LEISURE centres across Carmarthenshire will be playing Welsh language music on their playlists.

As part of this year’s “Welsh Language Music Day” on Friday, February 9, the local authority will launch the new sounds at its centres in Ammanford, Carmarthen and Llanelli.

A play list has been created using Apton – a new streaming service specifically for music by Welsh labels, which will be played at different times throughout the day. The service includes archive songs from early vinyl LPs, and hundreds of Welsh tracks that are not available on other streaming platforms.

It is hoped that this will be extended to other council locations in coming months.

The aim of Welsh Language Music Day is to celebrate and share Welsh language music. Local authorities and businesses are being urged to play Welsh language music in their public spaces.

Executive board member for leisure Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said: “We have decided to launch this exciting new initiative on “Welsh Language Music Day” as it fits in with their ethos of getting Welsh music out there so people can experience the wealth of talent Wales has to offer, and hopefully people will find some new music that they enjoy during their leisure centre sessions.

“This is just the first step of playing more Welsh language music across the council. In the coming months we hope to develop this further by including the indoor markets and other council centres.”

Dafydd Roberts on behalf of Apton added: “We are extremely pleased that Carmarthenshire County Council has decided to use Apton in order to create a playlist for their leisure centres. We hope that other councils in Wales will follow Carmarthenshire’s example and their policy of promoting Welsh music at their public venues.”