Major Afrikaans Digital Music Store Launches, With Universal & Warner Catalogues

• Allexis Music builds Groot Tunes for largest Afrikaans music label Coleske and leading South African TV channel kykNET • Launches in the UK in early 2017, with US and Australia following later in the year• Coleske’s top Afrikaans hits digitised for first time, exclusive to Groot Tunes• Includes global content from Universal, Warner• Major media push to take place in South Africa16 December, London:- White label music platform Allexis has launched a major new music service boasting one of the world’s largest collection of Afrikaans repertoire as well as content from Universal and Warner, with more in the pipeline.The service, Groot Tunes (“groot” meaning “big” in Afrikaans), has gone live in South Africa, with a UK launch next and the US and Australia planned for later in 2017. The Allexis-built store is a joint venture between Coleske Artists, the world’s most successful Afrikaans music label, and kykNET, South Africa’s most popular Afrikaans TV channel.This is the first time Coleske has offered its content digitally, exclusively licensing a huge catalogue of Afrikaans music to the service, most of which isn’t available on other major digital services. Repertoire from many of South Africa’s top Afrikaans stars will be joined by catalogue from Universal and Warner, totalling six million tracks, a third of which are international.Groot Tunes South Africa has initially launched as a download store but will add full streaming functionality in the first months of 2017. The UK, US and Australian stores will offer both streaming and download functionality. Allexis is in talks with other leading labels to further expand the offering.As two of the most powerful players in the Afrikaans entertainment world, the collaboration between Coleske and kykNET is potent. The store and an accompanying app, which allows fans to listen to their music library on the go, will be promoted by prime-time artist advertisements on kykNET, M-Net’s predominantly Afrikaans TV channel. The campaign will also utilise the strong social media following of the artists involved, including the popular Afrikaans-language singers Bobby van Jaarsveld, Laurika Rauch and Riana Nel.Allexis Music is a global white label music platform for artists, content owners and brands, which uses the latest cloud technology to deliver a diverse selection of services on both web and mobile devices. It has a strong consumer focus, as evidenced by the wide range of payment options on the South African site. These include PayPal, WorldPay and local market operators like PayU.Enzo Vailati, CEO of Allexis Music, said: “We are very proud to have been able to launch this innovative platform in South Africa. It was exciting to build such a consumer-focused site with Coleske Artists, and to work with labels such as Universal and Warner on the project. We look forward to bringing the platform to the UK early next year.”Paulo Azevedo, Label Manager at Coleske Artists said: “South Africa has capitalised on physical sales longer than most, but Coleske knew the shift to digital had to happen, and soon. After a long search, Allexis Music presented the only way that made sense: a transparent, scalable system that would allow us not only to enter the digital world safely with our hard earned content, but also to expand internationally. We know that when our media partners pull the trigger, it’s going to explode.”Pino Di Benedetto, Head of Digital, Universal Music Africa added: "Allexis Music is at the forefront of the digital age with its innovative products and expansion plans. Its technology makes it easy for Universal Music artists to reach their fans across Africa."Marc Latilla, Head of Business Development: Digital, Warner Music South Africa commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with Allexis Music and the Groot Tunes digital store and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”About Allexis:Allexis Music is a global white label music platform for artists, content owners and brands.The platform incorporates the latest cutting edge cloud technology to deliver seamless back and front end functionality with a fully customisable player for Android and iOS.It offers audio streaming and downloads, sophisticated audio recognition services for music recommendations, and offer a wide choice of payment systems in over 30 currencies.The platform is operated by Cylo Media Ltd, which is based out of Dublin, Ireland and has built up a consortium of companies to create and develop innovative new solutions for the digital media industry.www.cylo.com/allexis-music.html