Directory
Labels, distributors, publishers, studios, promoters and platforms working across African music. Listings are editorial and free, and every one is checked against its sources before it appears.
Media
Pan-African music sector non-profit registered in South Africa and based in Johannesburg, which runs the musicinafrica.net portal and the ACCES conference.
Distributor
Nigerian tech-and-distribution company in Enugu offering music distribution to 100+ platforms alongside web, hosting and domain services.
Distributor
Nigerian music and entertainment media company founded in Lagos in 2006 by Ademola Ogundele.
Label
Lagos record label at the centre of a disputed 2021 rights claim against Bella Shmurda; name and structure inconsistently recorded across sources.
Distributor
Independent global distributor with six staffed African offices, from Lagos to Johannesburg.
Distributor
ORB Entertainment — self-serve Nigerian/African music distribution platform with naira payouts, sourced only to its own site.
Label
Independent Nigerian record label founded and fronted by rapper Phyno, with no dedicated company website.
Distributor
Apple-owned artist-services and distribution company with named African bases and roster.
Label
Nigerian record label founded in 2023 by the artist Shallipopi.
Technology
Cape Town ticketing platform, founded 2011, acquired by Ticketmaster in 2024, operating across six African markets.
Distributor
Lagos-based music distribution and publishing company serving African rights holders.
Collecting Society
Trade association for Nigerian record labels, currently litigating over who is owed Nigeria's private-copying levy.
Publisher
Music publishing arm of Dapper Group, handling copyright licensing and royalty collection for its signed writers.
Distributor
Songdis — Lagos-founded self-serve music distribution and publishing platform, backed by CMU-Africa's NBA Africa accelerator.
Label
Recorded music arm of Sony Group, operating Sony Music Entertainment Africa from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos.
Media
Nigerian pan-African music TV channel, launched 2009 and distributed in 55 African countries.
Media
Nigerian music radio network launched in Lagos in 2016, part of the Soundcity media brand.
Label
Runtown's own Nigerian label and 360 entertainment outfit, launched in 2018 after his split from Eric Many Entertainment.
Distributor
Independent US distributor with named South African and West African teams.
Media
Lagos urban music radio station on air since 2003, operated by Megalectrics.
Label
Lagos artist-development label founded 2024 by Gilbert "A-Q" Bani on a startup-equity model; announced Spyro as a signee in 2024.
Music group
Port Harcourt holding company for a group of Nigerian music businesses spanning distribution, distribution technology, publishing, editorial and radio.
Label
Lagos music and culture publication founded in 2016, part of Native Networks alongside Native Records and the NATIVELAND festival.
Distributor
Sony-owned distribution and label-services company with offices in Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi.
Live & Events
Live Nation-owned ticket marketplace. Entered the South African market in 2022 and acquired Cape Town platform Quicket in July 2024.
Technology
White-label distribution infrastructure from Port Harcourt, letting labels and aggregators run a distribution business under their own brand.
Distributor
Self-service distributor owned by Believe, with offices in Lagos and Johannesburg.
Media
Nigerian music-data and charts company founded in Lagos in 2020.
Media
Lagos television and media production company behind Project Fame West Africa and Next Afrobeats Star, and operator of the in-house label U-Records.
Distributor
US self-service music distributor that launched a dedicated Nigeria market entry in December 2023.
Label
Recorded music and publishing group running Universal Music Nigeria, Universal Music Africa and Def Jam Africa, and majority owner of Mavin.
Label
The South African arm of Universal Music Group, based in Johannesburg since 1997.
Distributor
Viral Playlists — self-serve Nigerian music distributor and playlist-pitching service headquartered in Benin City.
Label
Recorded music and publishing group controlled by Access Industries, running Warner Music Africa and owning Africori outright.
Media
Nigeria's first Pidgin-language radio station, founded in Lagos in 2007.
Label
Olamide's independent record label, distributed globally by EMPIRE.
Distributor
Johannesburg-based African music distributor and content aggregator.
