Africa Unsigned is taking African music to a whole new level by linking fans directly to musicians and leveraging those relationships for the creation of new, well recorded, African music. We do so by helping unsigned African artists to record music funded by fans.

Music fans from all over the world can browse through artists on AfricaUnsigned.com. When they find an artist they like, they can invest in the artist’s music. Fans can decide for themselves how much they would like to invest, with a minimum of 1 dollar. When $10,000 is reached the budget is used to make a professional recording of at least three songs. The music is then distributed to all the fans who backed the artist and sold on all major online stores. All the generated net income from music sales is shared equally between the artists and the music fans who backed the recordings.

Africa Unsigned scouted African artists, producers, studios and managers who have shown drive and talent in Senegal, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mali. Africa Unsigned gives them access to recording facilities and Internet so that their music can disseminate to the international music market. A network of studios and promotion centers will guide the scouting process and take care of the infrastructure that will emerge around the artists in the African countries. We have promotion teams set up in France, the UK and the Netherlands who will be targeting music fans in their areas.

A supporter is a music fan who found an Artist on Africa Unsigned he/she likes and supported with at least 1 dollar. Until the artist has reached the recording budget of $10.000,- the Supporter can move his or her money from one artist to another or withdraw the money from Africa Unsigned.

First and foremost we believe in the potential of African music. We haven’t even begun to unravel the treasures of amazing musicians the continent has to offer to the world. African music can become mainstream and we are here to prove it.

Secondly, we believe that anyone with a talent for music should be able to reach out to fans around the globe. We think it’s ridiculous and completely unnecessary in this day and age that artists in less developed countries lack recording facilities and access to the world wide web.

Last but not least we think Africa has a lot to offer in terms of culture. Many Africans are following and learning from American/ European trends and styles. Capturing and disseminating high quality African content will lead to a two way exchange of inspiration for trendsetters both in and outside of Africa.

We decided to enable this change not by lobbying the traditional music industry, but by building a parallel system that will benefit all of us.

Artists go through a selection process. When they are selected they upload their music and profile. Music lovers find artists they like and believe in. $1.00 (plus transaction/administration costs) allows them to support the artist’s next studio recording. This will make them a ‘Supporter’ of the artist. The artist goes to the studio to record at least three songs. Supporters receive the tracks digitally and earn half the net revenues generated by sales in all major online retail stores. The other half goes to the artist.

Africa Unsigned has scouted hundreds of very talented artists in their African regions. To kick off the project we set up a panel consisting of music experts who selected five artists per African country to join the program. The panel selected the artists based on their drive, authenticity, uniqueness and quality of their music.

The panel includes famous Africans like Baaba Maal, Didier Awadi and Angela Angweni (judge on Africa Idols). We also engaged the Western music industry by including Damon Alborn, lead singer of Blur and The Gorillaz and several famous DJs, radio personalities and journalists. See the full panel here.

Good question. You best think twice before you start supporting artists on Africa Unsigned, because it can be an addictive experience. It all starts with the joy of listening to 26 of Africa’s best unsigned acts free of charge. You can continue to do so by joining and making your personal playlist. Then it slowly becomes time to start picking your favorite and supporting this artist with a minimum of one dollar. You will unleash a ton of love, respect and appreciation from the artist and his or her promotion team. Your support is only the start of an exciting journey with your artist(s) of choice. In a worst case scenario your money will lead to three digital tracks for you to enjoy. In the best case scenario these same tracks will reach a global audience. You and the artist share all the net income generated from music sales, but more importantly when they come to play at festivals near you will have the right to say “ I discovered them!”

Every one with a love for music can join Africa Unsigned as a Supporter. Artists have to go through a selection process.

The artists that made the selection are all set up with a local promotion team in their country of residence. The teams helped them set up their profile pages and create interesting content like pictures, movies, stories, a blog, studio updates, interviews, etc. Once the music is uploaded to the profile pages, the artists are visible to music fans all over the world. They are now ready to raise their $10,000 recording budget.

This is where the promotion teams in France, the UK and The Netherlands start targeting African music fans in their area.

Artists that reach the $10,000 meet with the Africa Unsigned project manager in the area. The project manager explains the recording procedure and makes sure the artist has a bank account. The artist receives a $1000 reward for reaching the target. We provide the artist with necessary IT skills, industry specific knowledge of artist management, publishing rights, copyrights and royalties. We use studios in Africa to do the recordings and invite experienced producers to produce the EPs. Once the tracks have been recorded and mastered they are made available to the fans who backed the recording. One week later the tracks will be released for sale in all major online stores including Amazon and iTunes.

The Supporter’s money is vested in an escrow account, so we can’t touch it until the recording budget is reached. If the artist for what ever reason decides to pull out of the program or simply doesn’t make it to the $10.000 all the money is transferred back to the supporters personal balance on Africa Unsigned. You can then either use the money to support other artists or press the refund button. The money will be back on your bank account minus a small transaction fee in no time.

