TikTok enhances African operations with key promotions for Toyin Mustapha and Nichal Sethi

“The TikTok ride continues,” Mustapha, confirming the development this week, said. “Very happy to share that I’ll be moving back into music partnerships to lead our efforts in the UK & Ireland and SSA. It’s been an incredible journey so far, which started in a coworking space almost six years ago. TikTok has grown significantly since then and plays a pivotal role in getting artists’ music heard.

“I’m really looking forward to helping the incredible team continue to build on all of their great work driving music discovery and making TikTok a true home for artists at every stage as we support as much incredible homegrown talent as possible. I also want to give big thanks to Nichal Sethi and Constantin WU Haoran, head of artist services, ByteDance Music, for a memorable two and a half years starting SoundOn from scratch. I wish them and the whole team the very best as they continue platforming emerging and independent artists and giving them a springboard to get their music out and listened to.”

SoundOn enables artists to upload music to TikTok, earn royalties, and distribute across platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Instagram. TikTok offers 100% royalties in the first year, adjusting to 90% afterwards.

On his part, Sethi said: “Having managed all areas of the UK business for the last two years, I’m very excited to continue growing SoundOn in Europe, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. I am to build upon the many successes we’ve had since launching in various markets while opening and growing in new markets.

“I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing artists and teams so far and I am looking forward to working with many more in the future as we help more independent artists break through on TikTok and beyond.”

Mustapha started at TikTok as a music content manager in 2018. Sethi, meanwhile, was previously the head of artist services in the UK. He joined TikTok’s parent company ByteDance in 2022, after his previous post as a senior director at BMG.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Stahl, who joined TikTok in 2020, has been promoted to the head of artist and label partnerships EMEA. Formerly the head of music operations for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH), Stahl will now oversee TikTok’s music partnerships across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.