Safaricom on Monday launched a new music streaming service dubbed 'Songa' which offers a variety of music to customers at a fee.

The 'SONGA by Safaricom' also offers a platform for celebrities to sell their music.

The service, which is accessible as an App on Android smartphones, provides a one-touch access to music across all major genres.

Customers can download the music app by simply dialing *812#.

The app contains over two million local and international songs from over 400,000 artistes.

It features songs from local stars such as Sauti Sol, Mercy Masika, Nyashinski, and Eric Wainana and international sensations such as Wizkid, Camila Cabello, Usher, Chris Brown, Beyonce, Davido among others.

"Our aim is to delight our subscribers with a carefully curated world-class collection, a fantastic user interface, and a smooth streaming experience," Sylvia Mulinge, Safaricom director of Consumer Business, said.

Nyashinski, Sauti Sol, and Mercy Masika have been incorporated as creative directors for the app to help drive consumer uptake and create awareness of the platform.

"This is an amazing opportunity for our fans to get our original music and pre-releases. It will be a great experience and we are excited about it," Sauti Sol manager Marek Fuchs said.

The "SONGA by Safaricom" app offers online and offline play interfaces, track and full album downloads, playlist creation and an ability to share links with other subscribers.

The service gives a free 14-day trial period but customers will thereafter choose a subscription plan of either Sh25 per day, Sh150 per week or Sh499 monthly subscription.

The service has signed agreements with major international and African music labels and aggregators including Sony Music Entertainment, Africori, Africha, Ngoma and Expedia, and is at an advanced stage of negotiation with other labels.

Sean Watson, Sony Music Entertainment Africa managing director, said the Songa app is a unique solution that rivals international music applications.

"Sony Music Entertainment is proud to be associated with this unique product that we believe is well positioned to deliver on its promise to entertain and capture unique moments in our lives," he said.

"We see a natural home for our diverse African content here. We love the focus on the latest African hits as well as the timeless catalogues of yesteryears," Yoel Kenan, Africori CEO, said.

The Songa app is an addition to Safaricom’s ring back tunes service "Skiza" which is available to its 29 million customers.

The telco giant paid out over Sh1.4 billion in royalties to artistes, emphasising its commitment to growing the Kenyan music industry.

"We are excited to launch yet another service that will provide an additional revenue stream to Kenyan artistes and increase their earnings because we believe in working together to make great things happens," Mulinge said.

"Just can’t wait for my fans to hear my next fresh release on Songa by Safaricom. Stand by!" multi-award artiste Nyashinski said.

"It will be truly uplifting with all my gospel collection," Mercy Masika said

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