Kigali has been selected as the first music centre for the Recording Academy, an American learned academy of musicians, producers, sound engineers and other music professionals, famous for its Grammy Awards, a move that could see Rwanda hosting the first African edition of the Grammy Awards in 2025, The New Times has learnt.
This follows the visit of Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, to Rwanda in 2022, where he met with officials from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to discuss potential areas of partnership in the music industry and other related fields on the continent.
According to Africa Intelligence, a French online media outlet, Kigali was chosen as the first centre of the music academy as part of the institution’s decision to make Africa its next destination, selecting five cities as regional hubs for the prestigious academy.
The five cities selected to act as regional hubs for the Academy’s future pan-African headquarters include Kigali, which is also the first city chosen as a music centre, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos, as well as Abidjan, which has been selected as the Academy’s French-speaking hub.
This, according to Africa Intelligence, is the result of several meetings that academy representatives held with influential African leaders such as Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto when they were in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
RDB officials confirm that Kigali has been chosen as the centre for the music academy, but negotiations to host the Grammy Awards in Kigali are still ongoing.
the Recording Academy also wants to ensure that musicians receive royalties when their songs are broadcast. The regional offices will host the first African Grammy Awards in 2025 or 2026.
The Grammy Awards -the single most coveted accolade in the music industry recognises the contributions of all creators from across the world throughout the year. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the music industry worldwide.
In 2023, the latest GRAMMYs had a collective viewership of 12.5 million people.
The awards are given in four categories in the general field -not restricted by music genres, including the album of the year, the record of the year, the song of the year, and the best new artist.
As of 2024, starting with the 66th Grammy Award edition, two awards will be added to the general field, namely, the Producer of the year, non-classical, and the Songwriter of the year, non-classical.
