#160: FOUNDER: Exporting African Music: Rights, Revenue, and Global Growth: Yoel Kenan

<p>African music is growing globally, but the business behind that growth is still catching up.</p><p></p><p>In this episode of Sound Connections, Jakob Wredstrøm speaks with Yoel Kenan, a longtime music executive and entrepreneur whose career has taken him from major-label roles at Universal and BMG to building businesses focused specifically on African music. After founding Africori and helping develop it into a significant distribution business, Yoel is now returning his attention to African music rights, catalog investment, and the wider opportunity around cultural entrepreneurship.</p><p></p><p>Together, they unpack why the growth story of Sub-Saharan African music is more complicated than the headline numbers suggest. Yoel discusses the gap between huge levels of music consumption and comparatively low monetization, the role of telecom companies and streaming platforms, challenges around publishing and rights registration, and why missing contracts and unclear ownership can make catalog investment particularly difficult.</p><p></p><p>From exporting African artists and songs to building stronger marketing systems, investing in catalogs whose audiences are still moving toward streaming, and supporting the next generation of cultural entrepreneurs, Yoel sees significant opportunity, but on a longer timeline than many investors expect.</p><p></p><p>This is a candid conversation about patience, infrastructure, ownership, and what it will actually take for African music’s global momentum to become a stronger and more sustainable business.</p><p>Produced by Amplitude Ventures AS.</p><p></p>