Kayode Adebayo: Africa can become global music force

The music industry professional was speaking to Music In Africa about the continent’s chances given the connectedness of music across countries.

“We carry a 1.2 billion people market of different cultures, arts and sounds into international market negotiations,” he said. “We can become a major force in the music business.”

His comments reinforced statements made during the recently held 2018 edition of the AMFEST Expo in Lagos.

At the event, which covered music, film and fashion, speakers, including DJ Jimmy Jatt, Christine Semba of the World Music Expo (WOMEX) and Obasijuade Adedokun of the Association of Music Artist Managers of Nigeria (AMAMN), spoke about Africa’s potential and the expanse of the global market.

“International for African music doesn't mean the US market alone. There is still a 6 billion-people market out there,” said keynote speaker Isaac Falusi on the topic, Successes So Far, What Next?

Falusi’s comments were linked to the setting-up of African divisions of major global music companies and the general push into the West of music from the continent.

His speech praised Nigerian and African content creators considering how the culture and business of African entertainment have grown over the last decade with little or no government involvement.

Falusi’s major counsel for the music industry was that creators and professionals working from the continent have been getting it wrong by thinking the US is the only International market worth breaking into.

He said music is universal and transcends language and geographical divide, and that other markets may prove just as worthy of getting into, especially as similarities have been found between South American, Japanese and African music.

He added that although little data existed about how African music is doing on the continent and even internationally, it was necessary to look at the markets of these regions.

At the event, Adebayo said international success was a game of numbers and Africa had a trove of inexhaustible cultural products. As he recently told Music In Africa, “There is a need for Africa to see herself as a phenomenon and to start to taking actions as one.”