The Revenue Streams for African Musicians project

Participants in pilot phase

3,000

Provinces in pilot phase

9

Countrie(s) in pilot phase

1

Duration (months)

18

PILOT PHASE IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Revenue Streams for African Musicians (RSFAM) project will collect and analyse big data on the earning trends of music professionals with a view to reduce findings into definitive revenue models that work for musicians in different locations; provide training, educational content and digital tools related to identified models; and advocate for the development of relevant legislation to support the music industry.

Key objectives

To help African musicians and stakeholders generate more income and make better revenue decisions by providing them with reliable data, statistical information, analysis, practical tools and educational content based on revenue streams that work in the continent; to identify the key distinctive revenue streams in which African musicians generate revenue; to conduct informed advocacy aimed at shaping policies and regulatory frameworks that meet the challenges of the African music industry in a changing digital age and to promote the development and professionalisation of the music industry in Africa.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Call for applications: Field researchers at the Music In Africa Foundation

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF), a non-profit organisation operating in the field of African music, is inviting ...

MIAF introduces Revenue Streams for African Musicians project

The Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) has announced the launch of the Revenue Streams for African Musicians (RSFAM) project – a multifaceted initiative with an objective to help African music...

Why research and statistics are vital for musicians

Existing research indicates that Africa accounts for a very small percentage of global music revenues, with a majority of musicians living in the larger part of the continent earning significantly...

OVERVIEW

A key focus of the initiative is to establish a scalable research system for the African music sector that will evaluate and provide detailed analysis in relation to the ways in which music creators earn money in a particular African country. This rigorous examination identifies a definitive framework of the revenue streams available to musicians in each country while offering a reliable basis for practitioners to adopt and fully maximise on existing and new income streams that are relevant and specific to their work. The pilot phase in South Africa will take place over 18 months and will offer:

1. Industry research, analysis, mapping and reporting

This refers to a data-based, multi-method research process that will provide statistics on revenue generation trends for musicians in South Africa. This data will assist in developing a framework of viable revenue models. An innovative web platform is used to gather and present this data, supported by field research, consultations with key industry role players as well as the ingestion of existing data.

2. Capacity building

Once the revenue models are identified, it will be key to train practitioners to fully utilise sustainable models. Our findings will inform training and the development of tutorial content, including an innovative revenue model recommendation tool that will guide practitioners to discover models that suit their profiles. Training workshops will target participants from all the provinces in South Africa, especially practitioners from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.

3. Advocacy for policy change

As a way to strengthen our advocacy and drive positive change in the interest of practitioners, the project will set up a dedicated committee to carefully study revenue trends against existing policies and legislation, with an aim of identifying impediments, offer legislative recommendations and engage with the relevant bodies in South Africa.