The progression of African music labels in the industry has seen an evident growth especially over the past few years. From the availability of only a sparse number of African-owned music labels to the spring-up of so many more labels. Some have stayed functional over the years, while some have fallen out of business. So far, there have been some notable music labels in Africa that have become more prominent. They are making their marks and changing the narrative in the music industry in a way that cannot be ignored. Let’s quickly dissect some of these music labels. In no particular order, here are five major music labels in Africa.
Gallo Records: a south african music label
Gallo Records is one of the most influential labels in South Africa. Not only is it the largest, but it is also the oldest independent record label in South Africa. Talk about never-aging dinosaurs in the music industry. Gallo Records started out as a one-man company with a man called Eric Gallo in 1926. Subsequently, it became South Africa’s first-ever recording company. As it grew, it later merged with a company called Gramophone Record Company to become the Gallo Records we know today. Interestingly, these two top African music labels had a lot of rivalry before their merger.
There was a huge Warner-Gallo joint venture between 2007 and 2013. This made its entire music archive digitally available. Some classics from hit artists like Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Lucky Dube, and so many others, were made available by this venture. This is because they had affiliations with the record company at some point in time. Currently, artists like Mango Groove and Dorothy Masuka are signed to the label. Winners of Idols, Paxton and Yanga have also found their home at Gallo Records.
Mavins
In May 2012, record producer and artist Don Jazzy founded one of the biggest record labels in the whole of Africa. Since its founding, the growth of the label has been nothing short of astounding. Shortly after Mo’Hits called it quits, Mavin was born. Mo’hits was a joint venture between Don Jazzy and D’Banj, a successful venture at the time until its closure.
Currently, Mavin is home to some of the biggest names in the Nigerian music space. It is also one of the top African music labels. Names like Rema, Ayra Starr, and more recently, Bayanni, whose debut release left listeners excited about what’s to come. One thing Don Jazzy is great at is getting his artists the needed attention. His catchy and hilarious cinematic artist announcements gain enough traction to always keep the ball rolling.
Lynx Entertainment
In 2006, singer and songwriter Richie Mensah, founded Lynx Entertainment in Accra, Ghana. Richie started out by being a producer for several artists before finally setting up his own company and later adding label services to the list of services they offered. Lynx Entertainment hit it off right from the start, becoming home to many worldwide music catalogues from artists like Kuami Eugene, Kidi, and Eazzy. Lynx Entertainment was also responsible for the launch of a girl band, “D3”, in 2012. Ever heard of the singer MzVee? Then you should know that she was, at one time, a part of the D3 band before she launched her solo career. This contributed to Lynx Entertainment becoming one of the top African music labels we have today.
In 2021, Lynx Entertainment signed its first and only contemporary gospel musician to the label. This was Sam Oladotun, a Ghanaian born in Lagos. This was after the founder of Lynx Entertainment, Richie, participated as a judge on the reality show, The Voice, where Sam was a competitor. Currently, Lynx Entertainment has top artists like Kudi and Kuami Eugene signed to the label.
Wasafi Classic Baby (WCB)
This is a record label that stands tall among other record labels in Tanzania. It is, without a doubt, one of the top African music labels we have. Diamond Platnumz founded WCB in 2016, he is also the first African artist to reach a combined number of one billion views on YouTube. Wasafi started out with a few artists, including Rayvanny and Queen Darleen. Subsequently, the label grew to incorporate more Tanzanian stars into its corporation. With the massive reach Diamond Platnumz garnered in East and Central Africa, WCB has become one of the fastest-growing record labels in Africa.
Additionally, WCB runs a user-friendly website that promises a hitch-free experience, which definitely caught my attention. Bookings, tour dates, new releases, blog? You name it all. Diamond Platnumz remains a music industry genius as he has gone ahead to build the self-proclaimed top music label in the whole of Africa. Some other artists currently signed to WCB are Lavalava and Mbosso, both leading artists in Tanzania. Mbosso is famous for his hit songs like “Hodari”, winner of the video of the year at the renowned HiPipo Awards in 2019.
Cosmo Records: A North African Music Label With the Cosmo Touch
From the North of Africa, Cosmo Records is a Moroccan label that specializes in electronic dance music (EDM). It was founded in 2009, with the aim of bridging the gap between Western music, African music, and Oriental music. This is one of the few niche-inclined music labels you’ll find in Morocco. With the style of music that is predominant in Morocco, I think it’s one of the most innovative ideas coming out of North Africa. This, of course, makes it one of the prominent African music labels.
Cosmo Records has built a reputation for incorporating a largely diverse group of artists into its company, giving the label a unique touch that cannot be found anywhere else. Something they call the Cosmo touch… I couldn’t agree more. The big names you might know from this label are famous Moroccan artists like Mambotur, RADIQ, and Traumer.
Kalawa Jazmee
This is a South African record label also called KJ Records. Oskido, Christos Katsaitis and Don Laka founded it and used the first two letters of their surnames to form the interesting name ‘Kalawa Jazmee’. It has been in establishment for over 25 years now and is particularly known for playing a huge role in advancing the famous music genre, kwaito. Kalawa has been active since the 90s and hold some of the highest kwaito catalogues you can find. Famous artists Boom Shaka and Trompies originated fro the label, showing just how big Kalawa’s reach is.
Kalawa Jazmee is resonsible for playing major roles in kickstarting some major artists’ careers. Artists like Black Coffee and DJ Tira, among others. Proffessionals in the industry often gave testimonies of how much they learn from experiences at Kalawa. This led to the fond name people affiliated with the label started to call it… ‘University of Kalawa Jazmee’. Now, some renowned artists like Uhuru, Mafikizolo, Busiswa and so many others are signed to the label, and are thriving more than ever.