Mozambique's G2 to launch new streaming service, Mozik

Mozik has spun out of Maputo-based music publishing and distribution company GMUSIC Lda, which is also a record label, founded by Guerte Geraldo Bambo, popularly known as G2, in 2012.

Having spent the last few years investing in young artists and helping to develop the small Mozambican publishing system, Bambo realised there were challenges when it came to artists effectively monetising their music.

“With three years of experience, something was clear: the Mozambican music 'industry' will never gain relevancy if musicians don’t make money out of their music,” he told Disrupt Africa.

“This is a country where 90% of musicians end up poor, even with the entire country dancing to and singing along to their songs, and it’s sad.”

The aim of Mozik is to change the game and offer musicians a chance to sell their songs online, while assisting in building up the local music industry and helping people find music more easily.

The mobile streaming service – which will have both ‘freemium’ and premium options – has already been soft-launched for 5000 people to test and been reviewed well. An official launch is planned for 25 August, with Bambo and his team now resolving issues with payment systems.

“According to our pricing strategy and our potential market, there is a US$14 million potential content market out there,” said G2.

“People download songs every day due to the availability of free content. 90% of that content is available for free because musicians give them for free - they do so because they don’t have anywhere to give away their music in exchange for money. We want to start exploring that opportunity.”

Bambo has so far been the sole founder of both GMUSIC and Mozik, but is in the process of raising further investment to allow the new music streaming service to scale.

“We are currently launching in Mozambique, with only Mozambican content,” he explained. “We plan to expand to other relevant countries – countries with demand for Mozambican and African music – as well as bring international content to our service. We also plan to integrate our streaming service with cars, offices and homes.”

Originally published on 21 July 2016 on Disrupt Africa