Aftown Experience Africa is a musical platform that streams Ghanaian and African songs and provides music lovers with different genre of music at low rates.       The Application, which currently has more than 50,000 subscribers, allows users to access music from Ghana and the Diaspora at a cost of GH¢0.20 per day, GH¢0.70 per week and GH¢2.50 per month.

Artistes signed onto the Application are entitled to 70 per cent of all payments made while Aftown is entitled to the remaining 30 per cent.This was disclosed at the launch of the Application in Accra on Tuesday.

Mr Bless Sefenu Agordjo, the Senior Manager of Products and Services, MTN Ghana, said the collaboration with Aftown was part of the company’s commitment towards delivering ideas and services to the creative arts industry.

He said the launch was in direct consonance with the vision of MTN Ghana to deliver quality services to its customers through digitalisation.   “Our partnership with Aftown is a testament of our vision to give our customers a true music experience, which also allows performers and artistes to benefit from their works,” he said.

Mr Agordjo noted that MTN Ghana, through initiatives such as the “Hit Maker” reality show, realised that there was a thriving and highly diverse music industry fuelled by young and vibrant individuals within the country and beyond.

He said the move marked a new chapter in the music and creative arts industry and would benefit all stakeholders and interested parties, especially this year that MTN Ghana was celebrating its customers.

Mr Jefferson Seneadza, the Founder of Aftown Experience Africa, said after the sudden demise of the late Ghanaian Highlife Musician, Daasebre Dwamena, he thought of developing an idea to benefit artistes while they were alive as well as music lovers, hence the development of the Application.

He disclosed that Aftown had made GH¢128,000.00 earnings for Ghanaian artistes, a result, he said, explained how profitable Ghanaian music was. Mr Seneadza, who is also the Head of Technology of Aftown, said the organisation made 2.3 million hits in Ghana and the African Diaspora last year.

He asked music lovers on MTN to register for mobile money or purchase airtime, download the Application on play store, sign up and access the product.Okyeame Kwame, a popular Ghanaian hip life artiste, who was a beneficiary of the Application, told the Ghana News Agency that Aftown was supporting him with his Made-in-Ghana campaign, which included promoting Ghanaian music.

He said it was only on Aftown that one could access specific genre of music like afropop, highlife, hiphop, reggae, hiplife, local and foreign gospel music by simply searching for it on the Application. He advised local artistes to sign onto the Application and prioritise it over other foreign music applications as it would provide Africans with employment opportunities and generate revenue for socio-economic development.

“Inclusion of Aftown will obviously help because it’s transparent and will push the music industry forward,” he said.   “The transparency must continue but Aftown must not grow bigger than the artiste because if it becomes a regular business, then the artistes will find it difficult to interface with it,” he said.