U.S. entertainment conglomerate Warner Music Group has acquired a majority stake in the Yoel Konan-led Africori, one of Africa’s leading digital music distribution and artist development companies.
Africori was founded by South African businessman, CEO Yoel Konan in 2009 in response to the lack of opportunities available for African artists operating in the then-nascent digital industry.
Since then, it has grown into a leading entertainment company that services 7,000 artists and 850 clients. Last year, its artists generated hundreds of millions of audio streams and billions of YouTube views. The company has recorded strong revenue growth across all segments.
The recent acquisition marks a strong endorsement for the growing interest in the African music industry. The move comes nearly two years after Warner Music made its initially investment in Africori in a deal that gave the company access to Africa’s largest catalog and A&R network.
Its decision to take a majority stake in Africori will see Warner Music Group become the number-one distributor in Africa and open up more opportunities for African artists to tap into the global Warner Music network and enjoy international success.
While commenting on the strategic partnership, the conglomerate said it has recently enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Africori.
In 2021, Warner Music Group was able to upstream Master KG, a popular South African hitmaker, into Warner Music France and the Warner Music global network, which led to the success of his track, “Jerusalema,” which has more than 472 million views on YouTube.
It noted that the single became the first South African-made song to hit over 100 million YouTube views and topped the charts in seven countries, while hitting the top 10 in many others.
Kenan said: “Through our partnership, Warner Music has proven that it is the perfect home for Africori and our artists going forward. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them as we break more artists on a global scale.”
In line with the share-purchase agreement, Africori will continue to operate as an independent company, while Kenan will maintain his leadership role in the digital music distributor.
Aside from Master KG, Africori is home to some of Africa’s biggest artists, such as Ben Soul, Blxckie, Kamo Mphela, Kwesta, Jux, Makhadzi, Nviiri The Storyteller, Rexxie and Focalistic, who has more than 39 million views on YouTube.
