Nigerian record label, Chocolate City has entered a new partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG) to offer its artists a global platform for their music.
Under the new deal, which was announced Thursday (May 28), Chocolate City artists will join WMG’s and receive the support of the company’s distribution and artist services via its independent label services division ADA.
“At Chocolate City, we have always been passionate about discovering and developing the best talent across Africa and giving them a platform for global growth,” said Chocolate City Group CEO Audu Maikori in a statement. “The partnership with Warner Music Group is unique in the sense that our clients get the best of both worlds — curated and bespoke services by a highly experienced team across Africa and a dedicated global team to further push their music and their brands.”
“The music scene in Nigeria is so rich and diverse that it’s important that we develop bespoke entrepreneurial strategies,” added Warner Music executive VP Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa Alfonso Perez Soto. “At the same time, we’ll keep in mind the lessons learned from other emerging markets, for instance, Latin America where we successfully broke local artists globally. We have a great affinity with Chocolate City’s creative and ambitious approach and we’re excited about Warner’s role in bringing to life their vision of taking their music worldwide.” 
The deal, which is designed to broaden the reach of Chocolate City’s roster of artists across the world, includes a strategic, reciprocal marketing agreement with WMG South Africa. WMG will also financially invest in Chocolate City to assist in its mission of signing and developing promising local talent.
This is the second partnership WMG has entered into with an African company in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the label signed a major licensing deal with popular African streaming and downloading service Boomplay.
Billboard reports that the deal come amid a surge in popularity for the Afrobeats sound (a progeny of the earlier style known as “Afrobeat”) across the globe. In 2016, Drake’s single “One Dance” featuring Nigerian singer Wizkid became a massive summer hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks. More recently, Migos rapper Quavo featured Nigerian singer Davido on his debut solo studio album, Quavo Huncho, while electronic music trio Major Lazer released an “Afrobeats” mix last September. You will also recall that Mavin Records owned by Don Jazzy recently secured a multi-million dollar investment from Kupanda Holdings to scale its operations. These are indeed good times for the Nigerian music industry.
