Global brands are taking note of Africa’s music and talent

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, July 22 (Reuters) – International media and music manufacturers are racing to say a stake in Africa’s music market as web and smartphone penetration popularize artists and genres far past Africa’s borders.

Firms are paying attention to world curiosity, with Common Music Group (UMG.AS)launching Virgin Music Africa Label & Artist Servicesin June for unbiased African labels and artists. The service will digitise out-of-print music catalogues to faucet into the rising marketplace for the sounds and chart-toppers of the continent.

Music streaming platforms together with Spotify (SPOT.N), Apple Music and Boomplay are additionally getting into the market with devoted and expanded choices and companies.

The curiosity from world corporations is coming as African artists headline festivals and live shows comparable to, Afro Nation in Portugal and Africolor in France and genres together with Afrobeat, Rhumba and Amapiano are topping charts.

Franck-Alcide Kacou, managing director of Common Music Africa and the brand new Virgin Music Africa Label, mentioned it has over 15,000 music titles, 50 accomplice labels and round 100 artists from 25 nations.

The artists embrace Senegal’s M’balax maestro Youssou Ndour, Congo’s Lokua Kanza, Magic System from Ivory Coast and Cabo Snoop from Angola.

Kacou added that the service will digitize and distribute African music presently in vinyl, cassette or CD codecs to succeed in at present’s youthful viewers.

“It is an actual alternative for nations which might be additionally experiencing this digital transformation to combine all this heritage into the cultural provide that’s made on platforms,” Kacou informed Reuters in Abidjan.

He mentioned the service will assist unbiased labels in digital distribution who’re on the lookout for a wider community.

“Discovering a producer on the continent and distributing cultural works is an actual problem for a lot of skills, most of whom don’t obtain truthful remuneration for his or her musical works,” Kacou mentioned.

Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by Bate Felix; Enhancing by Josie Kao

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