Universal Music Group East Africa has acquired Melodica\u2019s extensive catalogue of golden oldies in a bid to preserve and celebrate East Africa\u2019s rich musical heritage.<\/p>\n
Melodica\u2019s large and diverse catalogue features some of the region\u2019s most iconic classic bands and artists, including Orchestra Grand Piza, Angora Youngstars, Orchestra Sentima, Congo International, and many more.<\/p>\n
UMG said of the acquisition in a statement seen by KBC Digital: \u201cThe catalogue represents an important era in East African music, capturing the sounds of the 1980s when Lingala and Benga dominated the streets, dance halls, radio stations, and live performance spaces across the region. From Congo through Zambia to Kenya, bands brought people together through unforgettable rhythms, live instrumentation, and timeless storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of these recordings are yet to be digitised, making this acquisition a key milestone in UMG East Africa\u2019s mission to preserve classical African music and make it accessible to a new generation of listeners.<\/p>\n
The recording label is hoping that through digitisation and re-release, the music will introduce younger audiences to the golden era of East African sound while giving older generations a nostalgic reminder of a time when live bands shaped the cultural heartbeat of the region.<\/p>\n
As part of this new chapter, the label has also released \u201cMandalala\u201d by L\u2019Orchestra Grand Piza.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrchestre Grand Piza holds an important place in the history of Lingala and Congolese-influenced music in East Africa,\u201d UMG said. \u201cAssociated with the Bana Moja and Diabim labels, the band became part of a vibrant 1970s and 1980s music movement that connected Congolese sounds with audiences across Kenya and Uganda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMandalala,\u201d was originally released on the Bana Moja label and manufactured by Melodica Music Stores in Nairobi, with Makengo Roy credited as songwriter and remains a standout from that era.<\/p>\n
The post Universal Music Group acquires Melodica\u2019s music catalogue<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Universal Music Group East Africa has acquired Melodica\u2019s extensive catalogue of golden oldies in a bid to preserve and celebrate East Africa\u2019s rich musical heritage. Melodica\u2019s large and diverse catalogue features some of the region\u2019s most iconic classic bands and artists, including Orchestra Grand Piza, Angora Youngstars, Orchestra Sentima, Congo International, and many more. UMG […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}