Universal Music Group is extending its reach in Africa by licensing its catalog to Mdundo, which boasts 17m monthly active users.

The move increases Universal Music Africa’s reach within the African market in line with Mdundo’s ambitions for rapid market growth across the continent.

“Our focus is to provide a relevant service to the hundreds of millions of potential users in Africa who are getting online,” said Mdundo CEO Martin Møller Nielsen. “In recent years, Mdundo.com has reported explosive growth, from 5 million monthly users in June 2020 to an expected 19-20 million monthly active users in June 2022 and +225% growth in revenue for the year ending June 2022. We are extremely pleased to work with Universal Music within Africa towards our vision of providing Africa with an easy and legal solution to accessing music that fits local consumers.”

Mdundo’s growth has primarily come in Nigeria, with additional advances in Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana. The music service has focused on securing rights to local African catalog and has in the last year announced partnerships with telecommunication companies Vodacom Tanzania, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria.

UMA has two established regional headquarters in Africa—in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire—with additional offices in Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Kenya and Morocco.