The Impact of the AfTCA digital trade protocol on music industry professionals in Africa

dennis-kummer-52gEprMkp7M-unsplash

A few weeks ago, the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, delivered a keynote address at a Digital Trade in Africa stakeholder’s summit. The address stated the government’s commitment to creating an implementation roadmap for the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) digital trade protocol, a protocol aimed at facilitating digital commerce across Africa.

In recent years, music has become one of the major digital products exported within and outside Africa, and it has the potential to become a multi-billion-dollar industry if properly harnessed. The AFTCA protocol, which was adopted by the African Union Heads of State Summit last February, will no doubt have an impact on the music industry. The effects will be felt not only on musicians and talent but also on professionals in the industry. If the Nigerian Vice President does follow through on his government’s promise (and other leaders follow his example), here is what to expect as an African professional.

Wider Reach:

African musicians can reach a broader audience across the continent without facing the traditional barriers of physical distribution. The increased ease of cross-border collaborations will enable creative professionals to work with music talent to create musical content that appeals to diverse audiences. In West Africa, for example, there is still a barrier between the various countries based on language and other political and economic issues. The AFTCA digital trade protocol will lower, if not totally remove a lot of those barriers.

Royalties and Licensing:

Till today, creatives in Africa still don’t have a standard system for tracking and collecting royalties, especially for music across borders. Therefore the main goal of any continental policy on digital trade should be to ensure that professionals who create the structures for the talent to thrive are also fairly compensated for their efforts. This allows them to build their revenue streams. Much like musicians, musical professionals will be able to tap into various digital revenue streams, including streaming, online sales, and virtual concerts.

Innovation and Technology

Most of the platforms and services that have being built for the professionalism and education of creatives in Africa have focused heavily on tailored towards musicians alone. There is little attention paid to platforms for music professionals, especially for those in the technical and music business spaces. A borderless and regulated digital protocol will hopefully spur the growth of local digital platforms and services tailored to the African market, offering new opportunities for distribution and monetization for music industry professionals.

Capacity Building

Another thing that is still lacking at the government level, generally in Africa, is government support for the creative industries, particularly music. However, as much as private organizations can rise and fill in the gap, there is no doubt that creatives need support and capacity at the government level. The AU Heads of State ratifying the digital trade protocol, will hopefully ensure that African governments at various levels see the need to empower music industry stakeholders with the needed training and support to navigate the digital landscape effectively. Another challenge that has hampered digital trade across Africa is infrastructure. Hopefully governments will pay attention to improving digital infrastructure development so that there can be a uniform level of development in digital infrastructure and regulation in Africa. This way, no country on the continent will benefit more from the uniform adoption of digital trade than another.

Creative Protection:

Compared to other cultures, the music industry professionals’ network is still in its fledgling stage, and many industry professionals don’t have experience valuing their work or creating professional standards. The AfTCA digital protocol will strengthen the legal framework for creating music for professionals on the continent. Harmonized regulations will combat digital piracy and ensure that creatives’ intellectual property is well protected while they learn to navigate the music market. Furthermore, digital rights management technologies can be implemented to safeguard digital content and allow African professionals to not only make money from their work and deliver value to their communities. This will also give investors within Africa and outside the confidence to invest in the music industry in Africa.

Conclusion

Overall, the AfCFTA digital trade protocol holds the potential to revolutionize the African music industry and ensure that Africans all over the continent get value from their cultural productions by promoting growth, innovation, and greater market access for the professionals that create the structures that allow creatives to thrive. To achieve this, it is important that the challenges related to infrastructure, capacity building, and regulatory alignment are addressed.

Share Via:

Scroll to Top