Virgin Music Label and Artist Services launches operations in Africa

Since its launch in February 2021, Virgin Music Label & Artist Services has opened divisions in the US, Japan, UK, Germany and across Central Europe. The company’s Africa division will focus on supporting the next wave of independent artists, labels, influencers, and entrepreneurs from the region to help deliver global success for its roster while expanding the reach of music culture from across the continent to the African diaspora, as well as new audiences around the world.

Virgin Music arrives in Africa under the leadership of Universal Music Africa’s director of international development, Guylaine Clery and head of A&R Félix Pea, who also serve as co-directors of the new division. They will report to Universal Music Africa MD Franck Kacou.

The division launches with a catalogue exceeding 1 500 titles, with more than fifty label partners from 25 countries, including Kesi Publishing (Pan-African), Blue Diamond (Benin), Hope Music Groupe (Cameroon) and Hiquest (Senegal). It also boasts releases from more than 100 of Africa’s leading artists including Youssou N'Dour and Touré Kunda (Senegal), Lokua Kanza and Innos B (DRC), Magic System (Ivory Coast) Sagbohan Danialou (Benin), Cabo Snoop (Angola) and Fanicko (Benin) among others.

Virgin Music says it will “combine the support for independent African artists and labels, with making historical and often long out of print African music catalogues available digitally for the first time.”

“Our vision for Virgin Music in Africa is based on an observation that African cultural heritage has not yet fully found its place in the digital world and on DSPs globally,” Kacou said. “Indeed, with some of these services rarely existing in certain territories, this heritage is unequally represented. Our ambition is to make African music, a showcase of all that Africa and its diaspora can offer the world

“We intend to give new life to forgotten songs, our investigation will go as far as digitising them to make them accessible to as many people as possible, everywhere in the world. The creation of these label services will make it possible to preserve, distribute, structure, and promote the African musical heritage of yesterday, today and tomorrow, whilst also providing global distribution services to Africa’s most exciting artists, labels and entrepreneurs.”

Universal Music France CEO and president Olivier Nusse said that the division’s presence on the continent is “in line with our long-term vision, both in terms of our relationship with labels and artists whose talent shines outside Africa, and in terms of developing our activities in this booming region of the world.

“Our expertise and dedicated teams, combined with the Virgin worldwide network, offer a unique platform and range of opportunities, but above all, tailor-made support for the continent’s labels and exciting talents.”