ACCES 2022: Working towards building a sustainable pan-African music market

The fifth edition of ACCES brought together hundreds of music industry professionals from Africa and beyond to get up close and personal with the local music industry, which welcomed the pan-African conference to the East African country for the first time.

The Dar es Salaam edition was hailed by many delegates as a well-curated and inclusive industry event for African music. Featuring a much-improved exhibition hub space and a dynamic showcase and conference programme, ACCES drew a strong list of influential players from different countries, including players from prominent companies like Spotify, Ditto Music, Universal Music, Sheer Publishing and Electromode, among many others. Over the three days, delegates – some of whom travelled by bus from as far as the DRC – came under one roof to network, share information and work together towards streamlining the music industry in the region. The conference also offered a wide range of curated activities for participants, including workshops, pitch sessions and awards.

“Dar es Salaam was the perfect host city for ACCES 2022 and we couldn’t be happier about the enthusiastic reception of the local industry and our newfound partners, who were instrumental in making this event a resounding success,” MIAF director Eddie Hatitye said. “Apart from educational and information-sharing sessions designed to upskill our attendees, we’re also hearing that a number of showcasing artists are already being booked to perform internationally. This has always been our main aim at ACCES – to provide opportunities for African music professionals, such as musicians and music creators, to take their careers to the next level.”

ACCES is a music industry event that goes to a different African city every year to foster partnerships and new business connections between industry professionals such as artists, talent managers, festival organisers, record label executives, digital distributors and media practitioners.

This was the second time ACCES took place in East Africa, after the conference went to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2018. ACCES was also held in Dakar, Senegal (2017), Accra, Ghana (2019) and Johannesburg, South Africa (2021).

Showcases and honorary awards

As is ACCES tradition by now, the 2022 event began with live music performances that were the culmination of a thorough curatorial process, which began in early 2022 via an open call targeting musicians based in African to apply to showcase in Dar es Salaam in front of international talent buyers and various other music industry players. Some 14 acts and more than 70 individual artists were selected by an ACCES curatorial committee comprising six professionals working across the African music industry.

The musical acts that gave memorable performances at the Brake Point Makumbusho live venue on opening night were TaraJazz Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kalam (Burkina Faso), Flying Bantu (Zimbabwe), Barnaba (Tanzania) and Ylb International (Tanzania), who were followed on Day 2 and Day 3 of the showcase programme by the equally captivating Tofa Jaxx (Tanzania), Oumar Konate (Mali), Vitali Maembe (Tanzania), BCUC (South Africa), DJ Joozey (Tanzania), Joyce Babatunde (Cameroon), SinaUbi Zawose (Tanzania), Wamwiduka Band (Tanzania) and Sholo Mwamba (Tanzania).

But the biggest highlight on opening night, for those who find it important to pay homage to legends that helped shape music in their country, was when Tanzanian musicians Saida Karoli and DDC Mlimani Park Orchestra were awarded the Music In Africa Honorary Award.

The award has become an essential part of ACCES and affords the MIAF an opportunity to shine a spotlight on musicians who are integral to the story of African music. In 2017, Baaba Maal was the first musician to receive the award for his immense contribution to Senegalese and African music. Since then, it has been awarded to Eric Wainaina (Kenya, 2018), Ebo Taylor (Ghana, 2019), Bibie Brew (Ghana, 2019), Vusi Mahlasela (South Africa, 2021) and Thandiswa Mazwai (South Africa, 2021).

The conference

The ACCES 2022 conference programme took place at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) where about 50 speakers took part in presentations, panel discussions, Q&A sessions and workshops to discuss the latest developments in the African and global music industries. The conversations centred on the entire music ecosystem, including digital, copyright, live music, artist management, mobility, education, revenue streams, and more.

Notable speakers at the conference included musician and Magic System Foundation chairperson A'Salfo (Ivory Coast), Sony Music Publishing Nigeria managing director Godwin Tom (Nigeria), Spotify head of music in sub-Saharan Africa Phiona Okumu (South Africa), musician Octopizzo (Kenya), TuneCore head for West and East Africa Chioma Onuchukwu, Gallo Music Group general manager Rob Cowling (South Africa), producer Mr Sakitumi (South Africa) and Universal Music Africa head of label and publishing Pit Baccardi, among other big industry names.

JNICC was also the location for ACCES 2022’s exhibitions, where leading music companies and cultural institutions showcased their services and products to about 1 130 ardent delegates representing 45 countries, who attended the conference to network and connect with relevant professionals and organisations. Companies and organisations that exhibited at ACCES 2022 included the Copyright Society of Tanzania (COSOTA), Ditto Music, The Orchard, Sheer Publishing Africa, Art for Social and Economic Development in Africa (ASEDEVA), the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), Action Music Academy, TuneCore, Boomplay and many others.

“ACCES provides a focussed music space where music professionals from different areas of the industry can come together and find opportunities for their careers or for the careers of the creatives they represent,” MIAF projects officer Claire Metais said. “We saw many independents with a thirst for knowledge coming to ACCES to hear about the current state of the music industry and what it could look like in the near future. This was the more theoretical side of the conference, as it were, while our workshops on production and music in media gave participants practical knowledge about the music-making craft itself. All in all, ACCES 2022 was a far-reaching event that had something for anyone interested in improving their knowledge and skills. We also hope that these key conference talks can lead to policy changes to improve the lives of musicians in Tanzania and the whole of Africa.”

Empowering women

The MIAF’s Gender@Work programme, which is held in conjunction with ACCES, was another strong element at the Dar es Salaam edition. The programme is a pan-African initiative aimed at upskilling and increasing the participation of female professionals in the African music sector, and its current focus is to develop skills in stage management.

This year, 14 participants went through intensive workshop sessions in the week leading up to the conference, after which they worked directly with artists, artist managers, stage managers, stagehands, sound engineers, lighting engineers and other production service providers who brought the ACCES stage to life.

“The training covered a wide range of modules including festival planning, stage design, sound engineering, stage lighting, traditional instruments and technical rider analysis,” Gender@Work lead facilitator Carine Tredgold said. “The girls received a ‘tool box’ of templates and scheduling guides to use in their future careers. The modules also offered advice on how to address social issues and gender imbalances in order to develop professional recognition in our industry. It was a real privilege to watch these girls grow in confidence every day and bond into an incredibly efficient and supportive team that went on to manage all aspects of live music production for ACCES 2022. A big thank you the Music In Africa Foundation for this amazing opportunity. What an impact it has made on these young professionals; you will most certainly see them shining brightly in the future!”

The next edition of ACCES will take place in 2023. Visit the ACCES official website for venue updates.

View the ACCES 2022 gallery here.