Nigeria: Freeme Digital launches platform for independents

The company says the new platform is designed to identify and support the most promising independent artists and labels. It will operate under Freeme Digital’s label services and distribution arm, Freeme Music, together with the company’s other divisions, including Freeme TV, The Freeme Space and FM Publishing.

Freeme+ signees will be provided with free distribution to all digital service providers locally and internationally, with the help of a dedicated team that will manage artist accounts, provide help with metadata updates and royalty splits changes, and deliver marketing campaigns for releases. Freeme+ will also give users access to their monthly earnings.

“As the pace around the world picks up for African music, Freeme Music and Freeme+ will be at the forefront of finding new artists and future global stars from the continent and bringing them to worldwide recognition and success,” Freeme Digital founder and CEO Michael Ugwu said.

The first signees include emerging artist Ninety, comedian Basketmouth and sibling duo The Cavemen, who have accumulated more than 10 million streams globally via Freeme since they opened for the Big Brother Naija grand finale show in September 2020. Basketmouth’s soundtrack album Yabasi has been streamed more than 15 million times since its release in November last year. 

Freeme Music has also partnered with Revelator, a distribution and data service provider, to support the company’s digital distribution and data management dashboard, KORA.

The system has been designed specifically for the African market with a mobile-first operating system. In addition to offering track uploads on mobile, it integrates with local mobile payment partners.

“Revelator enthusiastically looks forward to deepening its partnership with Freeme in their new ventures,” Revelator CEO and founder Bruno Guez said. “We are proud to be providing the protocols, platforms and management systems that will help and support new and established African artists realise their full potential on both the local and international stage.”

Freeme Music was launched in 2021 and is Nigeria’s largest distributor of audiovisual digital content. It has worked with big African names such as Davido, Patoranking, Burna Boy and Zlatan as well as streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, iTunes and Shazam.

In December, Freeme Digital collaborated with the Music In Africa Foundation to host live performances as part of the Music In Africa Live initiative.