Grammy Awards to honor Fela Anikulapo-Kuti with Lifetime Achievement Award
The Expert Digest features expert commentary on Africa’s music industry, highlighting actionable stories.
The Recording Academy will posthumously honor Afrobeat creator Fela Anikulapo-Kuti with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award next year.
The award, which honors performers...
Apple Music Revenue Breaks Record In Final Quarter Of 2025
Apple announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 first quarter ended December 27, 2025. The company posted quarterly revenue of $143.8 billion, an increase of 16 percent year over year. Diluted earnings per share...
YouTube Restricts Background Play For Non Premium Subscribers
YouTube has moved to restrict a popular user workaround for accessing background playback, a feature typically reserved for paying subscribers, on several major web browsers. User reports indicate the change has affected platforms including...
Global Music Industry Achieves Decade of Growth as African Markets Drive Streaming and Monetization Surge
Insights Digest provides in-depth, data-driven insights into Africa’s music industry through reports, analytics, and market data.
IFPI Global Music Report 2025 - View Report here
Luminate 2025 Year-End Music Report - View Report here
Chartmetric's 2025 Year...
Deezer Reveals 85% of its AI Music Streams Are Fraudulent
Streaming service Deezer has disclosed that up to 85% of all streams on fully AI-generated music uploaded to its platform were fraudulent in 2025. The data was published in a company update on Wednesday.
Deezer...
Spotify Reports $11 Billion Annual Payout to Music Industry in 2025
Spotify announced today that it paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, a figure it states represents the largest annual payment to music creators from any single retailer in...
Spotify Launches ‘Directed By,’ a New Documentary Series on Music Video Production
Spotify has launched Directed By, a new documentary-style series that provides viewers an inside look at the making of a music video. The launch was announced today as part of the streaming service's ongoing...
Boomplay’s 2025 Recap Highlights Regional Breakouts and Catalog Growth
Digital music service Boomplay has released its year-end recap for 2025, highlighting the platform’s tenth anniversary and growth across key African markets. The report emphasizes a strategy focused on regional discovery, catalog expansion, and...
Highvibes Signs Global Distribution and Licensing Deal With Beatport
Highvibes Distribution, a major Africa-based music distribution company, has entered into a global distribution and licensing partnership with Beatport, the leading global platform for electronic music.
Through the direct integration, Highvibes will be able to...
Universal Music Group’s °1824 Launches Dedicated Livestreaming Channel ‘Universal Music Live’ on Twitch
°1824, the in-house creative division of Universal Music Group (UMG), has announced the launch of Universal Music Live, a new dedicated livestreaming channel on the Amazon-owned platform Twitch.
The initiative is designed to broadcast and...
Wizkid Surpasses 10 Billion Spotify Streams, First African Artist to Reach Milestone
Nigerian artist Wizkid has become the first African artist to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify, according to data from the platform current as of January 2026, reports Chart Data.
The milestone underscores the surging global influence of...
Audiomack Hits 50 Million Monthly Active Users, Reports 31% YoY Growth
Music streaming platform Audiomack has reached a significant milestone, amassing 50 million monthly active users (MAU) globally. The company announced the figure on (January 21), citing a 31% year-over-year growth rate for 2025 and attributing its expansion to a strategic...
Merlin Partners with Udio to Forge AI Licensing Path for Independent Music
Independent digital licensing agency Merlin has announced a partnership with AI music generation platform Udio, establishing a licensing framework for its member labels' catalogues. The agreement will allow Udio to train new AI models...
Why Africa’s Music Renaissance Needs Platforms Built By Us, For Us
Tayebwa David offers a practitioner's perspective on the evolution of Africa's digital music landscape. Serving as both Chief Music Business Officer at Opus Music Africa and Director of Content at the streaming service Josplay, his insights are grounded in the operational reality of building local platforms.
Mavin Records And Sacem Launch Cross-Border Songwriting Initiative AFROCROISER
Mavin Records, the French Embassy in Nigeria, and French authors’ society Sacem have jointly announced the launch of AFROCROISER, a Franco-Nigerian songwriting camp. The initiative is designed to foster collaboration between composers from the...
Sho Madjozi faces R5 Million lawsuit from ex-management
South African musician Sho Madjozi is facing a high-stakes legal battle, with her former management agency Black Major filing a lawsuit claiming it is owed more than R5 million in unpaid commissions and expenses.
According to court documents filed in the Johannesburg...
Merlin Appoints M.A.D Solutions Bugwu Aneto-Okeke to Global Board
Bugwu Aneto-Okeke, Founder and CEO of the Lagos- and Houston-based digital distribution firm Measurable Accurate Digital Solutions (M.A.D Solutions), has been elected to the Merlin Board, the global digital licensing agency announced today.
Aneto-Okeke joins...
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