National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Legendary South African label Gallo will make their digital catalog available in the U.S. for the first time, thanks to a new partneship deal with Microsoft that was announced on Tuesday.

According to a company press release, Microsoft's Zune division is partnering with the Gallo music group to offer fifty albums spanning nearly eight decades of South African music. These albums were made available for a la carte and Zune™ Pass subscription downloads on Zune Marketplace as of May 1st.

The Gallo catalog represents the entire recorded history of South African music from the 1930s to today. From well-known songs such as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which was originally released in South Africa before becoming an international hit, to Grammy-winning artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Gallo catalog encompasses a broad range of genres and sounds.

Each week in May, Zune Marketplace will focus on sounds from a different era in addition to current chart-topping rock, reggae, hip-hop and pop music artists from South Africa. For four weeks, the Zune Marketplace editorial team will pair featured albums and playlists with insightful editorial content to help tell the story of this rich musical legacy, the majority of which has never been released in the United States in any format, physical or digital.

Week one kicks off with an overview of the Gallo catalog, which spans nearly eight decades. Week two will feature the sounds of the 1950s through 1970s, including kwela, Zulu jive and mbaqanga, a style that melds traditional Zulu dance rhythms with classic American soul and R&B. Week three will focus on the sounds of South African gospel and jazz. Week four will highlight today's best music from the region, including the platinum-selling and AVO Session Award-winning artist Simphiwe Dana (pictured).