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Directory

African Music Companies

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.

  • 626 companies
  • 13 categories
  • 57 markets

Banks Music

Independent recording imprint of Nigerian artist Reekado Banks, launched 2018 after leaving Mavin Records.

41

Banku Music

Recording imprint built around Nigerian artist Mr Eazi; the only matching UK company trading under the name was dissolved in 2020.

Not established

Beam Group

Short-lived South African entertainment holding company owned by the rapper AKA, wound down in 2018.

Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa

Publisher

Beggars Music

London music publisher, signing songwriters, administering their copyrights and placing sync licences.

London (registered office: Elsley Court, 20-22 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 8BE), United Kingdom beggarsmusic.com

Distributor

Believe

French digital distributor and label-services company with named African operations via its TuneCore offices in Lagos and South Africa.

Paris, France believe.com

Live & Events

Big Concerts

South African concert promoter founded in 1989 by Attie van Wyk, in which Live Nation Entertainment took a controlling interest in 2016.

South Africa bigconcerts.co.za

Big Dada

London record label imprint, named phonogram owner on Sampa the Great's 2017 release.

London, United Kingdom bigdada.com

Big Dreams Entertainment

Independent Cameroonian label and management house founded by Gervais Ngongang in 2014; produced singer Locko's early career before his move to Universal Music Africa.

Yaounde, Cameroon

Label

Big Talent Entertainment

Kampala label founded and run by Eddy Kenzo, and the phonogram credit on the bulk of his recorded catalogue.

Kampala, Uganda

Black Boy Joy

Phonogram rights holder credited on recorded masters, with its home country not established.

Not established.

Black Major

South African music agency working in artist career development and in film and branded content production.

Not established, South Africa blackmajor.co.za

Label

Black Market Records

US-founded record label (Sacramento, 1989) whose African arm, based in Kenya since c.2018, signs Gengetone and Arbantone acts including Mbuzi Gang and Fathermoh.

Kenya blackmarketrecords.com

Blacko Management

The label credited jointly with EMPIRE on Black Sherif's phonogram lines since 2022; its relationship to his management company RBA is not publicly documented.

Ghana

Label

Blaqboy Music Corporation (Pty) Ltd

South African record label founded by DJ Maphorisa, operated as a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment Africa.

South Africa

Blownboy Entertainment

Lagos imprint announced by the Nigerian singer Ruger in February 2024 on leaving D'Prince's Jonzing World.

Lagos, Nigeria

Label

Blowtime Entertainment

Lagos recording imprint launched under Mavin Records in 2019 by producer Baby Fresh, home to Crayon until 2025.

Lagos, Nigeria

BLS Prod

Angolan production company and record label founded by and run for singer-producer C4 Pedro, based in Luanda.

Luanda, Angola

Label

Blue Note Africa

Jazz imprint launched 2022 by Blue Note Records and Universal Music Africa to sign African jazz talent.

South Africa

Label

Blue Note Records

New York jazz label that signs and releases jazz recordings and lends its name as a territorial label credit.

New York, United States bluenote.com

Blue Sky Publishing (Ciel Bleu Editions)

French music publisher, struck off in 2025, that co-signed Nigerian-British producer Thisizlondon through a 2022 joint venture with Sony Music Publishing France.

Paris

Music group

BMG

Music publishing and recorded-music company with headquarters in Nashville and Berlin, listed here for its African partnership.

Nashville (global headquarters); Berlin (European headquarters); London (UK registered office at Floors 1-3, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1V 2SA), United States bmg.com

Label

BMG Records Africa (Pty) Ltd

Johannesburg record label that carried the BMG name in South Africa from 1992 until the 2004 Sony BMG merger; no confirmed corporate link to today's BMG Rights Management.

Johannesburg, South Africa

BNJ City Block

Casablanca rap imprint founded by and run for Moroccan rapper ElGrandeToto, active 2017-2023 and since succeeded by EGT Corporation.

Casablanca, Morocco

Label

Bokone Music

South African record label built around founder Don Laka's own catalogue, formed after Kalawa Jazmee's 2001 split; releases have gone out under licence to majors rather than through its own distribution.

South Africa

Label

Bomayé Musik

Paris-based label and artist management built around Congolese and French-Congolese hip-hop artists since 2006.

France

Streaming Platform

Boomplay

Africa-focused streaming and download platform launched in Nigeria in 2015, owned by the Chinese joint venture Transsnet Music.

Lagos, Nigeria boomplay.com

Label

Born in Soweto CC

South African close corporation named as a phonogram claimant on Prince Kaybee releases of 2015 and 2016, alongside Universal Music (Pty) Ltd (ZA).

South Africa

Live & Events

Bridges for Music Academy

Cape Town non-profit music academy in Langa that trains township youth in DJing, production and music business, and runs its own label arm, BFM Records.

Langa, Cape Town, South Africa bridgesformusic.org

Brothers Records

Nigerian singer Chike's artist-owned imprint, used for his own catalogue since 2020 and distributed worldwide by ONErpm.

Nigeria

Bu Vision LLC

United States company founded by Abou 'Bu' Thiam. Named as exclusive licensee, not owner, on Qing Madi's masters. Its major-label partnership moved from Columbia Records to Atlantic Music Group in February 2025.

Not established., United States

Pick your tempo

Who owns what, who got paid, and who is about to. The business behind African music, told like it is actually interesting (because it is).

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