Franck Kacou, Managing Director, Universal Music Africa.

Africa focused music streaming and download service Boomplay has secured a new licensing deal with global music firm Universal Music Group (UMG) that will make available UMG’s catalogue to 47 countries in Africa.

In 2018, UMG became the first major global music company to license music to the service, which has continued to grow its audience reach and influence across Africa in recent years.

According to a statement released to the media, Boomplay’s catalog currently stands at more than 50 million tracks and the service claims to have a base of 50 million monthly active users.

“The renewal and expansion of this licensing deal with UMG, will enable African music fans across the continent to experience the best in both domestic African and International talent,” the companies state.

In December 2020, Boomplay surpassed the 100 million app downloads milestone on Google Play. During this time, Boomplay has supported numerous African artists, across a variety of projects, including: The “concert of the year” - which saw UMG-signed Nigerian singer songwriter Tiwa Savage shut down Lagos with her debut performance of 49-99 and saw Boomplay invest in the first-ever documentary film focused on the history of Afrobeats.

UMG says the agreement underscores its ongoing commitment to support and grow Africa’s domestic music ecosystems, “while also creating new opportunities for Pan-African talent to reach new audiences domestically, regionally and around the world.”

The company adds that over the past five years, UMG has taken a holistic approach to expanding operations across the continent, opening new divisions in Nigeria, as well as becoming the first major music company to establish divisions in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon and Morocco alongside UMG’s longstanding operations in South Africa.

UMG’s African Labels will also be supported under the new agreement including: Def Jam Africa, the continent’s first label dedicated entirely to the best in African hip-hop, afrobeat and trap music which launched in five countries in 2020, Motown Gospel Africa, AI Records, Afroforce1 and other distributed labels including: Kalawa Jazzmee, Aristokrat, Family Tree and Soulistic amongst others.

The agreement also includes artists and labels distributed via Electromode and Ingrooves Music Group within the continent.

Boomplay’s Director of Content & Strategy, Phil Choi, adds: “Since our original deal with UMG, the African music industry has seen exponential growth and made huge strides towards being the next powerhouse that it should be. We’re excited to continue partnering with the UMG team to help promote their African and international artists by bringing their catalogue to even more regions across Africa.”

Franck Kacou, Managing Director, Universal Music Africa, who lead’s Universal Music Group’s activity across French-speaking Africa said, “We are excited for our artists and labels to be available now to music fans across these 25 French speaking countries, but also to reach audiences across the rest of the continent. Africa is rich with artistic talent and musical culture and continues to inspire millions of Africans for whom music is an essential part of their daily lives. Working alongside Boomplay, we will help introduce these talents to new audiences, as the appetite for music continues to grow throughout these countries.”