U.K.-headquartered TV-based music streaming service Roxi, backed by such investors as Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Sheryl Crow, is gearing up to launch in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2024 via partnerships unveiled on Sunday.
The company, founded in 2017, has deals with all major labels, touting that it offers its partners “a unique full-catalog music video service – all the original music videos plus over 100 million Roxi virtual music videos.” It said that in the U.S. it would soon become available “on Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sony Bravia, Roku, Comcast, Fire TV, Google TV, Android TV, NVIDIA Shield TVs and set-top boxes.”
It vowed that its free music streaming app would “change the way millions of Americans enjoy music at home with free access to 100 million music videos, hundreds of curated music video channels, music video karaoke, music games and more.”
In the U.K., consumers can use the Roxi app free under the Roxi Standard plan with ads or for £6.99 ($8.85) per month after 30 free days. In the U.S., the company said it would also offer the Roxi Standard service for free, with ads, including “unlimited music videos, exclusive music channels, essential karaoke catalog and essential music games.” The $8.99 a month (after a free 30-day trial) Roxi Premium plan in the U.S. promises consumers to “play anything and everything, with no limits and no adverts.” Roxi TV app users can also claim a free Roxi Karaoke Microphone when taking up a 30-day premium trial or otherwhise purchase it from roxi.tv for $29.99.
With smart TV and pay TV vendors working with Roxi to add voice- and remote-powered on-demand music video search and play, “smart TVs will leapfrog smart speakers with free and instant voice-activated music videos,” the company predicted in announcing its move into the U.S. “Consumers will be able to command their TV to ‘play Taylor Swift’ with their voice – the TV will then automatically turn on and start playing Taylor Swift’s music videos.”
Roxi CEO Rob Lewis touted that the service provides more than audio-only music. “Our partnerships with the world’s biggest smart and pay TV companies brings free and instant access to Roxi’s 100 million music videos on tens of millions of TVs,” he said. “Consumers will be able to use their voice or TV remote to instantly play all their favorite music, all in a music video format.”
The company sees its service as helping TV sets replace the role of audio speakers in many homes. “Music represents 80 percent of listening on smart speakers today; but that’s audio-only listening and audio-only is ridiculous on a TV and when there is a TV in every home,” said Lewis. “The TV will overtake the smart speaker as the preferred music player in the home, not only because an audio-visual experience is better in the home than audio-only but also because a TV provides for a much superior browsing experience.”
Roxi cited results of a survey that it commissioned to highlight its market potential. It found that more than 75 percent of U.S. consumers would want to try Roxi’s free TV app on their smart TVs and 60 percent are “interested in switching their home music listening from audio-only smart speakers to full music videos playing on the TV.”
Matthew Broughton, director, LG smart TV content & services, said: “Roxii’s full catalog of 100 million original and virtual music videos will be integrated directly into the search function on all new LG TVs from 2024, enabling LG TV users to search for music, as well as TV and movies.”
Cowell, Minogue and Crow are celebrity shareholders in Roxi and also serve it as music curators. Other investors in the company include the likes of Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon, Stephen Fry, former Formula 1 and McLaren executive Ron Dennis, former U2 manager Paul McGuinness and others.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
