The Hyper-commercialization of African Music!

There’s a new scramble for Africa, but unlike the 1884 Berlin Conference, where European powers carved out pieces of the continent as colonial projects, this 21st-century scramble has more to do with Western brands' increased collaborations with African artists.

These partnerships between global brands and African acts present great economic opportunities for the artists while raising questions about their overall impact on the creative trajectory of African music and the role of African-owned brands. 

Lately, we've seen heightened commercialization of African music, with artists like Tems, Tyla, Ayra Starr, and Rema leading the charge. These artists have entered into various brand deals, collaborations, and partnerships that have reached a level of commercial activity never seen before for African acts.

As Western markets start to peak in new home-grown creative music discoveries, African markets are ready with an abundance of untapped sounds set to hit the global market at any moment. Afrobeats and Amapiano, two of Africa’s biggest music categories/genres, have become the new platforms for global music experimentation. This development has pushed emerging African acts to become the new drivers of global pop culture, with their music cutting through vast markets. 

Tems with his management at San Diego FC Locker Room | Photo: @IAmDonawon/X

Tems recently entered into an ownership deal with MLS’ San Diego FC and also introduced Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team’s 2025 livery with hints of this collaboration developing into an even bigger partnership. Ayra Starr has partnerships and collaborations with brands such as New Balance and Visa. Some of Rema’s collaborations have been with Nike Jordan and FC Barcelona x Spotify. Tyla’s brand partnerships span across the board with popular consumer brands from Stanley, Gap, Beats, and Bose, and she was recently announced as the new global face of Nike.

As it currently stands, Nike has 34 stores across Africa with 14 of them being in South Africa and just one in Nigeria. In comparison, South Korea has 273 Nike stores. These brands are not partnering with these artists for their national audience.

When you look at their average annual household disposable incomes, South Korea ($24,590) has close to three times the amount of South Africa ($9,338). In other words, the current African consumer base does not have the necessary disposable income to drive sales which can make a huge difference for these global brands’ overall revenues. 

Tyla did not become the new global face of Nike to attract a new customer base from the continent, she was chosen because her brand has gone beyond South Africa and Africa itself. Tyla and Rema’s value to Nike is one of helping the brand maintain and grow global cultural relevance amongst the young consumers of tomorrow in current or emerging wealthy economies. 

These brands understand that Africa’s cultural influence on the global stage will only grow more, especially driven by an emerging music industry and population boom. With the continent having low spending power and economies whose ability to create jobs for the youth looks a bit bleak, one has to assume that these brands are investing in the emerging cultural influence more so than an ‘African’ customer base. 

Brands more than anyone else understand that culture drives consumer behavior and no medium does that better than music. This is why increased commercial opportunities with global brands for African artists is a welcomed step as it ensures that these musicians become economically viable entities outside of just music. 

While this is great for the personal brand of African artists, we must also take some time to ask ourselves what will become of the African music space and home-grown brands as international commercialization takes hold of the industry.

On the first point, we have to understand that the more these mainstream acts entrench themselves with Western brands, the more they will become fixated on creating music that resonates with these brands’ audiences. And for the most part, these brands’ core audiences are not African. So, will a hyper-commercial Rema continue to drop projects like HEIS? I do not have the answer to that, but as we know artists follow the money and whom they align with from a brand perspective can indirectly influence artistic direction. 

My plea to African acts is to always remember what makes their sound special, different, and exciting. Don’t let the chase for the bag dilute your authentic approach to producing African music steeped in the traditions, movements, and culture of the people of the continent.  

Beyond the music industry itself, the increased partnerships between African acts and Western brands have the potential to price out African brands. The rise of African music should correspond with an increased exposure of our very own home-grown brands because that all contributes to the influence of our culture.

Black Coffee wearing South African brand, Maxhosa | Photo: @MaXhosaAfrica/X

African brands will not be able to keep up with the rising fees that come with partnering with mainstream African acts. These artists’ rates for brand collaborations will become much higher than what home-grown brands can afford.

African acts should consider new partnership strategies with African-owned brands that can be financially feasible and beneficial for both parties. So, instead of asking for an upfront fee to participate in a brand or marketing campaign, African artists can negotiate an equity stake or a right to a percentage of sales. 

These deals allow African brands to continue investing in their business without worrying about taking away needed resources to finance an artist's campaign. In essence, the business would be buying themselves an x amount of time before they ever had to fork up money to pay an artist. 

For the artist, they can feel good about having an ownership and stake in the potential success of an African brand. Should that business succeed in the long-term, the artist could potentially make a lot more money than they would have gotten as an upfront fee. Of course, this could be a risky way to approach brand partnerships for artists as most businesses, especially newer ones fail to succeed or grow. Nonetheless, I believe that it is a risk worth exploring and considering. You know what they say, high risk, high rewards! 

All in all, when it comes to African acts gaining brand opportunities from the West, we should say ‘Yes, And.’ It’s not a binary choice between Western or African brands, it is both. It is in the best interest of African artists to explore lucrative commercial opportunities in the West while also thinking about how they could empower and help grow African brands.