Malawi has become a “point of departure” for the digitization projects of Africa Music Heritage. The digitization project that was implemented here, in a collaboration between Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, The Norwegian Embassy in Lilongwe, and Nedland Kultur, formed the basis for the other digitization projects. Several thousand music recordings have been digitized, brought back to life through new radio shows specializing in the old music, and have also inspired new music to be produced by young musicians. Now remains the task of finding the right way to organize, catalogue and prepare the digitized tracks for exploitation by various interested parties, in Malawi and abroad: by the music industry, by research institutions, and by streaming services, for instance.
Nairobi has for decades been a hub for music production in East Africa. It was one of the few places that had studios and a recording industry, and bands and artist from both near and far came there to record. Much of the music that was recorded, however, is not available today. Many tracks are stored on old, obsolete media, like reel-to-reel tapes, and no central archive of music can offer a representative collection of music recorded in Kenya. Therefore Africa Music Heritage strives to digitize and organize the rich heritage of music in Kenya, to make it available to researchers, music professionals, and the general audience.
Rwanda has a rich musical tradition, and in later years it has also brought forth music that has made its mark internationally. Music has been recorded in Rwanda from before independence and up to now, and large parts of those unique recordings are resting in analogue archives, like the music archive of the national broadcaster, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA). Africa Music Heritage intends to get a digitization project started, to preserve these recordings for posterity, and to bring this part of Rwandese cultural heritage back into the creative stream of the country’s culture.
Ghana has been one of the most influential countries in all of Africa when it comes to music. They are the hotbed of highlife music, they have been developing hiplife, and are branching out into many kinds of modern music. All of this based on a rich traditional music heritage combined with modern instruments and influences. As a leading country in the development of a modern African music, the country has also seen many efforts at recording and distributing the results of the exuberant music life of the country, although no central archive or registered source of overall information about this music exists. Africa Music Heritage would like to make its contribution to the preservation, organization and exploitation of the products of these music traditions.
