Boomplay partners with Merlin on licensing deal

In yet another move by the Chinese-owned music streaming service to stamp its authority on the African music streaming market, Boomplay has sealed a deal with a company that claims to be the world’s largest holder of music rights outside of the three major labels.

Merlin’s membership is reported to include more than 20 000 record labels and distributors in 60 countries. This represents more than 12% of the digital music market.

“Merlin is a globally facing business and I am delighted that our independent members will now be at the heart of Africa’s exciting and fast-evolving music market,” Merlin CEO Charlie Lexton said. “We look forward to working closely with Boomplay, to further developing this partnership, and building deep and lasting connections across the continent.”

This marks the fourth licensing agreement with a major rights holder since the company’s launch in 2015 and the second major deal in the past month after it partnered with Sony Music Entertainment in November. Other significant deals include Universal and Warner.

Boomplay has made its vision clear: to become the largest and most reliable music streaming platform in Africa, and it seems the company is perfectly positioned to reach this goal. It boasts 62 million users and has operations in Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It added 2 million users in the past month alone.

“This is an important partnership, and offers our African listener base a stronger opportunity to access and enjoy a greater range and depth of music," Boomplay head of marketing Africa Tosin Sorinola said. "Boomplay’s vision is to build the largest and most reliable music ecosystem in Africa, and working with Merlin brings us significantly closer to that goal.”

Boomplay director of content and strategy Phil Choi added: “We are so excited to be working with Merlin and introducing the world’s largest network of independent labels into Africa. Boomplay continues to be at the forefront of developing the African music industry and this partnership will enable a far greater range of international artists to access our market.”

Having sealed a deal that will add independents to its platform, Boomplay’s growth trajectory is expected to further increase.

Meanwhile, competition is tightening amid the company’s growth. In addition to African competitors such as MTN’s MusicTime and Spinlet, technology giant YouTube Music is reported to also have its eye on multiple markets on the continent.