African music producers stake claim with DISCORE

18 Sep 2017

DISCOP has announced a new programme, DISCORE, that will bring the world of African music production closer to the film, television, digital content markets.

African music producers stake claim with DISCORE

With the inaugural event to kick off at Côte d’Ivoire during the next Abidjan edition of DISCOP (29-31 May 2018), DISCORE will be co-organised with Nairobi-based PHAT! Music and Entertainment - an authority on African music since 1999, under its social enterprise arm, ONGEA! Africa.

DISCORE will also be launched at DISCOP Johannesburg, taking place from 25-27 October 2017, at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Designed as a knowledge-transfer and matchmaking programme, DISCORE will specifically target African-based creative, production, and technical experts from within the expanding Pan-African music industry.

Global audiences

These African music producers and experts will be offered the unique opportunity to learn from the pros, as well as to build relationships with international music supervisors and film, television and digital content producers seeking original songs and scores that can accompany entertainment content destined for global audiences.

Given the ever-increasing range and diversity of audiences, the selection of music for content is playing an increasingly decisive and important role in establishing atmosphere, tone, and even the appeal of original content.

“The conflation of the music, film, television and digital content industries continues at a rapid pace as storytelling recipes change to adapt to the commercial imperatives of an increasing global market for diversified content,” explains Patrick Zuchowicki, general manager of DISCOP.

Founding director of ONGEA! Africa, Mike Strano, concurs: “It is clear that within this global context, the time is right for African music creators and producers to stake their claim, as the demand for more original scores, and particularly for African sounds, is rising fast.”

The time is right for African music creators and producers to stake their claim.

This increased appetite for African sounds is demonstrated by the growing number of collaborations with African artists hitting the global airwaves. From the likes of Britain’s Ed Sheeran collaborating with Ghanaians Fuse ODG and KillBeatz on Bibia Be Ye Ye that has over 37 million views on YouTube; the 2016 Collaboration between the highly acclaimed Canadian Hip-Hop sensation Drake and Nigeria’s Wizkid on One Dance, that became one of the top selling songs globally; to the 2017 hit from Tanzanian artist Diamond Platnumz and American RnB Superstar Ne-Yo, Marry You, African artists and sounds are reaching new heights.

Content streaming

Other developments such as content streaming are also adding to this demand. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) 2017 report, the global music market grew by 5.9% in 2016, with streaming as the clear driver of this growth due to a 60% increase in revenue. Interestingly, there was a 334% growth of streaming in Africa, driven by increased smartphone penetration on the continent and forward-thinking partnerships between tech companies and music corporates.

The IFPI further reported that the global music synchronisation market grew by 7% in 2015, and by another 2.8% in 2016. Midem 2016 even featured a panel exclusively dedicated to African music, entitled: Tapping into Africa - an Emerging Music Sector, that echoed the sentiment that there is a growing global demand for African music and its licensing.

The time, therefore, is now for DISCORE - a unique platform that will bring together all relevant players in the industry for a focused B2B meeting and business environment.

DISCORE will be an interactive experience, bridging the worlds of music and filmed content, to:

Give creative, production and technical experts in Africa’s music industry a unique chance to break into the global content production market, while learning from the world’s most visionary entrepreneurs.
Provide key music supervisors, from the global film, television, digital content and advertising industries, unparalleled access to creative and production talent in Africa, with a proven aptitude to captivate the ears of multi-cultural audiences.

From 2018, all DISCOP African markets will include a full-day DISCORE programme, that will provide participants with valuable, actionable information and tools, along with unparalleled access to networking and meetings.

The proposed programme will include:

Knowledge-transfer: Designed expressly for composers, music publishers, independent producers, agents and lawyers, as well as for recording, sound-mixing and post-production studios aspiring to play a role in the fast-evolving, cross-border film, television, digital content and advertising global ecosystem.
Sync Connect: Enabling leading composers and publishers from Africa to pitch their works to established international music supervisors working on the production of film, television, digital content and advertising.
Matchmaking: Providing qualified creative, production and technical talent access to key music supervisors, through scheduled meetings.

In order to ensure a continued momentum, and to bridge strategic Regions of Africa, DISCORE will take place three times in 2018 and four times a year at the four African DISCOP markets from 2019: Nigeria (March), Abidjan (May), Zanzibar (July), and South Africa (October).

DISCOP covers fast-growing regions where expansion is fueled by modern infrastructures, new technologies, young demographics and rising disposable income: Africa, Western and Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Indian sub-continent.

DISCOP chooses destinations for its markets that are important trade hubs for the entertainment industry, such as: Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire; Accra, Ghana; Budapest, Hungary; Dakar, Senegal; Dubai, U.A.E.; Istanbul, Turkey; Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; and Warsaw, Poland.

The next scheduled DISCOPs will take place in Johannesburg (25-27 October 2017), Dubai (25-27 February 2018), Abidjan (29-31 May 2018) and Zanzibar (11-13 July 2018).