produce songs of the same quality as those produced in Western countries.

To do this, music producers had to make use of computers, software, mixing consoles, and other tools. The introduction of these tools made music production more affordable and the music produced was of high quality.

Most of the music produced at the time was packaged on cassettes, although there was some music that was packaged on CDs.

As technology developed, multitrack layering became the tool of the new breed of indie producers recording guitars, drum machines, keyboards, and other synthesized sounds directly to computer hard drives.

By the late 1990s, Kenyan music had grown enormously and new production companies had emerged. New singing groups also emerged and began to sing in styles heavily inspired by Western culture. To give a Kenyan touch, the music producers had to add Kenyan melody and instrumentation in the music.

Some of the notable people who revolutionized Kenyan music are: Harrison Ngunjiri, Tedd Josiah and Kalamashaka.

Over the years, Kenyan music production has continued to grow and many new production companies have emerged. Many talented and highly skilled music producers have come up and are making great changes in the Kenyan music industry.