Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known by the stage name Mr. Eazi has disclosed that he is launching an African Music Fund that will invest in the upcoming African music act.
The Fund according to reports is worth $20 million and the lead investor in the fund is 88mph, a company that provides capital for African businesses.
Mr. Eazi says the objective of the fund is to provide financial support for artists to expand their catalog and offer a new funding model for the music business on the continent.
Speaking with CNN, Mr. Eazi sad that Many investors and financial institutions don’t understand the business of music and as a result, are unable to properly fund musicians.
“Artists cannot go to banks to get money for their music because financial institutions don’t understand how to secure intellectual property. They get it for physical properties but not for music. So, because not a lot of people understand the music business, there is no finance product for musicians,” he explained.
Selected artists will be given funding depending on their revenue and projected incomes, using metrics such as streaming revenue, Mr. Eazi told CNN.
“For artists who already have footprints in the industry, we will just do our research. We can check how much they are earning or likely to earn from their streaming revenue, for example,” he explained.
Artists will be given funds upfront based on their revenue to expand their music content. The initial advance invested in an artist’s music will be paid back in installments as the artist’s earnings start to rise, he added.
The AMF is not Mr. Eazi’s first venture into investing in music and musicians on the continent.
In 2018, he launched emPawa Africa, an incubator program that provided artists with funding and resources to market their music, access radio and TV airplay, and train them to become independent music entrepreneurs. Through emPawa, some of the continent’s biggest artists like Nigeria’s Joeboy and Ghana’s Kwesi Arthur were discovered.
