SAMRO and CAPASSO partner with TikTok

6 Apr 2021 - 11:51

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Chinese short-form video app TikTok has partnered with the Composers Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO) and the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) on a multi-year licensing deal.

CAPASSO chief operations officer Wiseman Qinani Ngubo.

The deal will leverage off CAPASSO’s partnerships to cover 58 African territories with a repertoire from 21 separate collective management organisations. CAPASSO will administer the agreement for more than 4 500 of its members and associates.

“We are happy to have reached an agreement with TikTok in order to ensure that pan-African songwriters are taken care of on the platform,” CAPASSO chief operations officer Wiseman Qinani Ngubo said.

“As a social music platform, TikTok has revolutionised how we engage and consume music. TikTok allows fans to co-create, contextualise and reinterpret their favourite songs alongside their favourite artists and drives engagement and a deeper appreciation of songs in an era when music consumption is increasingly divorced from context.

“With the increasing spotlight on African music, more African songwriters are poised to reach global superstar status and TikTok will play a major role in showcasing their talents to the world.”

TikTok head of music publishing licensing and partnerships Jordan Lowy said: “TikTok is delighted to enter into this agreement with SAMRO and CAPASSO, ensuring that songwriters, composers and publishers across Africa can benefit when their music is used on TikTok. This is an exciting region for us with a huge pool of incredible talent, and we look forward to connecting them with our global audience”.

The move follows increasing consumption of music by African songwriters and performers on the platform. In September last year, the hashtag #amapiano had reached more than 100 million views on the service, with new and established musicians sharing their music with a global community. ‘Jerusalema’ by Master KG featuring Nomcebo was also a global sensation on TikTok in 2020, with Jerusalema Challenge videos amassing more than 1 billion views.

The video service recently signed licensing agreements with Sony Music, Warner Music Group and Merlin, and renewed its global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group in February.

SAMRO