The annual music event that was previously known as Kenya Music Week now comes back rebranded as ONGEA! The Eastern Africa Music Summit. The event sponsored by PHAT!Music and Entertainment Limited will take place from Thursday 28th January to Sunday 31st January 2016 at Sarit Centre Expo Hall in Westlands. This year you can expect to experience music from countries such as Somalia, Madagascar and the Comoros Islands.
The event that was first launched in the year 2004 has had a succesful run for 10 years and has managed to : Initiate reform at the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), influence waiver of taxes on musical instruments and artist performances, encourage the entry of the first international music publishing house (SHEER Publishing South Africa), be the founding members of DOADOA- East African Performing Arts Market and are the brains behind Kenyan Music @ 50 Exhibition.
The ONGEA Forum under its three main pillars: Trade , Learn and Showcase will this year have the following:
Trade
58 Exhibitors, from Eastern Africa, will occupy stands in order to market & sell their goods or services over the 4 days from 12.00pm to 10.00pm.
Learn
The Summit will feature eight burning industry topics, by different panels of experts, over the 4 days from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.
Showcase
32 Performances, at 30 minutes each, over the 4 days from 6.00pm to 10.00pm.
The Forum hopes to do the following: Activate collaborative development of the Eastern Africa Music Industry, enlist increased participation from the wider music industry in the region, market Eastern Africa Music as a trading block, be a hub of innovation and attract increased global support in terms of skill and knowledge transfer and finally broaden funding sources for start-ups.
This year artists are in luck as BAKE (Bloggers Association of Kenya) will have a Blogging and Social Media Training from 9am to 12pm on Friday 29th January at the Sarit Expo Hall. Topics that will be covered include personal online branding and management, writing skills and readership, understanding copyright in regard to content ownership, originality and authenticity and using social media as a marketing tool for your music. Interested parties can register here.
Expect performances from artists such as Wyre, Kidum ,H_ART the Band , Adawnage and many others. The best thing about the event is that it is absolutely free. If you are passionate about music or work in the music industry this is the place where you need to be.