MTN brings digital music conference to Accra

The first MTN Digital Music Conference event will feature as main speaker South Africa's Munya Chanetsa, an online music distributor and A&R person who will speak about making money from music.

The event will focus on the state of music distribution and opportunities for artists in the under-exploited digital space in Ghana.

“Total streaming revenues increased by 41.1% and, for the first time, became the single largest revenue source,” the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported in 2018. “By the end of 2017, there were 176 million users of paid subscription accounts globally, with 64 million having been added during the year.”

Although global music revenue is still affected by piracy, the gap between digital and physical music revenue has widened. “Digital revenues grew 19.1% to $9.4 billion and, for the first time ever, accounted for over half (54%) of total recorded music industry revenues worldwide. The global surge in streaming was a key driver, up 41.1%, with paid subscription audio streams up 45.5%. Following a 20.5% decline in revenue, digital downloads accounted for 20% of global digital revenue overall,” IFPI said.

On the other hand, revenue from physical revenues has declined, said IFPI, “by 5.4%, a slightly higher rate than the previous year (4.4%). Consumption of physical formats declined in the majority of markets.”

Also speaking at the event are music industry professionals Jonilar and Fifi Adinkra, both from Ghana.

Tickets to the event are available online here.