The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
CONTROVERSIAL Zim dancehall chanter, Soul Jah Love, has inked a deal that will see his music being marketed in East Africa.
This follows success stories by the likes Killer T, Dobba Don and Chillspot Family, who have signed distribution deals with internationally recognised music distributor, KOSHA Management.
The “Pamamonya Ipapo” hit-maker signed a content distribution deal with Kenyan music service provider, Mdundo. Mdundo has a multi-platform format which caters for both web and mobile. The music service, which is predominantly East African, has deep footprints in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with an average of 462 song downloads every two minutes.
Soul Jah Love’s latest album, “Naka Dhula Dhaka” and all his future offerings will be placed on digital distribution worldwide by Mdundo. The full album has not been available online since its leak in September 2018.
“The quality and quantity of music being released in Zimbabwe has increased and has seen various players enter the fray in a scramble for entertainment content rights. The competing services that have approached us include Boomplay from Kenya and Mvesesani from Zambia,” said Mdundo local partner, Tafadzwa Sharaunga.
He added that the deal will see profits being shared equally.
“Mdundo works in a way where it has free music for non-paying customers and high quality music for paying customers. The free music download side will have advertising and it is here that Mdundo has partnered with Souljah Love in finding corporate brands across the continent to advertise and add value,” he shared.
Souljah Love’s signing is the first of many to come according to Sharaunga. Mdundo has set out to create a Zimbabwe top 100 chart on its pan-African platform. The deals will be structured in a way that each partner be it musician or distributor gets 50 percent of proceeds.
“Mdundo is looking forward to engaging local corporates to create value for Zimbabwean brands across the continent,” he added.
