Love at first sight? Kylie takes stake in UK music streamer Roxi
Kylie Minogue has taken a stake in Roxi as the music streaming service plots an initial public offering in London.
The Australian pop legend joins Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon and Sheryl Crow as a major shareholder in the company, and will front its new TV advertising campaign.
Roxi, which offers a fully-licensed music catalogue through a set-top box, has positioned itself as a more family-focused alternative to US streaming giants such as Spotify and Apple Music.
In addition to its catalogue of more than 55m songs, the service also offers karaoke, music games and audio classes for yoga and meditation.
Roxi had outlined plans to float on London’s Aim market in the fourth quarter last year, but the listing never materialised.
However, the company has now resurrected the plans after tapping brokers at Canaccord Genuity, the Mail on Sunday, paving the way for yet another major tech listing in London next year.
Minogue is the latest celebrity to back the project, joining high-profile names such as McLaren tycoon Ron Dennis, Saracens owner Nigel Wray and U2’s former manager Paul McGuinness.
The Can’t Get You Out of My Head singer will curate playlists for Roxi, as well as starring in the company’s new ad campaign.
Roxi boss Rob Lewis said the company was “delighted” to welcome Minogue, who has sold more than 80m albums worldwide and racked up seven UK number ones.
“Having Kylie join the team at Roxi will help us to deliver on our vision to get everyone listening together, singing together, dancing together, playing together, with Roxi,” he said.
Roxi’s expansion plans were given a major boost in September after it signed a deal to integrate its service onto the Sky Q platform.