Spinlet joins SA mobile music parade

Global digital entertainment company, Spinlet, has opened an office in Cape Town, offering South African music lovers an additional portal from where they can buy music tracks and albums. The service will be available for use on smartphones, tablets and desktop computers.

Spinlet is set for its second launch on the African continent – in South Africa. Spinlet’s SA office, based in Cape Town, will further drive the company’s expansion into sub-Saharan territories where it will derive its growth from two streams the music fans and the music artists.

The company was founded in Finland in 2006, subsequently acquired by Verod Capital in 2011 and moved its headquarters to San Francisco. It then opened a marketing and distribution office in Lagos, Nigeria.

In the short time it has been operating in Africa, Spinlet has established itself as a serious player in a highly competitive market.

‚”As smartphone and broadband penetration increases and data costs reduce across Africa, we have noted that the appetite for the type of entertainment services which Spinlet can provide has significantly increased,‚” says Neil Schwatrzman, Group CEO of Spinlet. ‚”This has endorsed our decision to target emerging markets in Africa and we look forward to seeing similar levels of enthusiasm from South African music lovers when we launch our download site and mobile app.‚”

One third of global industry revenue was derived from digital music in 2012, according to the IFPI, the organisation that represents the music industry worldwide. This is set to increase year on year.

Spinlet’s focus is on growing new music artists and sharing revenue with performers means it uncovers new music talent every day thanks to its ‚’Spinners’ people who are sourcing and recommending new artists and sounds and crowdsourcing relevant content. Through Spinlet, it is only a matter of days from being discovered to having the music registered on the platform, and shared by fans.

Because the medium is digital and global, African music is being shared not only with the diaspora but also with a growing worldwide audience that’s hungry for new sounds.

As a result of the interest close to 700,000 registrations to date Spinlet now holds the single largest catalogue of African music and local music artists. This complements its international library which it is keen to share with South African audiences. Spinlet is the largest supplier of digital music on the continent and, when it launches in South Africa, will be providing access to its entire catalogue.

‚”We are excited about the impending launch of Spinlet in South Africa. This gives yet another opportunity for South African composer members of NORM and SAMRO to earn digital royalties from the distribution of their catalogues on the service,‚” says Tsholo Moraba, General Manager, Gallo Music Publishers and a Director of NORM South Africa (National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music). ‚”Digital music services are providing exciting new and easily accessible ways for more people to enjoy international and local music content. When this comes from a credible music store with representation such as Spinlet, then so much the better as listeners can look forward to a new era in mobile music.”

The Spinlet site (www.Spinlet.com) will be accessible for PC, tablet and mobile smartphone through any browser. It uses “”active rendering technology”” that is designed to adjust to any screen size automatically, thus optimising the user experience. The service will allow consumers to buy tracks and albums.

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