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| Chinese streaming service provider QQ Music is one of the most successful companies riding the current digital music boom. (Photo : YouTube) |
Major Chinese and international music labels are starting to
recognize the potential of digital music distribution and are now in a
race to get the most out of the boom.
The development was made apparent during a gathering of prominent
music industry players in Beijing on July 25.Among those present were
Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music,
China Entertainment News reported.
One of the main points of discussion in the event was the growth of
the Chinese digital music industry. According to the data provided by
the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, digital music
sales in China has grown by as much as 83.8 percent in 2015, posting
revenues of $170 million.
Among those companies that have successfully ridden the boom was QQ Music, a digital music service platform
operated by Tencent, one of China's main internet companies. QQ Music
general manager Andy Ng said that the service was able to sell more than
20 million digital copies of music albums within the first 18 months of
their operations, generating $15 million revenues.
Ng also said that their roster of artists has greatly expanded since
they first released the albums of Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, Aiyo, and
Not Bad back in 2014. He added that QQ currently counts Chinese music
stars Lu Han, Zhang Jie, and Zhou Bichang, as well as British pop singer
Adele and South Korean boy band Big Bang in their list of releases.
The general manager attributed their success to the ever-growing
number of Chinese digital music consumers, saying that they6 currently
have more than 10 million subscribers.
As part of its expansion, QQ Music announced in July that they are
merging their music service with that of China Music Corporation, which
is expected to create an even bigger digital music business.
Meanwhile, international music corporation BMG is also seeking to
partake in the booming Chinese digital market, as it announces that it
has signed a new deal with e-commerce giant Alibaba to promote its
roster of songwriters and artists in the country,
Billboard reported.
Under that new agreement. Alibaba will have digital rights to BMG's
catalog of more than 2.5 million recordings featuring artists like Black
Sabbath, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Kylie Minogue, and the Rolling
Stones.
The deal is seen as a response by Alibaba to a similar deal made by its chief rival Tencent with Warner Music Group.
