Pan African Superstar and Multiple Awards Winning Afro Reggae artist from Ghana, SAMINI have signed to Rockstar 4000 Music Entertainment - the African continent’s first Pan African 360 Music & Entertainment Company and Record Label.
The deal with Rockstar 4000 begins this month and will see this music icon and rockstar from Ghana in an historic, exclusive worldwide digital distribution deal, having his music made available commercially to a global audience of millions. Rockstar 4000, through its exclusive Pan African partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Africa, will distribute its music and video catalogue to hundreds of digital storefronts worldwide, including major digital music services like iTunes®, Amazon MP3, Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody, Beatport, YouTube, Vevo, Zune, MySpace Music, Spotify, SKY, Juno Download, Boomkat, and Turntable Lab and mobile carriers and outlets such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Nokia via Sony’s partnership with the San Francisco-based digital distributor IODA.
“We are thrilled to welcome Samini to our family of Rockstars. Over the last few years Samini has grown immensely in his music and he’s one of the best live performers on the continent today, as evident by his array of international awards including MTV Africa Music Awards, MOBO, multiple Ghana Music Awards and International Reggae and World Music Awards. This new partnership will see Samini fans around the world now for the first time truly having instant access to his music on demand” says the CEO & Founder of Rockstar 4000, Jandre Louw.
Ghana’s afro-reggae singer, Emmanuel Andrew Samini popularly known as Samini is Ghana's most prolific contemporary musical icon. His smooth mix of musical genres is a melodious interface of the African music from Highlife, with the Jamaican music forms Dancehall and Reggae as well as the American styling of Hip-Hop. He calls the hybrid world music presentation, African Dancehall.
Samini's been nominated for the Best Live Performer for the first ever 2008 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in Abuja, Nigeria and won the same award during MTV's second edition of the Awards the following year in Nairobi, Kenya. Samini has shared stages with Sean Paul, Akon, Kevin Little, Wayne Wonder, Shaggy, Ja-Rule, Damien Marley, Beanie Man, Jay-Z, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Culture (of blessed memory), Steel Pulse and Rita Marley; in notable performances in countries including the UK, Nigeria, Germany, Italy, Canada and Holland.
Samini has added this year’s International Reggae & World Music Awards (IRAWMA) ‘Best African Entertainer’ award to his awards list. The star-studded yearly event took place on May 2, 2010 in the York College Performing Arts Center in Queens, New York. Established in 1982 by Martin’s International and Associates, the mission of the IRAWMA is to acknowledge and honor reggae and world music artists including songwriters, performers, promoters and musicians. The impetus behind the International Reggae & World Music Awards is its commitment to promoting greater participation and acceptance of Reggae, Caribbean and World Music internationally. The 2009 MTV’s Best African Performer was nominated in the Best African Entertainer category in this year’s edition of the IRWMA. Batman Samini contested with 2Face Idibia (Nigeria), D’banj (Nigeria), Amadou and Mariam (Mali) and Femi Kuti (Nigeria). In addition to the numerous awards won at the Ghana Music Awards, Samini has also grabbed international awards like; The Best African Act (2006 MOBO Awards), Best Performer (2009 MTV Africa Music Awards) and several others.
Samini performs with a live band each time he touches a stage and in recording sessions, a testament to his belief in the richness, strength, sound and spirit of making music. More significantly in spite of commercial successes in Africa, Samini recognizes the importance of using his talent and popularity to carry messages of African unification, peace, development and hope across the African continent and in his home country Ghana.
The developments underscore Rockstar 4000 and Sony Music's commitment to expanding music service capabilities to a Pan African music community. Sony Music currently provides sales and marketing services to independent labels and artists, across Africa through its exclusive partnership with Rockstar 4000. The service is further bolstered by the addition of the services of IODA that brings its proven digital distribution platform for the independent sector into the mix. With distinct areas of expertise and market focus, Rockstar 4000 and IODA will build on their complementary technologies and resource increasing the scope of sales and promotional opportunities that each currently offers its existing and growing customer base across Africa and worldwide. Both companies will also leverage the global marketing and financial strength of Sony Music to continue expanding their businesses and providing best in class service.
Follow Samini and Rockstar 4000 on:
Website: Twitter:
www.rockstar4000.com www.twitter.com/rockstar4000
Facebook: Flickr
www.facebook.com/i.am.rockstar.4000 www.flickr.com/rockstar4000
YouTube: Sony Music
www.youtube.com/iamrockstar4000 www.sonymusic.co.za
IODA
www.iodalliance.com

ABOUT SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. It is home to premier record labels representing music from every genre, including American Recordings, Arista Nashville, Arista Records, Aware, Battery Records, Beach Street Records, Black Seal, BNA Records, Cinematic, Columbia Nashville, Columbia Records, Epic Records, Essential Records, Flicker Records, Fo-Yo Soul, GospoCentric, Hitz Committee Entertainment, J Records, Jive Records, LaFace Records, Legacy Recordings, Masterworks, Polo Grounds, RCA Records, RCA Nashville, RCA Red Seal, RCA Victor, Reunion Records, Slightly Dangerous, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin, Star Time International, Verity Records, and Volcano Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corp., an Official Partner of FIFA and of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africaâ„¢.
ABOUT ROCKSTAR 4000 MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Rockstar 4000 is the first Pan African 360 music and entertainment production, content and events company. It is home to a roster of current artists across the African continent that includes a broad array of Africa’s superstars from the vast spectrum of music genres that influence the African continent’s music trends..
World-class, pan-African experiences on a local level!
Rockstar 4000 provides brands an unrivalled mix & reach of the best entertainment based experiences from around the world and across Africa on a local level! The,Rockstar 4000 brand essence is aspiration! Though its core business is music, live events, brand experiences, brand content, talent & music management, Rockstar 4000 is an offering that extends beyond the functional levels of excellence in its delivery to connect emotionally with audiences through what matters to them most - Music! Lifestyle! Bands! Being part of & living the life of… ROCKSTARS!
We believe in, develop and drive best-of-breed teams of skilled individuals across Africa to deliver the best live music experiences on par with and beyond the best productions in the world – made in Africa!
ABOUT IODA
IODA, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, is one of the industry-leading digital distribution companies for the global independent music and video community. IODA provides comprehensive services to record labels, physical distributors, artists, and filmmakers, including license negotiations; media encoding and metadata management; royalty payment administration and reporting; and marketing and promotional support. Founded in 2003, IODA represents a rapidly expanding roster of more than two million music tracks and over 5000 independent film and video titles. IODA distributes its music and video catalog to hundreds of digital storefronts worldwide, including all major digital music services like iTunes®, Amazon MP3 and MySpace Music and mobile carriers and outlets such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Nokia.