The promotion teams consist of music fans that are active in the Africa & Caribbean Societies with a keen interest in marketing and promotion. If you feel like you can add value to our team do send us an email at info@africaunsigned.com

At the moment there are 32 of us scattered across the globe. There is a small team working on Africa Unsigned on a full time basis and a large group of promotion team members/ -leaders. We are all younger than 35 and enjoy live music at least once a week. Most of us are African, others have never even visited the continent, others never left it! We speak English, Dutch, French, German, Swedish, Wolof, Swahili and several other local African languages. We don’t really have much in common except for our love for music. You can view our bios at the about us section.

We chose a target that is within reach and enables us to deliver quality. The budget allows us to pay the artist a $1000 reward and find an experienced producer to record at least three tracks in a proper studio. We also use the budget to pay for the promotion team members in Africa, Paris, London and Amsterdam.

Go to the Sign Up page, fill in your name and e-mail-address and follow the instructions.

You can join Africa Unsigned free of charge. Music fans can support artists for a minimum of 1 dollar plus transaction costs.

Yes, you can. In fact, you can support as many artists as you like.

No, once the recording budget has been reached, all parties involved will be notified and we will start using the money to produce and promote at least three killer tracks. So if you see an artist you like, make sure you don’t miss out on the fun.

If you find something on the website offensive or abusive, let us know by sending an e-mail to info@africaunsigned.com

Yes. Until the recording budget of $10,000 is reached, you can move your money from one artist to another. You can also press the refund button and get your money (minus a small transaction fee) transferred back to your bank account.

No. Your money will only be used when your Artist of choice has reached the recording budget. When this is the case the artist will record at least three digital tracks. Before the recording budget is reached, you can take your money and move it to another artist. Or you can withdraw your money altogether.

If you want to support an artist on Africa Unsigned, we offer several payment possibilities. Because every artist's budget is made up of exactly $10,000 and the minimum amount is 1 dollar. Transaction costs are not included in that figure. Transaction costs include the costs of administration, fraud check, and a fixed fee for your bank or credit card company. Normally when you shop online, transaction costs are included in the total price but because of the unique character of the Africa Unsigned program, we show the amount of transaction costs as a separate cost. By the way, the more money you upload to your balance on Africa Unsigned at the same time, the less you will pay for transaction costs.

Africa Unsigned is open for artists from all over Africa and music lovers from all over the world. And let's face it, there's not many places in the world where the $- sign is unheard of.

Once an artist has recorded and released their tracks, we’ll make it available via our partners. This means the music will be available for people to buy on Amazon, iTunes, eMusic etc. The net revenues generated with these sales will be split between the artist and the Supporters involved on a 50/50 basis. This means that the more you supported the more of the net sales revenue will be transferred to your balance.

This depends on a variety of things. First of all, the amount of money you chipped in to support the artist. For each dollar you gave support you will earn 0,005% of the net revenues from digital sales.

Okay, that makes sense, because 100% divided by 10.000 equals 0,01%. One half is for the artist, the other for the supporters, which leads 0,005% of the net revenues for each dollar that I chip in. But what are net revenues? There are two versions for this answer. A complicated one and a simple one.

The simple version tells you to simply divide the price of a track by two. So for example, each song sold in the iTunes store leads to about 49 cents net revenue.

The complicated one explains how the net revenues form the gross revenues minus costs related to the sale. These costs include mechanical royalties, distribution etc. It’s hard to get it more concrete than that due to different price ranges with different stores, changing costs and changing exchange rates.

Honestly we can’t tell you, and we won’t. It will depend on what artists you believe in and how successful they are.

No, you and the artist will share the revenues for a period of 5 years after the release of the tracks.

At the end of each quarter we take our phones off the hook, set our mailboxes to out-of- office, lock the doors and windows, dust off the old abacus and get counting for a couple of days. After we're done counting and dividing-up the money, we'll deposit the money you've earned on to your balance. Why is this done on a quarterly basis and not real time? We need to take into consideration bounced credit card payments, charge backs and the fact that most of our partners work with quarterly statements.

You can support other artists or you can have it paid out to your own bank account. You do this by clicking on Pay Out button on your Africa Unsigned overview page. When you request a pay out, $1.50 will be deducted to cover the costs of the payment provider.

Your money will be deposited back on your balance. You can choose to support a different artist or to get your money back.

Africa Unsigned was created by the same guy who founded SellaBand. He wanted Africans to be able to benefit from the same model. He founded a new company and asked his co-founders to deliver the technical infrastructure. Africa Unsigned is in no other way related to or owned by SellaBand. It is an independent company with its own shareholders and employees.

Although we serve idealistic goals we have chosen for a commercial structure. Africa Unsigned has a viable business model that allows us to operate without the support from subsidies or grants.