As many may know China is a growing market. Music is no different when speaking for this growing market. In light of this Warner Music has announced a partnership with Chinese Internet company Tencent that will include streaming, in the first such deal for a major global record label in the huge market.
The deal is the first for one of the three global label conglomerates in China, where international companies have long complained that rampant piracy has slashed revenues for creators of everything from music to software.
“By providing wider access to high-quality, licensed music on authorized services, the deal will create greater choice for consumers, greater value for artists and a more sustainable business for music companies and service providers,” a joint statement said.
The agreement, however, will exclude applications on mobile telephones. Warner said that it hoped to reach its own partnerships.
The deal is the latest expansion into Asia for the Warner Music Group, which earlier this year bought Hong Kong-based Gold Typhoon, which both signs local artists and runs the China operations for international stars including Japanese girls group sensation AKB48.
For Tencent, the agreement would allow the company to expand more firmly into music. Its core businesses are online games as well as messaging applications such as WeChat, which had 468 million active users at the end of the last quarter, according to company figures.
For the full story, check out Yahoo Music News.