Downtown Acquires Sheer Music, Africa’s Largest Independent Publisher

Former Love Island contestant and ex-cop Mike Boateng has published an angry tirade against his former employer Greater Manchester Police, accusing the force and individual officers he has named of being racist.

Thanks to tough measures that included overnight curfews and restricted travel between provinces, health authorities were hopeful that African countries could avoid the worst of the coronavirus outbreaks that have ravaged Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. As of May 28, Nigeria and South Africa — two of the continent’s largest music economies — had

Growing up in Ramsbottom journalism ran in the blood for Alison Towner.

By Anthony D'Alessandro

By Andreas Wiseman

Def Jam is going international. A little more than a half a year after launching Def Jam South East Asia, Universal Music Group announced Def Jam Africa, a new division based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria, that will focus on "hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap talent in Africa" and report to Universal Music Sub-Saharan Africa & South Africa managing director Sipho Dlamini.

Today, Universal Music Group announced that it is launching Def Jam Africa, a new label division that operates within the continent to represent the best hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap talent in Africa. To start, the label will be based in Johannesburg and Lagos; the entirety of its starting roster comes from either South Africa and Nigeria.

It’s an exciting day in the local music industry today as record giant Universal Music South Africa announces that they have developed a local division of the world-famous Def Jam Recordings imprint – and it’s set to be a game-changer for African music.

By Jem Aswad

She shot to worldwide attention in her role as Cleo in Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical movie Roma. And now  Yalitza Aparicio  is using her new-found fame to highlight the importance of art to bringing focus onto important issues in society. Writing an opinion piece in The New York Times, the Oaxaca, Mexico native explains how art “presents us with the amazing opportunity to give voice to the unheard, and visibility to the unseen.”

It’s a big day for Mi Casa! The local trio are known for blending house music with a proudly South African flair and as they continue to promote their new single ‘Church Bells’, the lead single off their upcoming studio album ‘We Made It’, the group has announced a new global partnership with Afroforce1 Records, a division of Universal Music Group Africa.

For Billboard's Platoon Africa Artist Showcase, emerging singer-songwriter Msaki stunned fans with a liberating Billboard Live At-Home performance Thursday (May 21) from her home studio.

Billboard Live's At-Home series is headed to Africa thanks to a showcase of Apple's artist services company Platoon.From Thursday (May 21) to Saturday (May 23), Billboard Live At-Home will highlight two rising artists each day from countries such as Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria who are making a name for themselves on the global music landscape. The showcase kicks off Thursday at 1 p.m.

He’s one of the biggest DJs in the world right now but DJ Black Coffee continues to ensure that the local music space is booming. Having recently raised over R500 million for Covid-19 relief, the star is now making major moves as he today announces that he has bought a major stake in Gallo Music Investments through his investment holding company FlightMode Digital.

Downtown Music Holdings announced its acquisition of South Africa-based independent music publisher Sheer Music on Monday (May 18), expanding the company's footprint on the continent and providing Sheer’s African artists with new access to global markets.Under the deal, which builds on a longstanding relationship between Sheer and Downtown’s publishing division, Sheer will continue to operate as a standalone business within Downtown’s portfolio, maintaining its independent royalty platform to

Bill Pullman has something to say to President Donald Trump. The 66-year-old actor is known for playing the president in the film "Independence Day," in which he offers an iconic speech to soldiers before sending them into battle against aliens.

By Bruce Haring

By Joe Otterson