Midem: Africa is an artistic volcano

The statement comes upon the release of a white paper following the Midem African Forum, which took place with the support of the media group Trace, La Culture avec la Copie Privee and the French collection body Sacem.

“Africa is an artistic volcano,” Deniot said. “There have been occasional eruptions when major artists have broken through on the international stage, but there could be so much more. African music, in all its amazing diversity, still has incredible potential to reach international audiences and we want Midem to support that potential.”

As a form of support, Midem is working with African music professionals and government bodies to transform this potential to reality. Events geared towards this have taken place in Lagos (Nigeria), Johannesburg (South Africa) Brazzaville (Republic of Congo);and Abidjan (Ivory Coast).

The white paper mentioned the opportunities made available by the increasing number of social media users and the rise of telecom companies dealing in digital distribution.

“It is social media, however, that has galvanised the entrepreneurial spirit among African artists,” the paper says. “They use mostly YouTube and Facebook to reach domestic and international fans to promote new releases and planned tours.”

The view was confirmed by Nigerian act Yemi Alade who was a guest at this year’s Midem. “Social media is a huge part of the music. It is like your own TV station,” the ‘Johnny’ singer said. “If you stop posting, you will lose your audience. There are more than a million fans who want to know what Yemi Alade is up to. I let them know where I am and what I am doing. And for every song, there must be an amazing video to illustrate the story.”

To take advantage of the number of Internet users, “Africa should develop opportunities to launch its own regional streaming-music platforms. Today, the region’s artists still depend on mobile phones’ caller ring-back tones to generate any income from recorded music.”

There is also a need for a better network of professionals across the continent. This would make it easier for artists to tour. A passport recognised by different countries would also be useful to artists intending to work beyond their own countries.

As part of educating stakeholders, Midem noted the need for awareness of copyright issues, especially for music makers. “Right owners of all levels need to appreciate the difference between registering a song’s copyright with the ISRC [International Standard Recording Code] for the master recording, and with the ISWC [International Standard Musical Work Code] for the publishing rights, and that in some regions like Europe, the copyright survives 70 years after your death, and the recording rights last 70 years from the date of communication.

“This requires skills in metadata, the coding system that identifies the artists, the labels, the publishers, the recording studio and any other information that acknowledges a song’s origins.”