RAKU offers localised music and radio streaming experience

Local music and radio lovers now can enjoy Malaysia’s very own radio and music streaming service on their smartphones, tablets and PCs on RAKU.

RAKU is available in two versions; Free and Premium. All Malaysians can enjoy free RAKU and access millions of international and Malaysia’s best songs, talk content and localized content anytime, anywhere.

Malaysians can now stream millions of songs, videos, listen to more than 20 live radio stations and podcasts. They can tune into their favourite radio station, listen to home grown artistes, bands or celebrities’ playlists.

So not only can listeners listen to Yuna, they can find out what Yuna listens to! In a nod to Malaysians who primarily listen to music and talk shows on their smart devices, the app will feature local community updates such as news, traffic and sports. RAKU sports a localised interface and is available in BM, English, Mandarin and Tamil.

Consumers who wish to enjoy more functionality can subscribe to RAKU Premium. RAKU Premium comes with innovative features such as unlimited access to millions of tracks from a vast music catalogue, customized playlists, radio on-demand, and other bespoke add-ons such as being able to download music to their device for listening when offline.

With Premium access, they can create their own radio station and playlists and share the personalized playlist with their friends on social media. RAKU Premium is available at RM14.90 per month for all Malaysians via www.raku.my and on Android as well as at USD5.99 on the Apple App Store.

Local artists who have a playlist on RAKU include Noh Salleh, Tres Empre, Bittersweet, Enterprise, Man Bai, Alleycats, Dasha Logan and many more including indie bands like Paper Plane Pursuit, Pop Shuvit and Bunkface. Local DJs with playlists on the radio streaming service include Ean, Jin and RD (hitz fm), Haniff and Hani (ERA fm), and Aanantha (THR Raaga).

Henry Tan, Chief Operating Officer of Astro said, “RAKU is designed for Malaysians, enabling users to pick and choose the best of local and international music and radio content with options to combine with podcasts. RAKU looks to increase its advertisers’ value proposition by offering innovative opportunities for advertisers to engage with their target consumers.”

At its launch, RAKU also welcomed DIGI as its first premier advertising partner. Praveen Rajan, Digi’s Head of Digital Services said, “In Digi, we always strive to provide our customers with a wide range of exciting services that cater to their different needs and lifestyles.

"We’re happy to partner with Raku as it is very much in line with Digi Live brand objective to offer our customers, the newest and most inspiring entertainment content along with the latest digital service innovations from partners. Now customers who listen to hitz fm, ERA fm and MY FM are able to enjoy unlimited streaming via our newly launched Digi Music Freedom pass.”

Jake Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Astro Radio, said, "I am pleased that RAKU is able to strengthen its commitment to supporting Malaysian artistes and indie bands by offering a new way of connecting with their fans. Advertisers who are interested in engaging their consumers also have the chance to leverage on RAKU’s extensive reach through its innovative media buy. Now they can offer a specific ad targeted to a single consumer in a single context, offering more cost-effective advertising.”

RAKU can be downloaded via the web at raku.my while the RAKU app can be found at the iTunes Store and Google Play.