Sub-Saharan Africa is making waves globally, not just politically or economically, but through its booming music industry.
Over the past two decades, the region has experienced a cultural renaissance, with its vibrant sounds and rhythms captivating audiences worldwide and redefining its artistic identity.
According to bettermarketing.pub, part of that reclamation is music and taking ownership of their own songs. The two genres leading that movement are Amapiano and Afrobeats.
Not only are Afrobeats and Amapiano artists exporting African culture for the rest of the world to see and hear the stories of the West and South African peoples, but they are also seriously impacting the music industry, both commercially and critically.
According to the International Federal of Phonographic Industry’s 2023 Global Music Report, Sub-Saharan Africa was the region with the fastest-growing music industry in terms of recorded music revenues. South Africa, and by extension Amapiano, was a significant contributor to that growth, representing the largest sub-market in the region. With a young population and increasingly popular artists, songs, and genres, sub-Saharan Africa looks like it will be a key player in the future of the global music industry.
In this piece, we will discuss how these nascent genres from two overlooked corners of the world made it onto the global music scene and grew in important ways. In addition, we will reveal how the marketing tools they used to grow globally can benefit smaller regional genres.
I broke the piece down into the following sections:
- Implementing An Accessible Marketing Strategy — In this section, I discuss six strategies afrobeats and amapiano used to achieve global attention over the last decade.
- When A Region Authentically Markets Their Stories And History Through Music — In this summary section, I highlight afrobeats and amapiano six marketing strategies and connect it to the general development of the subcontinent.
Implementing An Accessible Marketing Strategy
Strategy #1: Leveraging Dance Challenges
Amapiano artists have done a fantastic job utilizing dance trends on TikTok and Instagram to spread the popularity of their hit songs. From Uncle Waffles’ impromptu live dance moves to the Tshwala Bam dance challenge, afrobeat’s dance-centric marketing has made it a captivating visual music genre. These dance crazes don’t just attract music lovers; they bring in fans of the art of dancing, adding a new sect of listeners to stream the songs and attend concerts.
Lessons Learned: For smaller regional genres like Mariachi, TikTok and Instagram dance challenges incorporating hashtags should be utilized to their fullest extent. Mariachi artists don’t need to replicate the dance challenge method, as they have been used a bit for popular afrobeats and amapiano songs. Instead, they can create challenges around song lyrics or skits commonly found in a popular music video in the genre.
Strategy #2: Leaning Into Genuine Positivity
Afrobeats and Amapiano are inherently uplifting music genres. Most of the time, the songs in the genres frame the world as an uphill battle that requires equal parts faith and diligence to make it through. Steeped in religion, many Afrobeats songs have a religious scope through which the artist sings. Regarding marketing, Afrobeats, and Amapiano songs fit squarely in the fans who enjoy consuming self-care and mental health content.
Listening to afrobeats and amapiano allows fans to see the glass half full and have a more positive attitude towards the world. Afrobeats artists’ ability to tap into specific demographics based on interest is another way it has attracted the youth looking for ways to live a more fulfilling life that meets their physical and psychological needs.
Lessons Learned: To best find authenticity in smaller regional genres, fans and artists need to identify the true nature and purpose of the music. For instance, in Thailand, the Boys Love (BL) pop subgenre is getting a ton of attention because of its optimistic views on relationships. Generally attached to TV dramas, BL music is full of longing and tragedy, just to conclude in an idealistic romantic ending.
The Thai-based genre is on the right path toward increased attention and exposure because fans are immediately familiar with the genre’s essence. Moving forward, BL artists must attach their songs to increasingly popular shows that demonstrate the same themes outside of Thailand to gain even more attention outside the region. With teens in the western world obsessed with romance shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty it is clear that the audience is there for BL music; BL music artists just need to find the outlets to reach them.
Strategy #3: The Magnetism of Starpower
Influence is the name of the game in today’s entertainment industry. Through influencers, brands promote their products to Gen Z consumers in the fastest, most efficient way possible. For afrobeats and amapiano to accomplish the same thing, they needed stars and fast. It wasn’t enough for the music to cut through; fans needed global artists to follow and be inspired by. The artists in the genre themselves need to hold star power as well.
The necessity for star power fueled the collaboration between Tyla and Kai Cenat. It is also the reason it was so impactful. Not only did they help cross-promote their brand, but they also ended up sharing fans in the process. Fans connect better to brands motivated and inspired by an extraordinary artist. In those instances, all one can do is admire them. They make the listener want to be better. This concept goes all the way to religious worship and is found sharply in the idol culture of the east Asian music industry.
Lessons Learned: Music industry record labels in smaller markets need to collect promotional dollars to amplify the image of a handful of artists to make them standout stars in the genre. For instance, the growing French hip-hop industry must prioritize the growth of genre hopefuls like Favé or Jolagreen23, who have cross-cultural appeal and talent. Promotional decisions to intentionally expand their base internationally will naturally develop a profound image that will magnetize fans around them, increasing their marketability.
Strategy #4: Capitalizing Off Of A Peak Time
The climates and weather of western and southern Africa are familiar to Western listeners. Their typical weather is similar to the summer in the West. Therefore, when it’s time to release music, afrobeats and amapiano artists leverage summer festivals and summer album release dates. During those hot months, afrobeats and amapiano artists shine because their music best connects to the weather outside.
