| Khaligraph Jones’s Phonogram Credit Read ‘Brian Omollo/TML’ Until 2022. Since April 2025 It Names ONErpm, and the Exact Wording Changes Release to Release |
Distribution,Licensing |
Blu Ink Corp, ONErpm |
Not disclosed. No advance, royalty rate, term length, minimum guarantee or reversion date appears in any source checked, and neither party has published anything about the arrangement. |
Document |
| Kamo Mphela Owns Her Masters Through Her Own Imprint. Africori Has Distributed Every One of Them Since 2021, Through Warner’s Full Takeover of the Distributor |
Distribution |
Kamo Mphela Entertainment, Africori, Warner Music Group |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| EMPIRE Formalises Its South Africa Push. California’s Filings Show Ghazi Shami Holding Every Officer and Director Slot, With No Outside Board Seat |
Distribution |
EMPIRE |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Falz’s BahdGuys Has Owned His Masters Since 2009. Four Different Distributors Have Passed Through the Same Catalogue, and Not One Handoff Was Announced |
Distribution |
BahdGuys Entertainment, Jungle Entertainment, Dvpper Digital |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Bella Shmurda’s Masters Sit With Dangbana Republik. The ONErpm Exclusive Licence Line Disappeared From His 2026 Releases. |
|
Dangbana Republik, ONErpm, One Word Global Records Limited, EMPIRE |
NGN Not disclosed. No consideration is stated for the Dangbana Republik/ONErpm exclusive licence in any source obtained. Two other figures appear in this record and neither is a value for that licence: NGN 200,000,000 was claimed as damages by One Word Global Records Limited in August 2021 and no source establishes it was awarded or paid; NGN 20,000,000 is the buyout the artist said in December 2022 he paid to exit an earlier three-year contract after one year, uncorroborated by the counterparty. |
Document |
| Universal Music Group licensed its catalogue to Mdundo for ‘key African territories’ in July 2022 |
Licensing |
Mdundo, Universal Music Group, Universal Music Africa, Universal Music South Africa |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| KiDi Left Lynx Entertainment in 2025. His 2026 Masters Read ‘Black Boy Joy, Under Exclusive Global License to Encore Recordings’, and Ten Lynx-Era Releases Now Carry a Waka Music Credit |
Distribution, Licensing |
Black Boy Joy, Encore Recordings, Lynx Entertainment, EMPIRE, Waka Music Limited |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Who Owns Teni’s Masters? Sugar Mummy Does. Four Companies Have Licensed or Distributed Them Since 2024 |
Distribution, Licensing |
Sugar Mummy Records, Artist House, Dr Dolor Entertainment, gamma., Dvpper Digital |
Not stated in any source checked Not disclosed. No party has disclosed a price, advance, royalty rate or revenue share for any of the four arrangements covered by this record. |
Document |
| Virgin Music Named Reekado Banks a Nigeria Launch Partner in 2023. His Catalogue Has Run Through Three Other Companies Since, None of Them Announced |
71 |
Virgin Music Group, Banks Music |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Jnr SA’s Recorded Catalogue Moved From Universal to Sony When Kabza De Small Signed Him to Tech Hub |
Distribution |
Tech Hub Music (Pty) Ltd, Tambor Projects (Pty) Ltd, Sony Music Entertainment Africa (Pty) Ltd, Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA) |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Paradise Sound System Claimed an Exclusive Licence to Zakes Bantwini’s Ghetto King. Apple Music’s Credit Line Names Universal, Not Paradise. |
Licensing |
Mayonie Productions, Paradise Sound System, Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA) |
ZAR R2,402,754 (claimed damages in Paradise Africa Distribution's particulars of claim, not a disclosed transaction value) |
Document |
| Sony Music Entertainment Africa Has Distributed Tyler ICU Since 2020, and the Licensor on the Credit Line Changed From New Money Gang to Baby Blue |
Distribution, Licensing |
Sony Music Entertainment Africa (Pty) Ltd, New Money Gang Records, Baby Blue Entertainment (Pty) Ltd |
Not disclosed Not disclosed. No source located states any consideration, advance, royalty rate, equity interest or fee for any of the arrangements described here. This desk does not infer a value from a credit line. |
Document |
| Davido Said Every DMW Artist Would Move to Nine+ Records in April 2024. Peruzzi’s Masters Dropped the DMW Credit in 2021 and Have Read ‘Exclusive License to ONErpm’ Since August 2022. |
Distribution, Licensing |
Davido Music Worldwide, Nine+ Records, UnitedMasters, ONErpm |
Not disclosed. Neither the announcement nor any credit line names consideration, advance, royalty rate, term or equity split. |
Document |
| Universal Music France Promised Caroline France Would Distribute Every Aristokrat Artist in 2020. No Verified Release Has Ever Named It. |
Distribution,Publishing |
Aristokrat Records, Universal Music France, Universal Music Publishing Group, Virgin Music Group |
Not stated Not disclosed |
Document |
| DBN Gogo’s Zikode Records Carries a Universal Music Credit. The Registries Do Not Agree on It |
Joint Venture |
Zikode Records, Universal Music South Africa |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Universal Music Group Bought Chabaka Music in August 2023. Its 2026 Def Jam North Africa Launch, Covering the Same Region, Never Mentions It. |
Acquisition |
Universal Music Group, Chabaka Music, Virgin Music Group |
