Music streaming service Mdundo (which is active in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) has partnered with AudioLock to crack down on online piracy across Africa.
They have announced that together they have removed over 181,000 infringing links from Google alone that were leading to unlicensed music by African acts. Mdundo says it has a catalogue of 200,000 fully licensed tracks from African artists but they are also widely available on unlicensed sites “due to the lack of licensing infrastructure across Africa”.
This move to scrub links to infringing music on Google (and other search engines) is being funded by Mdundo and the company says it wants other music organisations across Africa to follow its lead.
“Music fans are rarely aware of the legitimacy of the music websites they are using. This initiative will guide the users to the best places in Africa to access music legally without interfering with the user experience,” said Mdundo CEO Martin Nielsen.
It’s unusual elsewhere in the world to see a DSP leading the anti-piracy charge in this way, but as Mdundo is arguing, in Africa’s nascent music/tech ecosystems, it may be a logical move.
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