The South African Music Industry in South Africa 2020

Music Industry

South Africa’s music industry is dominated by international music companies such as Universal and Sony, which are also the global industry leaders. Although South Africa’s music revenue, including physical, digital, live events and podcasts, has been increasing steadily annually, 80% of music sold and consumed locally is international. Revenue from physical format sales such as CDs and records has been declining as streaming has increased.

Move to Digital

The last Look & Listen store closed in 2017 and Musica, owned by the Clicks Group, has been facing a tough market in the past few years. In 2018 Clicks indicated that it was open to the sale of Musica, which reduced its stores to 92 in 2019 from 109 in 2018. While most people prefer listening to music on digital platforms, some still purchase and collect physical recordings, including on vinyl.

Coronavirus

Concerts and live events have been postponed indefinitely or in many cases cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown and many artists have had to delay releasing new material as they are unable to use tours to promote their albums. The cancellation of music festivals and concerts has resulted in financial hardship for many local artists and in some fundraisers to help them. Industry associations indicated that piracy increased during lockdown.

Report Coverage

This report focuses on the music industry and includes the publishing of records and other recorded audio media, the reproduction/recording of records, audio, video and CDs from master copies and the retail of music. There are profiles of 24 companies including major multinational companies such as Universal, Sony and Warner, and local companies such as Arena, which houses Gallo Music, music publishers such as Dojam and Red Igloo and vinyl record sellers such as My Vinyl.