ACCES 2021, RBF to zoom in on empowerment platforms for African musicians

The conference session, titled Empowering African Artists to Get their Music Heard, will take place at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre and is made possible through a partnership with RBF and the support of the German Federal Foreign Office. The partnership is broadly based on facilitating sustainable business engagements and exchange between European and African music businesses and professionals, as well as the provision of performance opportunities to musicians in both territories. 

The discussion will feature Point Black Africa managing director Phil Chard (Zimbabwe), The Orchard director of distribution Mpumi Phillips (South Africa), Unorthodox Media founder Philip Edusei (Ghana), Believe editorial and marketing partnerships head Larissa Fainberg (South Africa) and TikTok music operations manager Yuvir Pillay (South Africa). 

The panellists will engage in a valuable conversation about what independent musicians in Africa can do to grow their footprint in markets beyond the continent while maintaining their African identity and originality, among other topics.

ACCES 2021 takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 25, 26 and 27 November with a strong conference programme featuring industry talks, pitch and networking sessions, workshops, exhibitions and music performances. 

Also on 27 November, Reeperbahn Festival will present a workshop titled How to Build a Music Brand That Is True to Your Sound, which will be led by hip hop artist Gigi Lamayne and artist manager Cuthbert Ndlovu. The workshop is designed to take indie musicians through the steps of creating a brand that resonates with audiences. 

The Empowering African Artists to Get their Music Heard panel discussion will take place at 11.20am.

View the full ACCES programme here.

About ACCES

ACCES is a pan-African trade event for music industry players to exchange ideas, discover new talent and create business linkages. ACCES is held in a different African city every year, attracting active music industry players from across the globe. ACCES is organised by the Music In Africa Foundation, a non-profit and pan-African organisation, in partnership with Reeperbahn Festival International, Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, Joburg Tourism, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Ditto Music, SACEM, Pro Helvetia, Tuerk Music, Kaya FM and Bassline.

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