UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND LEADING AFRICAN STREAMING SERVICE BOOMPLAY EXPAND LICENSE TO COVER 47 COUNTRIES ACROSS THE CONTINENT

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UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP AND LEADING AFRICAN
STREAMING SERVICE BOOMPLAY EXPAND LICENSE TO
COVER 47 COUNTRIES ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Home > News > Universal Music Group and leading African streaming service Boomplay expand license
to cover 47 countries across the continent

New licensing agreement will significantly boost the availability of UMG’s African and International
repertoire to music fans across Africa
New markets include South Africa, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Senegal; with UMG catalog now
also widely available across French-speaking territories for first time

LAGOS and SANTA MONICA, March 17, 2021 – Boomplay, the leading music streaming and download
service based in Africa and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based
entertainment, today announced a new landmark licensing agreement that will extend licensing of
UMG’s global music catalog from 7 to 47 countries across the African continent, as part of an extended
relationship that will benefit African musicians and talent and expand the listening experience for
Boomplay users across Africa.
In 2018, UMG became the first major global music company to license music to the service, which has
continued to grow its audience reach and influence across Africa in recent years. Boomplay’s catalog
currently stands at more than 50 million tracks and it boasts the largest repertoire of local African
content globally, with 50million monthly active users (MAU). The renewal and expansion of this licensing

deal with
      
           UMG,will enable  African music fans across the continent to experience the best in both
domestic   African andInternational
                             
                                      talent.
As one of the first entrants in Africa, Boomplay has been at the forefront of the music streaming market
since 2015 and has a deep understanding of the local market. Now the leading African platform, in
December 2020, Boomplay surpassed the 100 million app downloads milestone on Google Play. During
this time, Boomplay has supported numerous African artists, across a variety of projects, including: The
“concert of the year” – which saw UMG-signed Nigerian singer songwriter Tiwa Savage shut down Lagos
with her debut performance of 49-99 and saw Boomplay invest in the first-ever documentary film
focused on the history of Afrobeats.
Boomplay also gave away 250 million megabytes of data to users free of charge, so they could stream
music online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Boomplay and UMG East Africa held conferences that
brought together industry stakeholders to find ways of growing and supporting the African music
community even further, as highlighted by Boomplay’s announcement to commit $1 million to support
up-and-coming artists from the continent.
This agreement underscores UMG’s ongoing commitment to support and grow Africa’s domestic music
ecosystems, while also creating new opportunities for Pan-African talent to reach new audiences
domestically, regionally and around the world.
Over the past 5 years, UMG has taken a holistic approach to expanding operations across the continent,
opening new divisions in Nigeria, as well as becoming the first major music company to establish
divisions in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon and Morocco alongside UMG’s longstanding
operations in South Africa. This presence will continue to grow throughout 2021 and beyond, as UMG
continues to further extend the company’s ability to support domestic artists on the ground across
Africa and globally.
Boomplay users will now have access to UMG’s extensive catalog of both local and global recording
artists and labels including: Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), Nasty C (SA), Mi Casa (SA), Sauti Sol (Kenya), Cassper
Nyovest (SA), Toofan (Togo), Tekno (Nigeria), Suspect 95 (Côte d’Ivoire), Brenda Fassie (SA), Tenor
(Cameroon), Black Coffee (SA), Dena Mwana (DRC), Singuila (DRC), Locko (Cameroon), Hugh Masekela (SA),
Charlotte Dipanda (Cameroon), Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Alpha P (Nigeria), Tomi Owo (Nigeria),
Cysoul (Cameroon), Major League Djz (SA), Fior De Bior (Côte d’Ivoire), Larry Gaaga (Nigeria), Prince
Kaybee (SA) alongside international artists from the world’s largest music catalog including: Da Baby,
Drake, Lil Baby, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Stevie Wonder, Billie Eilish,
Booba, Dadju, Tasha Cobbs, Niska, Lionel Richie, Rihanna, Motown’s Catalog and Bob Marley.
UMG’s African Labels will also be supported under the new agreement including: Def Jam Africa, the
continent’s first label dedicated entirely to the best in African hip-hop, afrobeat and trap music which
launched in five countries in 2020, Motown Gospel Africa, AI Records, Afroforce1 and other distributed
labels including: Kalawa Jazzmee, Aristokrat, Family Tree and Soulistic amongst others. The agreement
also includes artists and labels distributed via Electromode and Ingrooves Music Group within the
continent.
Recent projects include the release of Rhythms Of Zamunda: Music Inspired By Coming 2 America. The
acclaimed 16-track Def Jam Africa compilation traces a musical roadmap through Western, Eastern, and
South African soundscapes, introducing listeners to some of the continent’s most exciting artists was
released last week.
Boomplay’s Director of Content & Strategy, Phil Choi, added “Since our original deal with UMG, the African
music industry has seen exponential growth and made huge strides towards being the next
powerhouse that it should be. We’re excited to continue partnering with the UMG team to help promote
their African and international artists by bringing their catalogue to even more regions across Africa.

Franck Kacou, Managing Director, Universal Music Africa, who lead’s Universal Music Group’s activity
across French-speaking Africa said, “We are excited for our artists and labels to be available now to
music fans across these 25 French speaking countries, but also to reach audiences across the rest of
the continent. Africa is rich with artistic talent and musical culture and continues to inspire millions of
Africans for whom music is an essential part of their daily lives. Working alongside Boomplay, we will
help introduce these talents to new audiences, as the appetite for music continues to grow throughout
these countries.”
Sipho Dlamini, CEO, Universal Music Group, South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “We are delighted
to expand our relationship with Boomplay, who over the past few years have shown themselves to be
dedicated to providing the best in music to fans across the continent. Through this extended
agreement, Boomplay will now help supply improved access to the world’s largest and most diverse
music catalog to their broad user base, as we continue to introduce the best in African and
international music to the rapidly growing streaming audience across Africa.”
Tosin Sorinola, Director of Artist and Media relations said, “We are very optimistic that this expansion
will further embed the blossoming relationship between both parties. As a platform, we are committed
to ensuring that we help artists spread their music and that our users have access to all the music they
love wherever they are. This expansion will afford us an opportunity to help open up more music to our
users and opportunities for artists in the new regions.”
Notes to editors:
UMG content will now be available via Boomplay in the following markets: Angola, Benin, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, DRC, Côte
d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry,
Guinea- Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
South Africa, Tanzania, Tchad, Togo, Uganda, Zambia & Zimbabwe.
About Boomplay
Boomplay is a music streaming and download service owned by Transsnet Music Limited. Boomplay
houses millions of songs videos and entertainment news, connecting music lovers with their favourite
songs anytime, anywhere. It currently has over 50 million monthly active users and has been
downloaded over 100m times on the Google Play Store. The service is currently available for Web
Android and iOS use. The app, which won the Best African App at the 2017 Apps Africa Awards, allows its
users to stream and download their favourite songs and videos, as well as subscribe to flexible daily,
weekly or monthly plans to access premium features such as ad-free streaming. Over the years,
different payment platforms have been introduced so music lovers are able to pay for music via mobile
money and bank cards. As the Home of Music, Boomplay aims to empower the African music eco-
system to unlock its full potential.
About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of
businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in
more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across
every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most
critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation
and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in
order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for
fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company.

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