African music distribution and rights management platform Highvibes has partnered with Songtrust.
Songtrust will power the publishing administration service for Highvibes, which has offices across Ghana and Nigeria.
The deal enables Highvibes to provide a multi-tiered option for music rights holders in Africa, with royalty collection on the recording side and now publishing as well.
According to CISAC, music collections in Africa have grown more than 35% over the past five years.
In November 2019, Highvibes conducted a music publishing survey that found 95% of songwriters, producers, and creators in Africa have been unpublished since 2018.
Highvibes, which was founded in 2019, has already distributed more than a millions songs from over 100,000 artists who live across 32 countries. The company retains 10% of royalties generated by artists and songwriters who use its platform.
“Africa is the largest market yet to be tapped into, with an immediate need for stabilisation and structuring of digital music distribution across Africa, especially when it comes to publishing administration,” said Highvibes founder and CEO Gbolahan Mathias. “Our partnership with Songtrust provides us the ability to publish countless African music rights holders for years to come, which has been estimated to exceed more than one million by 2030.”
The partnership opens up royalty collection from Songtrust’s entire global network, which exceeds 215 countries and territories. Songtrust represents more than 300,000 songwriters around the world and more than two million songs.
“It’s inspiring to see how Highvibes has devoted itself to helping and educating songwriters, artists, and producers across Africa on the importance of protecting their intellectual property, and appreciating its financial value,” said Mandy Aubry, Songtrust’s director of business development for EMEA and APAC. “Songtrust’s mission is to build a more equitable music ecosystem, and global partnerships like this are another step in the right direction.”
See the new edition of Music Week for a special report on royalty collection.
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