Not disclosed Not disclosed. UMG's own release and five independent trade accounts read by this desk (Music Business Worldwide, Music Week, Arab News, Complete Music Update, the Music Business Association) state that UMG agreed to acquire Chabaka. None discloses a price, and none states whether the transaction covered all of Chabaka's equity or a stake in it. |
Document |
| Teddy Afro Terminated His Sewasew Multimedia Contract and Returned 33m Birr |
Settlement |
Sewasew Multimedia, 2F Capital |
33,000,000 ETB returned by the artist to Sewasew Multimedia, comprising a 25,000,000 ETB advance received roughly four years earlier plus accumulated bank interest. The original partnership was valued at 50,000,000 ETB. One outlet puts the interest component at exactly 8,000,000 ETB, but attributes that figure to unnamed sources and is not relied on here. |
Document |
| gamma. Acquired Vydia in December 2022. Zagadat Capital Is Not Named in Vydia’s SEC Filings |
Acquisition |
gamma., Vydia, Inc. |
USD – |
Document |
| UnitedMasters and Sarz’s 1789: a distribution licence, not a stake in the company |
|
UnitedMasters, 1789 Entertainment |
Not disclosed. No announcement, feature or regional report found names a fee, advance, royalty rate, equity stake or valuation for this agreement. |
Document |
| Aristokrat Sold Burna Boy’s Early Masters to Spaceship Music in 2024. A 40 Per Cent Shareholder Is Suing to Undo It. |
Catalogue Sale |
Aristokrat Records, Spaceship Entertainment, 960 Music Group, Warner Music Group |
Not stated in any source checked Not disclosed. Nigerian press describes it only as a multi-million dollar transaction, with no figure given by any party. |
Document |
| GIMS’s Masters Now Credit Black Belt and Name Believe’s AllPoints as Exclusive Distributor. The Imprint That Held Them for Five Years, Géante Rouge, Is Not a Registered French Company. |
Distribution |
Black Belt Music, AllPoints, Believe, Géante Rouge, Play Two, Chahawat, Sony Music Entertainment France |
Not disclosed. No consideration, advance, royalty rate or term length has been stated by any party. |
Document |
| Reservoir Media Acquired Rights to Lebo M’s Publishing Catalogue in December 2024. Not the Lion King Masters, Which Disney Was Never Selling |
Publishing |
Reservoir Media, Inc. |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Pheelz’s Finesse Is Licensed to Warner, Not Owned by Warner |
Licensing |
DC Talent Agency Ltd, Warner Records Inc. |
USD Not disclosed |
Document |
| Mr Eazi Launched the Africa Music Fund With 88mph in July 2020, Targeting $20 Million |
Investment |
emPawa Africa, 88mph |
USD $20 million (target for the initial investment round; no source confirms the round closed at this figure) |
Document |
| Crunchbase Dates Audiomack’s Only Funding Round to August 2018. Its Own SEC Filing Puts the Money in November 2017. |
Investment |
Audiomack, Off Road Capital Management |
USD 6,428,000 |
Document |
| MUSIC Put More Than $25 Million Into LVRN in January 2023, Earmarked in Part for West Africa. Its First Nigerian Signing Carries an LVRN Label Credit, Not the Publishing Deal Most Coverage Named. |
Investment |
LVRN (Love Renaissance), MUSIC (Matt Pincus) |
USD 25,000,000 |
Document |
| KeyQaad Says Omah Lay’s 2026 Album Came Out Via Sire Records and Warner Records. Warner’s SEC Filing Lists Only One of Them as a Company. |
Distribution, Licensing |
KeyQaad, Sire Records, Warner Records Inc., Warner Music Group |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Sony Music Entertainment Africa Licensed Alikiba’s Masters From KingKiba Music in 2016. It Never Owned Them, and Since 2021 the Credit Reads Ziiki Media Alone |
Distribution, Licensing |
KingKiba Music, Sony Music Entertainment Africa (Pty) Ltd, Kings Music Records, Ziiki Media, ROCKSTAR4000 Music Entertainment |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Sauti Sol Announced Leaving Universal in 2022. Their Copyright Line Said Otherwise |
Licensing |
Sol Generation Records, Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA) |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Ms Gideon Signed to Sony Music Africa in January 2026. The Credit Line on Both Her Releases Since Names a South African Company, Not a Namibian or Pan-African One |
Distribution |
Sony Music Entertainment Africa (Pty) Ltd, Sound African Recordings, ERA Music Group |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Tems Owns The Leading Vibe UK Limited Alone. It Has Not Appeared on a Release Since Her 2021 RCA Deal. |
|
Leading Vibe |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Spaceship Incorporated Limited and Spaceship Publishing Limited Are Controlled by Burna Boy and His Mother, UK Register Shows |
|
Spaceship Entertainment |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Timaya’s DM Records Has Switched International Distributors Three Times Since 2020. None of the Switches Were Announced |
Distribution |
DM Records Limited, ONErpm, EMPIRE |
Not disclosed Not disclosed |
Document |
| Didi B, 92i Africa and Universal Music Africa: A 2021 Signing, a 2024 Lawsuit and a 2026 Settlement |
Distribution, Settlement |
Universal Music Africa, 92i Africa |
Not disclosed |
Document |
| Waka Music Limited Licensed 18 Wendy Shay and Fameye Releases to ONErpm Between 2023 and 2025. The Credit Reads ‘Exclusive License’, Not a Sale. |
Distribution, Licensing |
Waka Music Limited, ONErpm |
Not disclosed. No advance, royalty split, term length, minimum guarantee or reversion date appears in any source checked, and neither party has published anything about the arrangement. |
Document |
