Music Business News: South Africa

Downtown expands presence in Africa, as Sheer rebrands to Downtown Music Publishing Africa

Sheer was acquired by DMP parent Downtown Music Holdings in 2020

Global recorded music revenues hit $29.6bn in 2024, up 4.8% YoY; users of paid music subscriptions reach 752m

Mexico has overtaken Australia to become the World's tenth-largest recorded music market.

Warner Music Africa Francophone hosts songwriting camp in Abidjan

The camp took place months after Warner Music launched WM Africa Francophone, operating in France and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa

From the ‘fair use’ win for Reuters to ByteDance building an AI music beast… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-Up

The biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…

Warner Music Group completes full acquisition of Africa-based music distributor Africori

Company represents more than 7,000 artists.

Streaming service Mdundo reports 45% surge in subscription revenue as it sets sights on users outside Africa

The company now counts 38.8 million monthly active users, up by 26% over the past year

Reservoir acquires rights to catalog of Grammy-winning Lion King composer Lebohang Morake

South African composer strikes music rights deal with Reservoir Media

Live Nation expands in South Africa and Portugal

The Dome in Johannesburg will be Live Nation's first permanent venue in Africa