Cape Town: For the first time, Music Exchange (MEX) will welcome three key figures from the Gallo/Music Arena ecosystem to Cape Town for #MEX26 on Saturday, 31 October 2026, bringing a remarkable century of recorded-music history into conversation with the rapidly changing digital economy.
Antos Stella, CEO of The Music Arena; Kwelagobe “Kwela” Sekele of Gallo Music; and Gabisile Shabangu, General Manager of Content Connect Africa (CCA) will participate in two sessions:
1 ) Gallo 100 From 1926 to 2026: The Recording Business Across the Century
2 ) MAD From Streaming to Sampling
The timing could hardly be more significant. Founded by Eric Gallo in Johannesburg in 1926, Gallo grew from a small record business into one of the defining institutions of South African recorded music.
Its catalogue has embraced generations of artists including Solomon Linda,Harari, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela,Sipho” Hotstix” Mabuse and Lucky Dube, Stimela across jazz, marabi, mbaqanga, maskandi, reggae, gospel, pop, house and kwaito.
In 2026, Gallo celebrates its centenary and is described by Music In Africa as Africa’s oldest surviving recording company.
At MEX26, however, this will not simply be a history lesson.
Antos Stella brings more than 40 years of music-industry experience and an extraordinary connection to Gallo itself. She joined the company in 1984, later becoming Managing Director of Gallo Music International, before moving into the digital-content business. Her career has consistently connected artists, rights, technology and commercial opportunity.
Kwelagobe “Kwela” Sekele brings the perspective of artist, curator, music supervisor and strategist. Today he leads curation across Gallo’s Curation, Synchronisation and Repertoire teams, working with both its legacy and contemporary catalogues and helping drive discovery in the streaming environment. His experience also includes music management across more than 500 episodes of Rhythm City and music supervision for screen productions including Fatal Seduction.
Completing the trio is Gabisile Shabangu, General Manager of Content Connect Africa, whose journey from A&R and Business Affairs into digital distribution gives her a front-row view of the new music economy. She now oversees A&R, publishing, reporting, technology and HR at CCA, with a particular commitment to developing independent talent while protecting artist autonomy.
That combination makes the second conversation, MAD From Streaming to Sampling, especially relevant.
Gallo’s relationship with CCA has increasingly connected one of Africa’s great music catalogues with digital distribution, technology and new approaches to rights and monetisation.
“For MEX, this is exactly what knowledge exchange should look like understanding where the business has come from, while asking where it goes next,” says Music Exchange founder and convener Martin Myers.
#MEX26 takes place Saturday, 31 October 2026 at Protea Hotel Fire & Ice!, Cape Town.
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Gallo at 100: A Century of South African Music Meets the Future at MEX26
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Alan Straton
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