ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



Orange launches in Africa, on StarAfrica.com, the 2^nd edition of the music contest in partnership with Deezer and Zimbalam

In order to promote new  African music talent, StarAfrica.com launches the second edition of the StarAfrica Sounds music contest, in partnership with Deezer and Zimbalam.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130416/608120-a )

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130416/608120-b )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130416/608120-c )

Open to all, the contest aims to give maximum visibility to artists coming from the African continent, notably through the distribution of their songs on the main streaming and downloading streaming platforms.

The first stage will be held between April 2013, 15^th and May 2013, 31^st: the candidates (singers, groups, artists, musicians…) will have the opportunity to register on StarAfrica.com, proposing an original song, representative of their musical universe. This song will then be online on StarAfrica.com, available for everyone to enjoy.  

The second phase, from May 31^st to July 1^st, will let the public vote on StarAfrica.com and support their favorite candidates. The 5 candidates who will have collected the highest number of votes will then be selected for the final.

In a third and final stage, a jury composed of music professionals will designate the overall winner from the five finalists. His identity will be revealed in exclusivity on StarAfrica.com on July 2013, 8^th.

The StarAfrica Sounds contest will allow the finalists to have their songs on Deezer Africa and North Africa, and distributed on the main digital platforms thanks to Zimbalam. Moreover, many prizes are to be won:

• 1^st prize : an highlighting on StarAfrica.com and Deezer Africa and North Africa, a contact with the prestigious African music label Musiki, a Deezer for Artists certified account, a one year free access to Deezer Premium + and 3 album accounts on zimbalam.com
• 2^nd to 5^th prizes : a Deezer for Artists certified account, a one year free access to Deezer Premium + and 3 album accounts on zimbalam.com

The StarAfrica Sounds previous edition had been marked by the participation of more than 60 artists, coming from 19 countries, and the final victory of Kutchala Sutchi with his song "Gomanan".

Deezer, the global music subscription service, recently launched in Africa bringing people access to over 20 million songs on any device with just one subscription.

Deezer's mantra is music discovery, helping fans rediscover the joy of finding and sharing fantastic new music. Deezer's partnership with StarAfrica.com will offer artists an exciting platform to reach new audiences around the world.

Thanks to the partnership with Zimbalam, the finalists will have the possibility to sell their music on the streaming and downloading platforms all over the world, receiving 90% of the generated royalties, without exclusivity or time commitment: they remain independent, free and owner of their music.

Find out all the details about the 2013 edition on:

http://en.starafrica.com/music/starafrica-sounds-2013

About StarAfrica.com

StarAfrica.com, the Orange Entertainment portal in Africa, aggregates content from all the countries.

With more than 1 million visitors in January 2013**, available in French, English and Arabic, StarAfrica.com is among the African youth top portals, especially with its flagship channels: football, music and education. StarAfrica.com offers 7 thematic channels: news, music, football, sport, education, jobs and the diaspora shop.

Find out more on StarAfrica.com on the internet:

en.StarAfrica.com

Facebook: StarAfrica

Twitter: star_africa

**source Nielsen January 2013

About Deezer

Deezer delivers an exciting, broad and truly global music experience to more than 26 million music fans across over 182 countries.  With 3 million subscribers, more than 1 million Facebook fans and more than 100 million shareable playlists, Deezer allows fans to enjoy music unconstrained by any of the barriers of the past, providing unlimited access to a catalogue of 20 million tracks, instantly available on any device - smartphone, laptop, tablet, home speakers, car, or work PC.

Deezer's mantra is music discovery, helping fans rediscover the joy of finding and sharing fantastic new music through specially selected editorial recommendations for every single market in which it is present.  With an international partnership with Facebook and strategic telecoms partnerships with Orange, Everything Everywhere and Telenor, amongst many others, Deezer is committed to bringing music to new audiences worldwide.

http://www.deezer.com

About Zimbalam

Zimbalam, founded by Believe Digital in 2009, is the first European digital music distributor, dedicated to independent and self-produced artists. The vocation of Zimbalam is to release talents, pay creation and promote the musical diversity. Zimbalam allows any artist to make his music available on the main streaming and downloading platforms worldwide, then remit him 90% of the generated royalties, without any exclusivity or time commitment: the artist remains independent.

Available all over the world since 2012, Zimbalam has already seduced more than 80 000 artists.

http://www.zimbalam.com

SOURCE StarAfrica