As Sony Strikes Deal With Boomplay, All Three Majors Are Now Partnered With Africa's Biggest Music App

"We look forward to bringing Africans together on Boomplay to discover, listen to and enjoy the millions of songs our exceptional Sony Music Entertainment artists have created," said Sony Music Entertainment Africa managing director Sean Watson. 

Adds Boomplay director of content & strategy Phil Choi: “This is a significant step for us in achieving our aim to develop the African music eco-system and we are excited about the opportunities that this strategic partnership will bring for African artists and our users.”

Launched in Nigeria in 2015, Boomplay is owned by the China-based company Transsnet Music Limited. Boomplay is currently available on Android, iOS and web, and users can subscribe to daily, weekly and monthly payment plans.

In April, when Boomplay announced it had raised $20 million in Series A funding, the streaming platform claimed to have signed up more than 44 million users. Boomplay says it is adding roughly 2.3 million new users per month.

And Boomplay isn't the only way the majors are expanding into Africa. This spring, Warner formed a partnership with local Nigerian label Chocolate City, while last year, Universal purchased a majority stake Kenyan music label AI Records.

Meanwhile on the streaming front, Apple Music, Tidal and Spotify all have debuted in Africa in the past few years.