Universal Music Group has become the first major music company to license its catalog to Africa’s leading music streaming and download service Boomplay.

Boomplay will distribute music from UMG through its platform in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. Boomplay currently has more than 36m users with nearly 2m new users added each month.

UMG EVP, Market Development Adam Granite said, “We’re looking forward to working with Boomplay as we provide our African artists a range of creative, marketing and promotional resources to accelerate their careers within this vibrant and growing music market. This agreement will help UMG artists to reach new audiences, whilst boosting the African streaming experience to benefit both music fans, artists and songwriters.”

Earlier this year, UMG announced the launch of Universal Music Nigeria, a new division within Western Africa to provide artists with comprehensive opportunities throughout the region and to provide pan-African talent the best possible launch pad for wider international success. UMG is accelerating the company’s focus on growing the entire African music ecosystem including recorded music, music publishing, production, live events, brand partnerships and merchandising efforts.

“This partnership extends our reach and makes our artists’ music accessible to millions of African music lovers,” said Ezegozie Eze Jr., General Manager, Universal Music Nigeria.

The Boomplay App, which is currently only available for Android users, is scheduled for release via iOS in the coming weeks. In addition, new Boomplay users will be able to obtain a free one-month subscription when they opt in for a monthly auto-renewable subscription plan.

Boomplay CEO Joe He said the company “is determined to continue meeting the music passion point of Africans in a legitimate way, especially Boomplay users, and teaming up with a major music company in the global music industry like Universal Music Group, offers yet another significant opportunity for us to do so.”