Developing independent Africa
As penned by Charlotte Bwana
Africa has a rich diversity of musical genres from reggae, hip-hop and rap to classical and gospel with an appeal to English-speaking and francophone listeners the world over. African music is fast spreading in the global space across board, you can tell that the continent’s biggest acts this year have been well sought-after entertainers for different festivals, we’ve seen African Artists like Black Sherif, Kizz Daniel etc have the most shazamed song worldwide.
The growing young African population have also become taste makers that cannot be ignored, we’ve got a generation of creators that have been empowered by the internet and streaming services, there’s no stopping them!
Over the past five years we have seen the arrival of digital service providers in Africa, Audiomack saw a growth opportunity in Africa and set up an office in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020.
In July 2021, Audiomack, extended its monetization program to reach more artists around the world, especially in Africa. This was a step towards empowering independent artists in Africa, AMP allows artists to monetize their music and receive money directly from the Audiomack creator dashboard.
That meant that independent artists in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya could now access their streaming revenue directly without checking with intermediaries like record labels and publishers.
Audiomack also have programs like #UpNow, an emerging artist program dedicated to spotlighting and promoting the next generation of global music superstars where we’ve featured OmahLay, Ayra Starr and recently Black Sheriff. Each quarter Audiomack picks a minimum of three artists across all genres to provide them with specialized marketing, editorial programming, social promotion, playlisting, custom videos, and experiential events.