Warner Music Announces Partnership with Diamond Platnumz and WCB-Wasafi

Warner Music has announced a new 360 partnership with East Africa’s number one artist Diamond Platnumz and his leading independent record label WCB-Wasafi. The new deal will see WCB-Wasafi incorporated into Warner Music South Africa and Ziiki Media, while Warner Music’s global network will help propel Diamond Platnumz and the label’s artists to a worldwide audience.

Diamond Platnumz is one of Africa’s most successful artists, having released more than 30 hit songs, and is one of the region’s most recognisable figures, which has led to him becoming a brand ambassador for companies such as Pepsi, Parimatch, Nice One Brand and Coral Paints. He has the number one artist YouTube channel in Sub-Saharan Africa, with more than five million subscribers, and also has more than 12 million Instagram followers. Over the course of his career Diamond Platnumz has won numerous awards from the likes of MTV and Channel O.

Diamond Platnumz founded WCB-Wasafi and turned it into one of the top labels in Africa. The label has enjoyed success with artists such as Lava Lava, Mbosso, Rayvanny, Zuchu, and Queen Darleen.

The new 360 strategic partnership will see Warner Music, Diamond Platnumz, Ziiki Media and WCB-Wasafi artists collaborate on new releases, catalogue, brand partnerships, live and sync deals.

Diamond Platnumz said: “I’ve built WCB-Wasafi from the ground up and believe that Warner Music and Ziiki are the right partners to help further grow our reach. I’m also looking forward to plugging into the Warner network myself. We’ve got some exciting plans and I can’t wait to share more music with the world.”

Alfonso Perez-Soto, President, Emerging Markets, Warner Music, added: “Diamond Platnumz musical talent is undeniable and he’s become one of Africa’s most successful artists. On top of that, he’s proven to be an incredible businessman, as he’s grown WCB-Wasafi into a formidable record label. The East and Central African music scene has exploded over the last few years and we believe by working together, we can help promote Diamond and his artists to more fans around the world, and introduce the Bongo Flava scene to a broader audience. This 360 partnership establishes a new way to engage with artists in Africa and our ambition to bring African talent to the rest of the world. I’d like to thank WM South Africa and Ziiki Media for their outstanding support in making this deal happen.”

Temi Adeniji, Managing Director of Warner Music South Africa and SVP, Strategy, Sub-Saharan Africa, said: “Warner Music’s nuanced approach to the African continent contemplates different blueprints across the various subregions and in that vein, this partnership with Diamond Platnumz and Wasafi firmly underpins our entrance into East Africa. Not only is Diamond one of the premier artists on the continent, but he is undoubtedly lynchpin of the Bongo Flava scene in Tanzania. We’re so excited to write him and Wasafi into the WMG narrative on the continent and we are beyond thrilled to welcome Diamond as a global flagship artist for Warner Music.”

Arun Nagar, CEO & Managing Director, Ziiki Media, said: “This partnership will further boost our presence in Tanzania and Africa as a whole. We hope to engage with a wide range of artists across different music genres from all over Africa, and the partnership with Wasafi is central to that approach. We’re investing sizeable resources into the market because we’ve got faith in its artists and belief that we’ve only just scratched the surface of what we can achieve here.”

Ziiki Media is Africa’s leading entertainment provider. Through partnerships across Africa and India, it works with a broad array of businesses engaged in content aggregation and distribution in various formats such as recorded music, music publishing, audiovisual content, and live events. Warner Music announced its partnership with Ziiki Media in May 2020.