Music Business News: South Africa Analysis News Amapiano streams exploded by 5,668% on Spotify between 2018 and 2023 Spotify credits pandemic lockdowns for the sudden success of this South African musical genre News Recording Academy to expand in Africa and Middle East The expansion aims to provide educational resources, advocate for intellectual property rights, and celebrate the musical heritage of these regions News AI ‘will bring the biggest revolution the creative sector has seen,’ Björn Ulvaeus says in CISAC’s latest annual report The global umbrella group of collection societies is urging rightsholders to fight for their rights in the age of AI News Nick Ghelakis and Nicole Thomas named Co-Country Managers of Virgin Music Group, South Africa South Africa is the largest recorded music market in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region News Africa-focused streaming service Mdundo reports 41% jump in active users, as Nigerian currency crisis pressures revenue The Nigerian naira fell 38% in Q1, putting pressure of Mdundo's revenue even as user growth continued unabated Analysis News Amapiano and Afrobeats videos saw nearly 4 billion global views on Vevo in 2023 Music video network Vevo recorded a 56% YoY increase in viewership of Afrobeats and Amapiano videos globally in 2023 News South African music industry veteran Chris Ghelakis dies, aged 70 Ghelakis founded Electromode in 2001, which was acquired in 2021 by Universal-owned Ingrooves (now Virgin Music Group) Interviews Key Songs in the Life of… Denzyl Feigelson The founder of Platoon (and AWAL, and a key architect of Graceland), Denzyl Feigelson, maps out his life and career in seven songs 1 2 … 10 Next
Analysis News Amapiano streams exploded by 5,668% on Spotify between 2018 and 2023 Spotify credits pandemic lockdowns for the sudden success of this South African musical genre
News Recording Academy to expand in Africa and Middle East The expansion aims to provide educational resources, advocate for intellectual property rights, and celebrate the musical heritage of these regions
News AI ‘will bring the biggest revolution the creative sector has seen,’ Björn Ulvaeus says in CISAC’s latest annual report The global umbrella group of collection societies is urging rightsholders to fight for their rights in the age of AI
News Nick Ghelakis and Nicole Thomas named Co-Country Managers of Virgin Music Group, South Africa South Africa is the largest recorded music market in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region
News Africa-focused streaming service Mdundo reports 41% jump in active users, as Nigerian currency crisis pressures revenue The Nigerian naira fell 38% in Q1, putting pressure of Mdundo's revenue even as user growth continued unabated
Analysis News Amapiano and Afrobeats videos saw nearly 4 billion global views on Vevo in 2023 Music video network Vevo recorded a 56% YoY increase in viewership of Afrobeats and Amapiano videos globally in 2023
News South African music industry veteran Chris Ghelakis dies, aged 70 Ghelakis founded Electromode in 2001, which was acquired in 2021 by Universal-owned Ingrooves (now Virgin Music Group)
Interviews Key Songs in the Life of… Denzyl Feigelson The founder of Platoon (and AWAL, and a key architect of Graceland), Denzyl Feigelson, maps out his life and career in seven songs