Warner Music Group has announced a new licensing agreement with artist-first music streaming platform Audiomack, making the record company’s diverse catalogue available on the service across Africa, Canada, and Jamaica for the first time. Audiomack, which boasts more than 16 million monthly active users, will also provide support for WMG’s A&R research activities across these territories.
Alfonso Perez Soto, EVP, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, for Warner Music, says: “This deal is another important step in growing Warner Music Group’s presence in Africa. Under the new deal, not only will our teams benefit from a range
of key A&R, marketing, and data commitments in Africa, but it will also help support our African artists’ international expansion into the US and western markets. Audiomack is incredibly popular and influential in global youth culture scenes and in the process of breaking new artists worldwide, so I’m excited to see our African artists become part of the platform.”
Allan Coye, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy & Business Development, for Warner Music Group, adds: “We launched our first partnership with Audiomack in the US a little over a year ago. In that time, we’ve collaborated to create a lot of value for WMG artists and for Audiomack. We look forward to extending the benefits of this partnership to our many artists across these key regions.”
Among the key regions covered in this partnership are Nigeria, Ghana, JamKenya, South Africa and Tanzania. “The expansion of our partnership with WMG represents the next phase of Audiomack’s consistent investment in the African market,” says Vanessa Wilkins, Director of Music & Data Partnerships at Audiomack. “Leveraging our robust presence in the region, Audiomack will arm WMG A&R teams with the data-based insights they need to identify rising stars and bring new opportunities for growth to the thousands of creators that Audiomack serves.”
Dave Macli, CEO of Audiomack, concludes: “We’re delighted to bring the Warner Music Group catalog to Audiomack’s millions of listeners across Africa. Audiomack’s goal has always been to provide every artist worldwide with a no-cost platform to launch their careers and connect with new fans. As a result of this deal, African artists on Audiomack who decide to partner with Warner will remain on Audiomack and connected to their earliest supporters.”
Over the past few years, Warner Music Group has made many strategic deals and investments that have seen the company become a key player in the African market. In 2018, it launched Warner Music Middle East, which covers Arabic North African countries and is led by Managing Director Moe Hamzeh. In 2019, WMG announced a pioneering partnership with Chocolate City, the most influential independent record label in Nigeria. And earlier this year, WMG announced its investment in Africori, Africa’s leading digital music distribution, music rights management, and artist development company.
Earlier this year, Audiomack, in a quest to bolster its presence across the continent of Africa, opened its first international office in Lagos, Nigeria.
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