SAMRO joins Midem African Forum in Cape Town

“It’s the first time that the forum will be held in Cape Town,” SAMRO CEO Mark Rosin said. “Our general manager responsible for rights holder services, Karabo Senna, will be part of a panel discussion with some international speakers on the day.”

The forum will feature a full day of talks, masterclasses and workshops at Bridges for Music Academy in Langa, Cape Town.

Senna will address the state of the South African music industry, unpacking its challenges and opportunities in a discussion about the state of the South African music industry, its evolution in the past years and how it copes with the main challenges it faces today. The discussion will also touch on how to build sustainable international careers for African artists.

Other topics to be tackled by local speakers and participants from Kenya and the UK, among others, include the state of the global music industry, leveraging streaming to reach global audiences, and international development and the publisher-songwriter collaboration.

The forum is attended by more than 400 industry professionals each year, including record labels, streaming platforms, publishers, artists, politicians, media and official institutions.

Midem, one of the world’s biggest music conferences held in Cannes, France, every year, aims to build the music business of tomorrow by boosting the industry’s know-how and pushing its boundaries while leveraging creativity and talent on a global scale.

“At its core, Midem has always concerned itself with collaboration as a mechanism for problem solving and breakthrough within the industry. This makes forums such as these the opportune time for industry players to network with international counterparts while exploring possible collaboration avenues. This could help in their mission to create bridges between the continent and rest of the world,” Rosin said.