Warner Music Africa Launches Songwriting Camp
Warner Music Africa Francophone initiated its first songwriting camp in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, gathering over 20 artists, producers, and songwriters from across the African continent for a three-day event.
Building Panafrican Musical Relations
The Warner Music Camp Babi was hosted at the Tahiba’s villa, showcasing talents from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa collaborating to create new tracks and strengthen Panafrican musical connections.
Warner Music describes this event as the “first songwriting camp in French-speaking Africa.”
Participating artists included Black K, Ch’cco, Herc Cut The Lights, Hyce, Jeriq, Kold Af, Kouz1, Paulo Chakal, Ste Milano, and Yamb. Additional invited talents, such as Akim, Ayanne, Beeztrap, Dorty, G6 $, Kemuel, Kiffo No Beat, Mac Abel, Mr.ehi, Nikanor, Remy Baggins, Shaun, Spy Shitta, Suspect 95, Tamsir, and Jilim, joined the sessions to assist artists from Côte d’Ivoire and other French-speaking regions with creators from all over Africa.
“The goal of Warner Music Africa Francophone is to unite the best French-speaking talents with the rest of Africa. I am proud to see this coming to fruition in our inaugural songwriting camp,” said Mark Andre Nan, Co-Director of Warner Music Africa Francophone.
“The goal of Warner Music Africa Francophone is to unite the best French-speaking talents with the rest of Africa, so I proudly see that we are executing this in our first songwriting camp.”
Mark Andre Nan, Warner Music Africa Francophone
“It was truly a pan-African experience, and, of course, the first of its kind in French-speaking Africa.”
The three-day creative session concluded with an official launch event attended by the managing director of Warner Music Africa, Those Adeniji, Africari’s General Manager Joel Kenan, and President of Warner Music France Alain Weil. The event drew key politicians from throughout West Africa, including Madame Francoise Remirk, Minister of Culture and Francophony of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
John Chapalan, Co-Director of Warner Music Africa Francophone, stated: “It was powerful to see such a diverse combination of artists joining us here in Abidjan, with individuals flying in from all over Africa. Warner Music Africa Francophone exists not only to sign talent but also to connect artists from French-speaking regions with the rest of Africa. Our DNA incorporates a pan-African approach with all our artists. Thank you to Alena, Those, and Yoel for believing in our creative vision.”
Warner Music also organized a songwriting camp in Seoul in 2019 as part of a partnership between Warner Chappell Music UK and Korean company K-Pop JYP PUBLISHING.
The songwriting camp in Africa comes just four months after Warner Music launched WM Africa Francophone, focusing on France and French-speaking countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WM AFR is a collaboration between Warner Music Africa, Warner Music France, and Africori, a music distribution and artist development company acquired by Warner in 2022. Warner fully took responsibility for Africori last month.
Founded in 2009, Africori claims to be “one of the largest independent labels in Africa,” featuring music from artists such as Kelvin Momo, Master KG, Nkosazana Daughter, Oscar MBO, and Titom & Yuppe. The company represents over 7000 artists.
These events occur against a backdrop of increasing global interest in French music. According to data from Spotify, Warner Music reported that 83 million streams of French tracks occurred in over 180 countries during 2024. Additionally, Spotify revealed that more than 100 million users worldwide listened to at least one piece of French audio content between August 2023 and July 2024.
Separate data from IFPI showed that sub-Saharan Africa was the fastest-growing recorded music region in 2023 and 2022.
Africa’s recorded music market in sub-Saharan regions saw a 24.7% revenue increase in 2023, primarily driven by a 24.5% surge in paid streaming. South Africa led the region, contributing 77% of total income with 19.9% percent growth. Africori artists achieved notable success, holding the top spot on South African radio for 11 consecutive weeks and maintaining a strong presence on both Bmat and Apple Music charts.
In an MBW podcast last year, Dark Adeniji, managing director of Warner Music Africa and SVP for sub-Saharan Africa at Warner, emphasized the significant transformation in the music industry.
“From an influence perspective, countries with significant demographic numbers are starting to experience their own moment in the spotlight, beginning to influence and showcase their impact on markets beyond the established ones,” adeniji remarked.
Warner Music Africa Francophone hosts songwriting camp in Abidjan
