Nigerians’ dominance in the world music industry has received yet another boost from American-based music Distribution Company, Empire Records and Pepsi Nigeria as they teamed up for Pepsi Music Academy (PMA).
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PMA is a purpose-designed platform for the next generation of talents in the music industry that will eliminate barriers, exposing talents to knowledge, resources and career advancement opportunities from top industry experts in a learning and co-creation environment facilitated by branded equity.

For connecting music engagement to star power, Pepsi has for years consistently put the beats in Afrobeats, and through the academy, it will target the next generation in the music industry, exposing them to the knowledge and resources needed to excel.

The PMA pillars are music artistry, music business and management, music and legal, music showcase and entertainment and engagement.
Through this, the partnership will explore and harness the power and influence of relevant music icons while empowering new voices, providing a platform for nurturing new talent, and celebrating new sounds and innovation.

Three finalists from the academy would receive brand new SUVs, a living allowance for two years, an opportunity to be a Pepsi influencer, get their music produced by Grammy-winning producers, Sarz, Masterkraft, Blaisebeatz, and P. Priime, with music video production sponsored by Pepsi and a two-year developmental recording deal with Empire.

According to General Manager, Marketing, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Segun Ogunleye, PMA is designed to cater for the discovery and incubation of talents across various facets of the music industry and to further support and enable the entire music ecosystem.
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Ogunleye said that the music artistry component of the academy would expose participants to intense industry education from a carefully selected faculty of music business leaders, who have contributed immensely to the global growth of Afrobeats and the Nigerian music ecosystem.

“Pepsi has been one of the most prominent promoters of Afrobeats, and we are keen to sustain and expand the current success recorded by enabling a structure that would maintain the global dominance of Afrobeats.

“Afrobeats which is now exported globally, has become more unaffordable for the average Nigerian and with PMA, we will be raising the next set of industry talents to grow Afrobeats and continue to make fun moments more accessible to our consumers.

“This is the reason we have partnered with a global music entity, EMPIRE to birth the Pepsi Music Academy (PMA). The Pepsi Music Academy will be a game changer for the music industry because it will not just be a platform to discover, nurture and empower music talents, it will also provide a rounded education for young individuals who are interested in other aspects of music such as A&R., legal, public relations and marketing, sound engineering among others.

“Our faculty will include seasoned producers such as Masterkraft, Sarz, Blaisebeatz, P.Priime among other notable industry heads globally recognized for their contributions to the dominance of Afrobeats and music business,” Ogunleye added.

EMPIRE’s Regional Head of West Africa, Mobolaji Kareem, affirmed that the partnership with Pepsi is a landmark project for the next generation of talents in the music industry who will further expand Afrobeats dominance globally.

Brand Partnerships and Synch Licensing, EMPIRE, Thembi Mpungose-Niklas allayed fear that the new partnership will stifle Nigerian own record labels.

To join the PMA, interested participants can scan a bottle of Pepsi to access the PMA website at https://pepsimusicacademy.ng/ and
submit their entries. Participants have eight weeks to submit their entries.
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