| Sony Music Publishing Signed Ghana’s Lynx Entertainment in June 2024. The Label It Signed No Longer Manages Any Artist. |
Publishing |
Sony Music Publishing, Lynx Entertainment |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Trade Press Reported Asake Signed a Distribution Deal With gamma. in 2025. His Copyright Line Has Read EMPIRE on Every Release Since. |
Distribution |
Giran Republic, gamma., EMPIRE |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Tems Signed to RCA Records and Since ’93 in 2021. Her Pre-Signing Catalogue Still Sits With Her Own UK Company. |
Licensing |
RCA Records, Since ’93, The Leading Vibe UK Limited, Sony Music Entertainment |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Burna Boy’s Masters Sit With His Own Company. Atlantic’s License Excludes Africa. |
Licensing |
Spaceship Entertainment, Atlantic Recording Corporation, Bad Habit |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Wizkid’s Masters Belong to Starboy Entertainment Ltd. UK Companies House Dissolved the Company in June 2026. |
Licensing |
Starboy Entertainment Limited, RCA Records |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Warner Music and Ziiki Media Signed Diamond Platnumz’s WCB-Wasafi to a 360 Partnership in 2021. Warner’s SEC Filings Have Never Listed It as a Subsidiary. |
Distribution |
Warner Music Group, Ziiki Media, WCB Wasafi |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| CKay’s Masters Now Sit With His Own Company. AWAL Holds an Exclusive Licence, Not the Copyright. |
Licensing |
AWAL, CKay Holdings LLC |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Warner Music Group Licenses Its Catalogue to Audiomack Across Africa, Then to 47 More Countries |
Licensing |
Warner Music Group, Audiomack |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Kobalt Signed Mr Eazi’s emPawa to a Worldwide Publishing Deal in 2020. It Administers the Catalogue. emPawa’s Own UK Company Owns It. |
Publishing |
Kobalt Music Group, emPawa Africa |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Sony Music Publishing signs Gallo Music Publishers to a worldwide publishing administration deal that excludes Africa |
Publishing |
Sony Music Publishing, Gallo Music Publishers |
Not disclosed. No fee, commission rate, administration percentage, advance, minimum guarantee or equity was stated by either party in the announcement of 24 March 2021, and no figure has appeared in any corroborating source checked for this record. |
Document |
| Who Owns Tyla’s Masters? FAX Records, Under Exclusive Licence to Epic. The Roc Nation Signing Was Never Confirmed. |
Joint Venture |
FAX Records, Epic Records |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Ticketmaster acquired Cape Town’s Quicket: Live Nation’s subsidiary list names five African companies the announcement did not |
Acquisition |
Ticketmaster, Live Nation Entertainment, Quicket, Knife Capital |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Def Jam Recordings Signed Adekunle Gold in March 2023. By 2025, His Own Label’s Copyright Line Showed He Was Gone. |
Licensing |
Def Jam Recordings, Somtin Different |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Virgin Music Group Extended Its Global Distribution Deal With Gallo and Content Connect Africa. Distribution Moved, Ownership Did Not. |
Distribution |
Virgin Music Group, Gallo Record Company, Content Connect Africa, Arena Holdings, Universal Music Group, Gallo Music Publishers, Sony Music Publishing |
Not disclosed. No consideration, advance, distribution fee or revenue split was stated by any party, and no equity is stated to have changed hands. |
Document |
| Believe Went Fully Private in August 2025: A Founder-Led Consortium With EQT and TCV Now Controls the Company Behind TuneCore’s Africa Business |
Acquisition |
Believe, EQT, TCV |
EUR EUR 17.20 per share (final squeeze-out price); implied total equity value approx. EUR 1.73bn, calculated from 100,703,744 shares in issue, not a figure stated by any party |
Document |
| Def Jam Signed a Joint Venture With Nigeria’s NATIVE Records in 2022. One Artist’s Masters Show What That Actually Means, and One Doesn’t. |
Joint Venture |
Def Jam Recordings, The NATIVE |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Warner Music South Africa acquired Afrikaans label Coleske: Warner’s own filings name three South African companies |
Acquisition |
Warner Music Group, Coleske Artists |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Boomplay’s $20 Million Series A: The Investment That Didn’t Change Who Owns Africa’s Biggest Streaming App |
Investment |
Boomplay, Maison Capital, Seas Capital |
USD 20,000,000 |
Document |
| Kobalt Partnered With Nigeria’s Inner Circle Publishing in November 2025. Neither Side Named the Deal Type. |
Publishing |
Kobalt Music Group, Inner Circle Publishing |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Sony Music France buys Lusafrica and Africa Nostra, the label and publisher holding Cesária Évora’s catalogue |
Acquisition, Catalogue Sale, Publishing |
Sony Music Entertainment France, Sony Music Publishing France, Lusafrica, Africa Nostra |
Not disclosed (both companies report in EUR) Not disclosed |
Document |
| OSN takes control of Anghami in $38 million cash-and-content deal that hands a Kuwaiti pay-TV group the board |
Acquisition |
Anghami, OSN Streaming Limited, Panther Media Group Limited, Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) K.S.C.P., Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. |
USD 38,000,000 |
Document |
| Trace, Africa’s Biggest Afro-Urban Media Group, Went From a Swedish Broadcaster to US Private Equity for €30m |
Acquisition |
Trace, TPG Growth, Modern Times Group MTG AB, Evolution Media, Satya Capital |
EUR 30,000,000 |
Document |
| Kobalt Changed Hands in July. The UK Register Names Brookfield and Larry Mestel, Not Primary Wave. |
Acquisition, Investment, Publishing |
Kobalt Music Group, Primary Wave Music, Brookfield Corporation, Francisco Partners, Inner Circle Publishing |
Not disclosed by the parties |
Document |
| Kupanda and TPG Growth’s 2019 Investment in Mavin Records: The Deal Before the UMG Deal |
Investment |
Mavin Records |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Universal Music Group Completes $775m Downtown Deal, Taking In Africa’s Largest Independent Publisher |
Acquisition |
Universal Music Group, Virgin Music Group, Downtown Music Holdings, Sheer Publishing Africa |
USD 775,000,000 |
Document |
| EMPIRE and Olamide’s YBNL Nation sign joint-venture distribution and publishing deal |
Distribution, Joint Venture, Publishing |
EMPIRE, YBNL Nation |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| UMG’s East Africa Unit Buys the Melodica Catalogue, Not the Shop That Built It |
Acquisition, Catalogue Sale |
Universal Music Group, Melodica |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Mdundo raises DKK 8.9m as a proposal for 40% of the company goes unanswered |
Investment |
Mdundo, JVD Holding ApS, Holdingselskabet af 29. juni 2010 ApS |
DKK 8,905,738 |
Document |
| Universal Music Group takes majority control of Mavin Global |
Acquisition, Investment |
Universal Music Group, Mavin Records |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Reservoir Media buys publishing rights to Lion King composer Lebo M’s catalogue |
Acquisition, Publishing |
Reservoir Media |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Warner Music Group completes full acquisition of Africori |
Acquisition |
Africori, Warner Music Group |
Not disclosed |
Document |
