The fund called Africa Music Fund (AMF) is reportedly worth $20 million dollars.
Here's how Mr Eazi wants to invest $20 million in African artistes
Nigerian afrobeats musician Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi, is preparing a fund to invest in Africa's stars of the future.
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According to CNN, the lead investor is 88mph – a company that provides capital for African businesses.
The 28-year-old singer stated that through the AMF, he wants to create a new funding model for the music business on the African continent.
He said one of his primary motivations for funding music is to provide financial support for artistes to expand their catalogue, adding that many investors and financial institutions don't understand the business of music and as a result, are unable to properly fund musicians.
"Artistes cannot go to banks to get money for their music because financial institutions don't understand how to secure intellectual property,” he told CNN. “They get it for physical properties but not for music. So, because not a lot of people understand the music business, there is no finance product for musicians.”
Mz Eazi disclosed that selected artistes will be given funding depending on their revenue and projected incomes, using metrics such as streaming revenue.
"For artistes who already have footprints in the industry, we will just do our research. We can check how much they are earning or likely to earn from their streaming revenue, for example.”
Artistes will be given funds upfront based on their revenue to expand their music content. The initial advance invested in an artist's music will be paid back in instalments as the artiste's earnings start to rise, he added.
Mr Eazi, who has more than five million monthly listeners on Spotify says the AMF will also create access to a larger audience for music acts by helping them find and book shows as well as distribute their music.
"Let's say we have a two-year contract with someone. In those two years, we will be their representative, helping them manage their music, and as they grow, we will be deducting the initial investment from their earnings," he explained.
He added that his parent company emPawa Africa in partnership with music technology company Vydia will be launching Cinch Distro, a music distribution platform for new artists.
Through Cinch Distro, artists can upload one song to major music stores for 500 naira (about $1.19), or 4000 naira (about $10) for unlimited song uploads.
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