Award-winning Nigerian music star and entrepreneur, Oluwatosin Ajibade popularly known as Mr Eazi is raising a support fund worth 20 million dollars to invest in Africa’s stars of the future.
The Afropop singer is collaborating with 88mph as lead investor, a company that provides capital for African businesses.
Speaking to CNN, Mr Eazi revealed that the Africa Music Fund (AMF), will enable him to create a new funding model for the music business on the continent.
Mr. Eazi’s primary motivations for funding music is to provide financial support for artists to expand their catalog.
“Many investors and financial institutions don’t understand the business of music and as a result, are unable to properly fund musicians, he says.
“Artists cannot go to banks to get money for their music because financial institutions don’t understand how to secure intellectual property. 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,” he explained.
Selected artists will be given funding depending on their revenue and projected incomes, using metrics such as streaming revenue, Mr. Eazi told CNN.
“For artists 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,” he explained.
