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Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers
Universal signs licensing deal with Nigerian streaming service uduX
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 9 April 2019
Universal Music has signed a licensing deal with Nigeria-based streaming music service uduX. It’s the first major label to sign up with the company, in a deal that will provide both Universal’s Nigerian and international catalogues to the uduX platform.
“We have created a new platform to bring value to the music ecosystem both here in Nigeria and the wider world at large”, says the CEO of uduX’s parent company, Chidi Okeke. “uduX Music is excited to be working with Universal Music Group to help shape the future of digital music consumption in Africa and provide Nigerian music fans with access to their favourite artists from around the world”.
GM of Universal Music Nigeria, Ezegozie Eze Jr, adds: “This partnership extends our reach and makes our artists’ music even more accessible to Nigerian music lovers. We are delighted to be the first global music company to partner with uduX and look forward to bringing the extraordinary creativity of our artists to as many Nigerian users as possible”.
Music companies are increasingly turning their attention to Africa as a continent with potential for major revenue growth in the future – now that previous targets like China, India and South America are finally taking off. Universal and Warner have both signed agreements with Boomplay, which is gaining ground in a number of African countries, and which now claims to have 42 million users. Last week it was announced that Boomplay had raised $20 million in new finance.
The uduX deal comes less than a year after the launch of Universal Music Nigeria, which was set up to work with artists from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia. Universal has also launched two live music companies in Africa in recent years.
