Warner Music Group has completed its full acquisition of Africori, a prominent Africa-focused music distribution, music rights management, and artist development company.
Founded in 2009, Africori boasts what’s claimed to be “one of the biggest independent songbooks in Africa”, including music from the likes of Kelvin Momo, Master KG, Nkosazana Daughter, Oscar Mbo, and TitoM & Yuppe. The company represents more than 7,000 artists.
WMG first invested in Johannesburg-headquartered Africori in 2020. Warner said that the deal gave it access to the distributor’s catalog and A&R network and enabled it to “establish a presence in many African markets for the first time”.
Warner acquired a majority stake in Africori in 2022 as part of a deal that led to its full acquisition this month.
WMG said today (February 11) that Africori will continue to operate as a standalone entity and Yoel Kenan will remain as CEO, reporting to Temi Adeniji, Managing Director of Warner Music Africa.
Additionally, according to a press release, the companies have “aligned their systems” to allow Africori artists and songs to be upstreamed into the global Warner Music network.
WMG said that the first global success from its partnership with Africori came from the upstreaming of Master KG’s 2020 hit Jerusalema, which has over 435 million streams on Spotify alone.
Other successes include five-time Platinum status in South Africa for TitoM & Yupee’s Tshwala Bam, and with Wanitwa Mos and Nkosazana Daughter’s debut album Makhelwane, which generated 100 million pre-release streams.
Commenting on today’s news, Yoel Kenan, CEO, Africori, said: “We’ve had an incredibly successful few years partnering with Temi Adeniji and Warner Music.”
“The Africori team looks forward to working with the entire Warner Music family as we discover, develop, and upstream the next generation of talent from across the continent.”
Yoel Kenan, Africori
Added Kenan: “From the beginning of the venture, our shared vision of connecting African music with fans from across the world was evident.
“The Africori team looks forward to working with the entire Warner Music family as we discover, develop, and upstream the next generation of talent from across the continent.”
“Over the past four years, we’ve shown that proper investment, synergies and cooperation have created value for artists, but also that Warner Music has helped energize and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of a local partner.”
Temi Adeniji, Warner Music Africa
Temi Adeniji, Managing Director of Warner Music Africa, added: “Today is a landmark moment in our evolution in Africa.
“Over the past four years, we’ve shown that proper investment, synergies and cooperation have created value for artists, but also that Warner Music has helped energize and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of a local partner.
“We’ve upstreamed Africori artists and plugged them into our global network, delivering international remixes and trend-driven cross-collaborations that have helped elevate their careers.”
Elsewhere in Africa, in October, Warner Music Group launched WM Africa Francophone (WMAFR), to operate in France and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.
WMAFR is a collaboration between Warner Music Africa, Warner Music France and Africori.
Sub-Saharan Africa was the fastest-growing recorded music region in 2023, according to the IFPI. (It was also the fastest-growing music region in 2022.)
Recorded music revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa grew by 24.7% in 2023, fuelled by a 24.5% rise in paid streaming revenues.
South Africa was the largest market in the region, contributing 77% of regional revenues after seeing of 19.9% YoY in 2023.
Elsewhere at Africori, the company’s artists have held the No.1 spot on the South African Radiomonitor charts for 11 consecutive weeks, thanks to hit tracks like Sdakiwe Sbali, Ndsize, and Vuka.
Africori-distributed tracks also make up 50% of the BMAT Top 10 rankings and over the past weekend claimed the top six spots on the Apple Music South Africa charts.
Last week, on WMG’s calendar Q4 2024 earnings call, CEO Robert Kyncl noted how the company is “partnering with local players” as part of the company’s “ongoing efforts to generate increased market share” globally.
Other recent deals struck by WMG with local players globally include a minority stake in Skillbox in India and the acquisition of indie label Cloud 9 in Benelux. WMG also recently acquired a minority stake in Brazil-based UGC music platform and distributor Sua Música.Music Business Worldwide