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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.

  • 425 companies
  • 13 categories
  • 49 markets

Rogers All Stars

Nigerian highlife label and studio in Onitsha/Awka, catalogued as Bright Chimezie's early record company.

Onitsha / Awka, Nigeria

Publisher

Room 308

Publishing imprint and joint release vehicle for Kenyan artists Calvo Mistari and Naiboi, used for their collaborative singles ahead of a joint album.

Kenya

Collecting Society

Rwanda Society of Authors

Rwanda's first collective management organisation, dissolved in 2025 after 13 years of low payouts.

Kigali, Rwanda

Publisher

S94 Publishing

Music publishing arm of Dapper Group, handling copyright licensing and royalty collection for its signed writers.

Lagos, Nigeria dappermusicent.com

Collecting Society

SACERAU

Egypt's music collecting society, established in Cairo in 1944.

Cairo, Egypt sacerau.com

Safaricom PLC

Kenya's largest mobile network operator, whose Skiza ring back tune service is one of the country's largest paid channels for recorded music.

Nairobi, Kenya safaricom.co.ke

Collecting Society

SAMPRA

South Africa's collective management organisation for needletime (neighbouring) rights.

Johannesburg, South Africa sampra.org.za

Sarkcess Music

Accra record label of the Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie, founded in 2014.

Accra, Ghana

Distributor

Select Play

South African record label and imprint associated with artist Tellaman.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Label

Shake It Africa

Record label and live-events company launched by Ugandan artist Jon Muq and executive Kevin Wommack to connect African artists with global audiences.

Kampala, United States shakeitafrica.com

Shatta Movement Records

Shatta Wale's own Accra-based recording imprint, current phonogram credit holder on his releases.

Accra, Ghana

Live & Events

Showtime Management

Cape Town live-events producer and musical theatre promoter, founded in 1970 by Hazel Feldman and independently owned.

Cape Town, South Africa showtime.co.za

Label

Sire Records

Warner-owned American label, founded in 1966, credited alongside Nigeria's KeyQaad on Omah Lay's recordings since 2020.

New York, United States sirerecords.com

Label

SkhandaWorld

South African record label and lifestyle brand co-founded by rapper K.O in 2014, distributed via Universal Music Africa.

South Africa skhandaworld.com

Small World Records

Independent Ghanaian label founded by SmallGod, in a 2023 worldwide distribution and publishing partnership with Warner's ADA and Warner Chappell.

Not established. The company's own website references Accra as a location for its events but does not state a registered head office, and no corporate registry entry was located., Ghana smallworldrecs.com

Collecting Society

Sociedade Guineense de Autores

Guinea-Bissau's first collective copyright management society, founded 1996.

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Collecting Society

SODAV

Senegal's collective management organisation for copyright and neighbouring rights, in Dakar.

Dakar, Senegal sodav.sn

Distributor

SOL Distro

South African music distribution and artist-services platform launched by Slikour OnLife in 2025.

Johannesburg, South Africa slikouronlife.co.za

Collecting Society

SOMA

One of two Tanzanian bodies registered to collect the country's blank-tape levy.

Tanzania

Somnyama Music Entertainment (Pty) Ltd

South African company named as the sound recording copyright claimant on Blxckie releases from October 2025, after the Def Jam Recordings copyright notices stopped.

South Africa

Somtin Different

Adekunle Gold's own independent record label and masters-holding entity, distributed worldwide through Believe UK.

Lagos, Nigeria adekunle.gold

Distributor

Songdis

Songdis — Lagos-founded self-serve music distribution and publishing platform, backed by CMU-Africa's NBA Africa accelerator.

Lagos, Nigeria songdis.com

Publisher

Sony Music Publishing

Major-owned music publisher (Sony Music Group); operates a Lagos office since 2022 alongside its longer-standing Johannesburg base.

New York, United States sonymusicpub.com

Management

Soul HQ

Nairobi artist-management and label-services company founded by Faiza Hersi, now in a distribution partnership with US label Cinq Music Group.

Nairobi, Kenya soulheadquarters.com

Label

Sound African Recordings

South African repertoire imprint of Sony Music Entertainment Africa (Pty) Ltd, described as a division by the label itself and as a subsidiary in trade coverage.

South Africa sonymusic.com

Media

Soundcity

Nigerian pan-African music TV channel, launched 2009 and distributed in 55 African countries.

Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria soundcity.tv

Collecting Society

SoundExchange

The United States collective management organisation designated to administer the section 114 sound recording licence, and SAMPRA's US counterparty for neighbouring rights.

Washington, D.C., United States soundexchange.com

Label

Soundgod Music Group

Runtown's own Nigerian label and 360 entertainment outfit, launched in 2018 after his split from Eric Many Entertainment.

Nigeria

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).

  • The deals and catalogue sales nobody put out a press release for
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  • Fresh names added to the directory, vetted before you ever see them

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