Yoel Kenan (pictured), the owner of African music company Africori, has signed a global sub-publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music France. 

Africori, based in Johannesburg, publishes and produces a wide range of African artists, including Master KG, who had a 2020 global hit with Jerusalema (feat. Nomcebo). 

The deal will see Africori and Warner Chappell Music offer new opportunities for African artists to collaborate with songwriting talent from around the world.

Yoel Kenan said: “African music is inspiring creatives from around the world. This new partnership provides a great opportunity to connect our African songwriters and producers with the global talent signed to Warner Chappell. We are very excited about the future and we see this as a key alliance to support, help and develop incredible African talent globally.” 

African music is inspiring creatives from around the world

Yoel Kenan

Matthieu Tessier, incoming MD of Warner Chappell Music France, added: “Yoel is an experienced A&R man with a great sensibility for, and huge expertise on, the African underground scene. This new collaboration offers us a great opportunity to promote new African songwriters and contribute to the renown of their music worldwide.  Master KG’s success is a great example of how we can develop talent and help amazing songs to cross borders.”

The success of Master KG’s Jerusalema highlights the potential for music from African artists to connect with a global audience. The song, which was distributed and promoted worldwide by Warner Music/Elektra France, peaked at No.1 on Shazam’s global chart and was a Top 5 airplay hit in Europe. 

It also proved a viral online phenomenon with user-generated videos posted around the world by high-profile fans, including Cristiano Ronaldo and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The song is still at No.6 in the global Shazam chart and won Best International Song at the NRJ Music Awards in Paris this month. 

* To make sure you can access Music Week wherever you are, subscribe to our digital issue by clicking here.

For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to receive our daily Morning Briefing newsletter