From Spotify's Ownership Structure to Coca-Cola & Pepsi Afrobeats Faceoff... 6 Most Read Stories in November

Officially, introducing 'Round the Music Business in 30 days 🎉🎊!!

This is a monthly series where I’ll highlight the six biggest [read: most engaged] stories featured on The Jollof Diary in the previous month. I casually gave this a whirl last month and per feedback, it helped many people get up to speed on some must-read stories they missed somehow.

So, here are the six biggest stories published in November 2023

PS: Click each title to access the full story

1. Spotify South Africa Market Share [October 2023]: Universal Music and Sony in Hot Lead

Despite a three-year head start, South Africa contributed 86 million streams on Spotify across more than 270 songs, compared to Nigeria’s 115 million streams across over 250 songs.

1. Spotify Nigeria Market Share [October 2023]: NATIVE Steps Up While EMPIRE Keeps Pace

Major releases by OdumoduBlvck, BNXN, and Shallipopi helped shape October's market-share rankings for their respective labels/distributor.

1. Morgan Stanley Taps Kobalt for a $700 Million Investment in Music Copyright

Wall Street is turning its attention to diversifying its portfolios into music, tapping into the potential revenue streams the music industry offers.

1. AI Boom on the Cusp of Making a Splash in the Nigerian Music Scene

This development has revolutionized the way we envision collaboration between artists; turning mere imagination into a tangible reality.

1. What Spotify's Ownership Structure Looks Like

Universal Music, in its deal with Taylor Swift, committed that any sale of its Spotify shares would result in a distribution of money to UMG-signed artists, with unrecouped balances being disregarded.

1. Coca-Cola Challenges Pepsi's Alliance with the Nigerian Music Industry

Coca-Cola is taking a page from the Pepsi playbook by engaging Afrobeats artists on a deeper level. Even if it means snagging Ayra Starr and Rema, who were previously Pepsi brand ambassadors.