Black Coffee’s ‘Pieces of Me’ shows shift towards digital sales in SA

For an example, look no further than Nkosinathi Maphumulo - better known as Black Coffee - who in recent years has become arguably South Africa’s most successful musician.

Last year was an epic one for the producer, who embarked on a world tour that took him to four continents over four months. Shortly after the tour ended, he won of the Breakthrough category at the prestigious DJ Awards in the global party mecca of Ibiza in Spain, also accepting a special award on behalf of South Africa for Dance Nation Of The Year. This year he has been invited as one of only two African acts to perform at Coachella in April, one of the biggest music festivals in the USA.

With his massive hit ‘We Dance Again’ (ft. Nakhane Toure) still pumping out of every club, car and taxi from Durban to Pretoria, Black Coffee is at the top of his game. The track was named Best Song and earned Black Coffee the title of Best Artist from Apple Music for 2015. These days you're likely to spot the superstar DJ cruising around town in one of his luxury cars, performing countless gigs all over the country for fans and promoters who simply can’t get enough of him. This past weekend (Friday 3 March to Sunday 5 March), for example, he played nine shows in just three days, each no doubt with a healthy pay cheque.

Behind every successful artist is a hard-working and quick-thinking management team, and a large part of Black Coffee’s success can be acribed to the efforts of his manager, Amaru da Costa. Amaru sat down recently with Smart Monkey TV to discuss how he first started working with Black Coffee, the growth of Soulistic Music and the success of Black Coffee's latest album, Pieces of Me.

Interestingly, Amaru points out that the album managed to sell well in South Africa not only in terms of physical copies, but also digital downloads, a relatively rare occurrence in a country like South Africa where fast and affordable internet has not yet reached the majority of people. Amaru notes that Pieces of Me, which went platinum in SA within a month of its release, represents a ‘big shift’ in how South Africans are buying their music, with as much as 40% of the album’s sales being attributed to digital platforms such as iTunes. Watch the full interview below.

Black Coffee celebrates his birthday this weekend with a star-studded party at Taboo in Johannesburg from 10pm on Saturday 12 March. Joining Black Coffee on the house floor will be Culoe De Song, Shimza, Da Capo and others, while a separate hip-hop floor is set to be rocked by the Major League DJs, DJ Dimplez, Ms Cosmo and more.