Meplaylist, a Nigerian on-demand music streaming platform, has announced the appointment of Beyonce’s father, Mathew Knowles, and Michael Kay Kiladejo as members of its global executive team.
According to a statement by Edward Israel-Ayide, Media Contact, Meplaylist, the appointment of the duo followed their investment earlier in the year in the startup.
It said the two notable investors have expressed their optimism about the growth of streaming in the wider African market on a dedicated panel at this year’s Midem Digital in June.
Knowles, widely recognised in the industry for developing and promoting award-winning artists, from his iconic daughters Beyoncé and Solange to Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire and Destiny’s Child, he has achieved record sales exceeding 450 million worldwide.
He becomes President, Global Marketing and Communications, leading and delivering all global marketing and communication initiatives, to position MePlaylist as a key player on the international music streaming landscape for the Nigerian-born platform.
The Destiny’s Child manager, who is however going to be operating from the US, said: “l look forward to my new role with MePlaylist and it gives me a deep sense of pride to partner with two incredible African men in a music streaming space that where people of colour are not represented enough.
“Our goal at MePlaylist is to bring awareness to the many incredible artists and a plethora of African music genres.
“We want to take African music out of the generalized ‘World Music’ category and give it the many powerful voices it deserves.”
On his part, Kiladejo, who is based in London, assumes the role of President, Global Licensing and Content Acquisition.
Kiladejo will generate leads, engaging global content delivery partners and rights holders to make trending and multiple genres available to MePlaylist users.
Michael began his career in music as a teenage songwriter signed to Sony in the ‘90s and co-founded the label, Sony Music Publishing (UK).
He played a major part in the writing, production and development of the girl group “Choice”, whose lead singer is now popularly known to the world as “Pink”.
The group signed to Laface records and Pink’s debut album, Can’t Take Me Home, went multi-platinum.
Michael also consulted on the early development of Amy Winehouse and has written, produced and collaborated in an executive capacity with artists, including Jermaine Stewart and Kool & the Gang.
Speaking on his new role at Meplaylist, he said: “It is immensely gratifying to be embarking on this venture, at a time when Africa holds so much untapped potential to yield the next generation of global superstars.
“In this moment of great change and growth, it is a huge privilege for me to be working with my esteemed colleagues, to present MePlaylist, a streaming platform whose mission statement is to diversify the menu and enrich the global music palette.”
Speaking on behalf of the MePlaylist Board, Founder and Global Lead, Business Development, Olakunle Oladehin, expressed excitement and great optimism about the appointments.
He said the appointees will boost the platform’s global collaboration opportunities and extend its frontiers way beyond the shores of Africa.
“Our global footprint now matches our business outlook. Very much in line with our company values, this demonstration of inclusion and diversity sets a great tone for what the future will look like,” Oladehin said.
MePlaylist has inked deals in the past few months with several music rights owning entities around the world to boost its catalogue by millions of tracks and is currently in talks to add more by the end of the year.
Meplaylist is a subscription and ads based on-demand music streaming platform with an intuitive and unique interface to access unlimited music.
The service collects data about user tastes and preferences to create custom-curated playlists for users to listen to .
MePlaylistTM is available on the Google Play Store and all web browser services.
