Tencent, Warner Music Group strike landmark deal
Tencent has signed a landmark partnership deal with Warner Music, which will strengthen the dominance of its domestic QQ Music streaming service and boost the potential for cross-platform sales.
Mainland internet giant Tencent has signed a landmark partnership deal with Warner Music, one of the world's largest recording companies, which will strengthen the dominance of its domestic QQ Music streaming service and boost the potential for cross-platform sales.
Shenzhen-based Tencent and New York-based Warner said yesterday they had entered into the first "master distribution partnership" between a major music company and a leading internet service provider in China.
Under their deal, Tencent will distribute Warner's music from its portfolio of record labels and manage new releases to other mainland audio services. It will not affect deals between Warner's domestic label, Warner Music China, and wireless network operators China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.
The new alliance also covers the extension of commercial and promotional opportunities for Warner's music and artists across Tencent's online platforms, especially its flagship QQ Music service, which has an estimated 300 million active monthly users. Financial terms were not given.
"This strategic partnership will offer fans in China an extensive stream of entertaining and high-quality music content that is well-managed and protected under the licence agreement," said Dowson Tong Taosang, a senior executive vice-president at Tencent.
On the mainland, QQ Music competes with rival services from the likes of Baidu, China Mobile, China Telecom, Douban, Duomi, Kugou, Kuwo and NetEase.