Bringing African Music to the World
By Dr Yaya Moussa
Warner Music Group’s (WMG) recent acquisition of a majority stake in Africori, Africa’s leading digital music distribution, music rights management and artist development company, is the latest sign of growing global interest in African music. 2021 was a record-setting year for the African music industry, and 2022 is expected to be its biggest yet, with the popularity of African music around the world having reached an all-time high. With great musical talent and a youthful population, it is not surprising that investors, international companies, and social media platforms are showing interest. Who will get a larger piece of the pie will determine how the music industry will evolve, along with the continent’s economic and cultural landscape.
From Afro-pop to Congolese rumba, all the way to South African Amapiano, today African music is being heard in all corners of the world, thanks to new technology and more widespread access to internet connectivity. As a result, streaming of African music hit record levels in 2021. Wizkid’s ‘Essence’, later remixed by Justin Bieber, one of the best-selling music artists of all time, was the first Nigerian song to break the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart and to receive a platinum plaque. Other Nigerian artists to receive international recognition recently include Ckay, who hit the top spot on Billboard’s emerging artists chart with this breakout single ‘Love Nwantiti’, whilst Olamide’s ‘UY Scuti’ broke records with 13 million streams in the first six hours of release on Apple Music.
African artists have also had great success live too, such as Wizkid’s sell out performances at London’s O2 Arena, Burna Boy headlining the Hollywood Bowl, and, both artists headlining the first-ever Lost In Riddim Afrobeats festival in Sacramento, California, in October 2021.
A booming industry, together with growing demands for new content from audiences around the world, inevitably presents appealing monetisation opportunities for some of the biggest names in the industry. Major digital streaming platforms did not miss the beat, expanding their catalogues with new licensing deals from record labels across several African countries. From top streaming services Apple and Spotify, to rising ones such as Chinese owned Boomplay or Audiomack, all have strategically secured African artists to their platforms. Multiple music companies and major record labels are also strategically positioning themselves to earn a share of Africa’s growing music earnings.
Partnerships between African artists and international platforms and labels offer great opportunities but also come with their own challenges. Indeed, great talent needs support to cut through the noise. But African music production companies need to maintain a high level of autonomy and in some cases remain independent to ensure that their productions remain original and authentic. Such is the direction taken by Africori, which will continue to operate as an independent company, while presenting artists with the opportunity to connect with Warner Music’s global network to achieve international success.
Not all that glitters is gold. Behind the shimmer of the stage, many African artists, especially those who haven’t reached global billboard charts, find themselves in financial difficulty. If many artists have lost income due to Covid lockdowns, some complain about low earnings from platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Others struggle with the dominance of the informal economy, unregulated supply chains, and poor copyright and intellectual property laws.
Despite the multiple challenges, African music has the potential to continue growing and reach new audiences across the globe.