Music listeners feel liberated in the hot weather where inhibitions are behind them, and they feel the most connected to nature since that is when nature is seen the most. Amapiano and Afrobeat’s weather-based marketing strategy is another way artists in those genres have consistently stayed in listeners’ hearts and minds since it feels better than most genres do when the sun is out and everyone is in a good mood.
Lessons Learned: Here is where the record labels’ statisticians and analytics teams step in. If viral moments happen based on increased engagement numbers for a song, album, or artist, there needs to be increased movement during that period. These viral moments could be associated with the time of year or season.
For instance, the Long Song, a singing style and genre based in Mongolia, represents the pastoral lifestyle of the nomadic people of the region. Therefore, this music should be marketed to frequent travelers, outdoorsmen, or expatriates worldwide. Not only would it connect them to the nomadic lifestyle they’ve grown accustomed to, but it would help amplify the voices of Mongolian long-song artists who’ve been making incredible music for centuries.
If travelers start playing Long Song music and making it a trend online, then record labels with Long Song artists should market their music to that demographic.
Strategy #5: Collaborating With Other Global Artists
Afrobeats and Amapiano flourished in their regions for years before they blew up in the Western world. Radio spots and festival appearances helped develop their established roots in the bigger music markets in Europe and America. However, collaborations with some of their biggest stars were the cherries on top that created legitimacy for the genre like no other move.
For instance, Afrobeats benefited greatly from Drake’s 2016 collaboration with Wizkid on their hit song One Dance. The song was a downright global phenomenal and turned out to the one of the most streamed songs of the year. Since then, Afrobeats was incorporated more and more into North American pop culture through the music releases of north American super star singers.
For example, three years after One Dance, Beyonce threw her hat in the afrobeats ring with the Soundtrack album, The Lion King: The Gift. The album encompassed a large swath of west African artists, from Yemi Alade to Tiwa Savage.
More recently, in 2024 Tyla’s collaboration with Travis Scott on the remix version of her hit single Water only improved her image and solidified her place in the eyes of hip-hop and western pop fans. The adoption of Tyla into those circles made the adoption of her next single Jump all the more easier and natural.
Lessons Learned: If the record label in smaller regional genres has relationships with some major labels, they need to leverage some important items. For instance, Chutney music hasn’t had a superstar since the Sundar Popo in the 1990s. The more modern stars keeping the genre lively and exciting like Vannesa Mature and Aleena S. Ali need support from their labels to relationship built with superstars in the region.
Imagine a collaboration that includes regional powerhouses like Shenseaa or Jada Kingdom. For the superstars they gain new followers in a new market and for the Chutney artist, they gain international legitimacy. Something the genre desperately needs.
To reiterate, the lesson for smaller regional genres he is to use collaboration to market the regional act to a broader audience. However, to get there, the major artists need to recognize the value they’re receiving in exchange.
Strategy #6: The Fear Of Missing The Party
Amapiano thrives off the idea that the true party is wherever Amapiano is being played. During the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africans were partying and livestreaming the fun they were having. For those living in countries that were still in lockdown, the South African get-togethers looked like the best time in the world.
The fear of missing out is a valuable marketing tool because it indirectly convinces prospective fans to find ways to engage with the product shortly. After the pandemic, Amapiano-themed parties sprouted in the United States and Europe, looking to replicate the joy and happiness experienced in those Pretoria-based nightclubs.
Lessons Learned: Humans are social creatures. Not only do we want to interact with other humans on most occasions, but we also feel a sense of safety and enjoyment from the experience. Tapping into the fear of keeping people apart helps genres convince people to look into a new genre or artist because they fear they will miss out on a social event or experience that they would enjoy.
Using this fear for marketing is a tried and true method that smaller regionals must take advantage of when they can because those instances are slim. For instance, Electroclash DJs and promoters can create parties for those upset about the 2024 American presidential elections or any country’s general elections. As a genre that has historically benefited from the youth’s cultural angst, the current political climate is the perfect backdrop for making a meaningful return to the mainstream.
When A Region Authentically Markets Their Stories And History Through Music
Afrobeats and Amapiano’s recent success isn’t luck or the result of a short-term music phase. These two enduring movements continue to last thanks to careful and intentional marketing strategies over years and decades. What we’re witnessing now is the effects of implementing those strategies.
Six of the most consequential strategies are the following:
Strategy #1: Leveraging Dance Challenges
Strategy #2: Leaning Into Genuine Positivity
Strategy #3: The Magnetism of Starpower
Strategy #4: Capitalizing Off Of A Peak Time
Strategy #5: Collaborating With Other Global Artists
Strategy #6: The Fear Of Missing The Party
The following regional genres can and should take note of these promotional achievements to enhance their reach in the coming years as well. Adapting these marketing strategies will be a net positive for their growth, the artists looking to make a name for themselves in them, and the cultures they represent.
Music allows us to see a group of people or understand a culture in a way books or movies sometimes struggle to. It’s a quick path to compassion, sympathy, and understanding. With Afrobeats and Amapiano, West African culture and South African musical traditions are better understood by people worldwide who would not have engaged with the culture in the same way otherwise.
The steps to engaging with these cultures aren’t just a cool byproduct of these popular artists and songs but an integral part of the ever-closing divides between nations, borders, and people in the interdependent global music industry.
