The Record Drop, a business recently started by three young men in Cape Town, is exactly what South African music and musicians need. A company that has created an affordable platform which allows artist’s music to reach its full digital distribution potential both locally and internationally.
And they offer one of the most competitive prices in the world: Single: R99 Once-Off;- Album/EP: R299 Once-Off;- Album/EP Lite (1.Album/EP + 2 singles): R399 and Album/EP Plus (2 Albums/EP's + 4 singles): R499. The 2 bundles above are valid for 1 year, meaning an artist can use any part of the bundle for the duration of a year.
The Record Drop distributes to all major music streaming sites in the world including Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music and Tidal.
’The Record Drop provides speedy service and support from real people, not automated voices, and we don’t take commission on earnings. Says Director of Development and Strategy, Damian Malgas. ‘We provide monthly reports as well as free ISRC codes, plus iTunes and Google Play pre-orders.
Damian is a former pupil of Bishops Diocesan College and furthered his studies at the prestigious University of Cape Town, graduating with a business degree in Economics and Politics. He then went abroad to the USA where he received qualifications in Music Marketing from the Berklee College of Music, and Music Business from the University of California in Los Angeles.
Being a solo musician himself Damian has first-hand experience of the challenges artists face in producing and distributing their music and views streaming as a tool that will make the access of music easier for generations to come.
Bruce Langa Jr is the Director of Human Resources and Operations, and his
unwavering passion and enthusiasm for the music industry is what inspired him to establish his own independent record label and entertainment company in 2014called West Wing Academy Records. His roles and responsibilities include A&R, Talent Manager and Head of Events. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) where he majored in Industrial Psychology (Human Resources) and Employment Law. Bruce is currently a junior at the University of South Africa studying a Bachelor of Law degree.
‘The Record Drop is a division of New Mansa’ said Bruce. ‘And we intend offering a full range of services which will include music publishing, music marketing and music videos. We want to help South African independent artists compete effectively on the global stage without having to be signed by major labels. It’s early days but we have already signed Amilca; Mezarati;
Fonz;, DJ Kaymo, a popular producer/DJ; local female Producer/Engineer Kay Faith; Electronic music duo Darkie Fiction, and an up and coming Hip-Hop artists called Blaq-Slim, with a lot more interest.’ he said.
Director of Sales and Marketing is Clyde Morta who is a communications professional. He gained a wealth of experience while working for Times Media Live in the advertising, marketing and sales departments. Clyde has a business degree in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom.
‘Professional distribution is important if you want to be taken seriously’ said Clyde. ‘About 97% of artists use Sound Cloud, because it is free to upload music and there is already an active community. However the ‘down’ side is the connotation that this is for musicians who don’t take their art seriously, hence the slur ‘you’re a Sound Cloud rapper’.
Morta said the next step for the more serious artist is to have their music professionally distributed by an aggregator service such as The Record Drop as the artist cannot do this themselves. The Record Drop is ‘Proudly South African so we will focus on South African artists helping them get their product out there.’ He said.
November 2017 will also see the release of The Beat Drop which will be an online marketplace for producers and artists to buy and sell ‘beats’ in order to stimulate the collaboration in the local music market and improve access to quality music. This will be a first of its kind in South Africa.
All information is available on http://www.therecorddrop.com/
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