Exclusive South African Music on the Zune Marketplace

Microsoft announced an exclusive deal with Gallo Music Group to bring South African Music to the Zune Marketplace. For the first time, Gallo's catalog is going to be available digitally in the United States.

Fifty albums spanning nearly eight decades of South African music will be available for a la carte and Zune Pass subscription downloads on Zune Marketplace beginning today.

The Gallo catalog represents the entire recorded history of South African music from the 1930s to today. From well-known songs such as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which was originally released in South Africa before becoming an international hit, to Grammy-winning artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Gallo catalog encompasses a broad range of genres and sounds. Although the catalog is dominated by traditional South African hooks, Gallo sees a lot of American influence in its sound and believes it brings a different perspective to the world music genre.

What is interesting in this deal is the exclusivity signed by Microsoft. The Zune team responsible for the content of the Zune marketplace is going after quality content around the world. I'm happy to know that quantity is not the goal but that they are really trying to find music that brings something to the end user. Talk about "value added"! Feeling that real humans and strong music specialists are screening the world's discography for me is really something nice.

The Zune Pass subscription takes its real meaning with that kind of news. I would not rush to the Marketplace to buy this music if it was not for the Zune pass. But since I pay a monthly fee, I can just download the music and see if I like it or not.

The editorial team behind the Zune marketplace really wants you to discover new music from South Africa. To help you, each week in May the Zune Marketplace will focus on sounds from a different era in addition to current chart-topping rock, reggae, hip-hop and pop music artists from South Africa. For four weeks, the Zune Marketplace editorial team will pair featured albums and playlists with insightful editorial content to help tell the story of this rich musical legacy, the majority of which has never been released in the United States in any format, physical or digital.

• Week one kicks off with an overview of the Gallo catalog, which spans nearly eight decades.
• Week two will feature the sounds of the 1950s through 1970s, including kwela, Zulu jive and mbaqanga, a style that melds traditional Zulu dance rhythms with classic American soul and R&B.
• Week three will focus on the sounds of South African gospel and jazz.
• Week four will highlight today's best music from the region, including the platinum-selling and AVO SessionAward-winning artist Simphiwe Dana.

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Comments

[Travis O]

so they can get music from south africa, but we cant get some video on there? come on MS!!!

[Bryce]

I feel that! It's great that Microsoft is reaching out and getting a hold of music which shows heritage. But is this a publicity stunt?

I believe that it would be more profitable to reach out to local artists all over the United States. If Microsoft were to give self-supported artists a small commission on every song sold through the Market Place, they'd find their _quantity_ increasing as well as helping young musicians start a career and, if not already, develop _quality_.

[Pierre from Cape Town - South Africa]

I recently purchased 2 Zune's from Virgin in New York. I need to ask if I can buy a charger here in South Africa ?
Can you possibly give me a contact person/company.

Thanks

Pierre

[Lydon]

You can get one at take2.co.za :)