Music giants revel in potential of digital business

China's music industry continues to expand into new markets and create new business models, attracting more users to digital services. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's music industry continues to expand into new markets and create new business models, attracting more users to digital services.

On July 25, major international record companies, including Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, as well as QQ Music, a music-service platform under the Chinese internet giant, Tencent, gathered in Beijing and agreed about the Chinese music market's potential.

The main discussion focused on music streaming and subscription, the fastest-growing areas in digital music in China, and new business models.

According to Andy Ng, general manager of QQ Music, since the first digital album of Taiwan pop icon Jay Chou, Aiyo, Not Bad, released in December 2014 via QQ Music, more than 40 Chinese musicians as well as international artists, including Lu Han, Zhang Jie, Zhou Bichang, British singer-songwriter Adele and South Korean boy group Big Bang, have been cooperating with QQ Music and released their new material online.

Within 18 months, over 20 million copies of digital albums have been sold on QQ Music, generating over 100 million yuan ($15 million) in revenue.

"China has the largest number of internet users in the world. The large population and increasing number of internet users means huge potential," says Ng. "We have over 10 million subscribers who pay for our online music. The number is increasing, which makes the country fastest-growing in digital music consumption."

He also adds that among the 10 million subscribers, over 80 percent are young people, who were born after 1990 and 2000.

Besides offering music-streaming service, the company also launched a new project, Music Plus, to offer fans more opportunities to interact with their favorite singer-songwriters, such as small-sized live shows and features exclusively designed for QQ Music subscribers.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's annual music report says that music sales in China rose 63.8 percent in 2015, to $170 million, which is "a tremendous increase".

The report says that the most influential internet company in 2015 was Tencent, which first launched a paid service, Green Diamond, in 2008. It now has licensing partnerships with two international record companies, Sony and Warner, and some 25 local independent labels.

In early July, QQ Music and China Music Corporation announced a strategic merger of their digital music businesses.

The merger of the two market leaders will combine QQ Music service with CMC to form a new company, in which Tencent will become the majority shareholder.

Tencent says its commitment to develop the new company's digital music business will pave the way for an initial public offering.

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