NEFCISA
NEFCISA

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) is proud of its partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as a Strategic Implementing Partner (SIP) for its Social Employment Fund (SEF). Through this collaboration, MIAF is running a national programme that is creating jobs, addressing skills gaps, and strengthening South Africa's creative industries — in line with the SEF's overarching goal to generate work for the common good and build community value through employment, social contribution, and inclusive economic participation. Operating under the banner NEFCISA (National Employment Facility for Creative Industries in South Africa), the initiative is recruiting and training participants, matching them with host organisations, and has already placed 1 500 workers across the country — surpassing its original target of 1 000. NEFCISA is delivered through a network of 20 host organisations spanning five provinces, who are actively hosting participants and contributing to work for the common good across South Africa's creative and cultural industries. Key Objectives: Support employment and entrepreneurship in the creative industries. Offer skills development and training programmes. Foster partnerships between public and private creative sectors. Promote South African creativity at both provincial and national levels Foster community development through social contribution.

ACCES
ACCES

ACCES Conference and Showcase Festival is Africa's leading music industry gathering, bringing together the people shaping the future of the continent's music business. Artists, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, policymakers and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world come to ACCES to build partnerships, exchange ideas, discover talent and create new business opportunities. Since its launch in 2017, ACCES has become the continent's premier platform for professional exchange and music market development. Combining a high-level conference with a curated showcase festival, networking, exhibitions and industry programmes, ACCES offers a unique space where creativity meets business and where African music connects with the global industry.

Gender@Work
Gender@Work

Music In Africa Gender @ Work is a three-year training programme aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the African music sector. Launched by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) in April 2019, the programme is connected to the MIAF’s ACCES music conference – a pan-African event held in a different African country every year. This connection enables the programme to reach new participants in a different African country every year. The programme marks the beginning of a more concerted effort by the Foundation to support the participation and inclusion of women in all facets of its programmes and the music sector in Africa as a whole. Over the three years, the programme will aim to address gender imbalances in the sector through training, lobbying, facilitating knowledge exchange and dialogues that foster the interest of women. The broader objectives of the programme are to: Provide industry training for women on critical music industry skills, focusing on: Stage management Electronic music production and recording Music business management Technical knowledge Provide an opportunity for both professional and aspiring women to benefit from the Music In Africa network and its broad range of activities in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Provide a solution-based platform in the form of a round table at ACCES with a view to identify challenges, discuss opportunities and lobby for the interests of female practitioners. Offer participants the opportunity to benefit from programmes offered by MIAF’s partners. Increase access to educational materials. Integrate participants in the broader ACCES programme to maximise experience and exposure to the industry. Record and present training materials on the www.musicinafrica.net, including but not limited to tutorials, templates and other best-practice materials. Communicate women-based themes that support the initiatives and messages of the programme. MAIN TRAINING ACTIVITIES Training in first country (Ghana): In the first year, participants will be trained on all aspects of stage management by a team of experienced stage managers from 10 to 17 November 2019. The programme will offer robust classroom training as well as practical, hands-on training in which participants will also be given the opportunity to manage various aspects of the ACCES performance programme. Training in second country: The second training iteration will take place at ACCES 2020 when the programme will diversify its course to include music production lessons and training on other music business topics. A round-table platform will also be introduced to coincide with the ACCES programme. Training in third country: The third training iteration will take place at ACCES 2021 in a different country, offering an advanced course. HOW DO YOU GET INVOLVED?  As a participant, facilitator or trainer: The programme enrolls up to 12 trainees every year. All opportunities are advertised publicly on this website, and will be added to this page. Please keep checking this page for new calls (below under UPDATES & CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES). As a partner Please contact Claire Metais at [email protected]. APPLY The call for applications for 2020 will be announced soon. The Music In Africa Gender @ Work programme is made possible with the support of the Prince Claus Fund, Siemens Stiftung and Goethe-Institut.

Sound Connects Fund
Sound Connects Fund

For cultural and creative practitioners and organisations operating in southern Africa, access to funding remains a major challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a massive impact on government policy, spending and the economy in general, and has seen spending on culture being moved further down the list of priorities. Further, the cultural and creative industries repeatedly cite four main areas where investment is needed for growth, which are increased visibility, mobility including access to new markets, finance and support structures.

Instrument Building And Repair Project
Instrument Building And Repair Project

Experience the Vibrations African Instruments Exhibition online in 3D

News

Suno reports two million paid subscribers, $300m in annual revenue

26 Feb 2026 - 15:54

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AI music generator Suno has reached two million paid subscribers and $300 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), according to its chief executive and co-founder Mikey Shulman.

Suno co-founder Mikey Shulman.

Shulman disclosed the figures in a LinkedIn post on 25 February, two years after the platform’s launch. He added that more than 100 million people have used the service to date.

“We launched Suno two years ago to let the world feel the joy of making music,” Shulman wrote. “Since then, over 100 million people all over the world have used Suno, from music lovers to Grammy winners.”

The reported $300 million ARR marks an increase from the $200 million annual revenue figure cited by The Wall Street Journal in November, when Suno closed a $250 million Series C funding round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation.

Legal and industry tensions

The announcement comes amid continued legal and reputational challenges for the company.

Earlier this week, a coalition of artist representatives published an open letter titled Say No to Suno, describing the platform as a “brazen smash and grab” and accusing it of using “unauthorised AI platform machinery trained on human artists’ work”.

Signatories included Ron Gubitz of the Music Artist Coalition, Helienne Lindvall of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, and Chris Castle of the Artist Rights Institute.

Suno is also facing copyright infringement lawsuits from major record companies and European music rights bodies. In mid-2024, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Suno and rival Udio on behalf of the three major labels, alleging “mass infringement” of copyright.

Udio has since reached settlements with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, signing licensing agreements for a new AI music platform expected to launch this year. Warner Music Group settled with Suno in November. However, Suno remains in litigation with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as European collecting societies including Koda in Denmark and GEMA in Germany.

Debate has also continued around so-called “walled garden” AI music models. The open letter criticised Suno’s CEO, Paul Sinclair, for opposing closed-platform licensing approaches adopted in some label agreements. When Warner Music Group settled with Suno, users retained the ability to create and download songs, in contrast to restrictions contained in agreements between the major labels and Udio.

Industry hires and positioning

Despite the disputes, Suno has made several senior hires from the music industry. This week it appointed former Merlin chief executive Jeremy Sirota as chief commercial officer. Paul Sinclair, a former Warner Music Group executive, joined as chief music officer in July 2025, while former Spotify executive Sam Berger was recently appointed senior director of Artist Partnerships.

In his LinkedIn post, Shulman positioned Suno as a creative tool rather than a passive listening service.

“Endless scrolling and passive consumption have flattened culture and reduced people’s taste to a homogeneous, lowest common denominator,” he wrote. “People yearn for more, and the future of consumer entertainment is creative.”

He added: “Suno lets everyone actively participate in music culture creation, bringing to life the music that’s inside millions of people. The future is creative entertainment.”

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