Johannesburg, South Africa – Trace will turn 20 on 27 April 2023. The Success Story of Afro-urban Cultures is in its prime, with 29 television channels, 50 FM and digital radio stations, an audiovisual production studio, digital platforms, 280 employees, and 13 subsidiaries worldwide. Trace is popular both at home and internationally, reaching 350 million viewers and listeners in 190 countries.
Olivier Laouchez, a Martinican entrepreneur committed to equal chances, was the spark that ignited this beautiful journey. His primary driving force was to offer a solution for the underexposure of French-speaking hip hop & afro artists on audiovisual media. In 20 years, together with his team, he has established Trace as a global authority on Afro-urban cultures and the success of young people.
April 2003 : The first Trace channel (Trace TV), which was initially broadcast on Canal+ offers in France, the Caribbean, and French-speaking Africa, was launched after four difficult years of trying to find the necessary financing and distribution agreements.
May 2021 : Transforming Trace into a company with a purpose. The group rallies under its mission statement, “to entertain and make its audiences successful.” Along with its historical media initiatives, Trace is introducing the Trace Academia platform to help the hundreds of millions of young people who cannot pursue higher education, particularly in Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean, but also in Europe, find educational and employment opportunities. The first entirely free online video platform, Trace Academia, offers entrepreneurship, trades, and soft skill training as well as access to job prospects.
Trace is supported by two pillars: content and digital services, to adapt to changing applications and audience demands.
The group recently acquired a studio in Cape Town, South Africa, which produces audiovisual programmes for Trace as well as for its partners, like Canal+, Netflix, France Télévisions, Showmax, SABC, E-TV, TV5, etc., in order to expand its know-how and its production capacities for premium content. To make the voices, stories, and messages of Trace audiences known and shared, Trace platforms will increasingly integrate editorial, social, fiction, and expression programmes through Trace Studios.
Trace+ will provide all users with access to the current Trace content, including TV channels, radios, VOD, e-learning, news, and events. It will also gradually roll out new services, including e-commerce, money transfers, mobile money, gaming, and dating, as demanded by its users.
ABOUT TRACE
Launched in 2003 by Olivier Laouchez, Trace is the first multimedia and digital platform in the world solely devoted to Afro-Urban music and cultures, as well as to the success of young people and artists. Trace reaches more than 350 million fans in 180 countries.
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