Top Nigerian act, Oluwatosin Ajibade popularly known as Mr Eazi is raising $20 million to invest in African music creatives.
The singer told CNN how he plans to create a new funding model for the music business on the continent through the Africa Music Fund (AMF).
According to Mr. Eazi one of his primary motivations for funding music on the continent is to provide financial support for artists to expand their catalog, as many investors don’t understand the business of music. He said;
“Artists cannot go to banks to get money for their music because financial institutions don’t understand how to secure intellectual property. They get it for physical properties but not for music. So, because not a lot of people understand the music business, there is no finance product for musicians.”
Selected artists will be given funding depending on their revenue and projected incomes, using metrics such as streaming revenue, the initial advance invested in an artist’s music will be paid back in installments as the artist’s earnings start to rise, he added.
Mr. Eazi, who has more than five million monthly listeners on Spotify says the Africa Music Fund (AMF) will also create access to a larger audience for music acts by helping them find and book shows as well as distribute their music.
Music analyst, Toye Sokunbi said the AMF fund will benefit Africa’s creative sector as it will open more doors for music talents on the continent.
