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Speculation over whether Alibaba will re-enter music streaming gains traction after Tencent loses exclusive rights
- A subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding has applied for a slew of trademarks for its now-defunct music streaming service
- Xiami Music, which ceased operations in February, was once Alibaba’s main competitor for Chinese listeners
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A subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding has applied for a slew of trademarks for its now-defunct music streaming service, fanning speculation about whether the e-commerce giant will re-enter music streaming after Beijing forced Tencent Holdings to relinquish its exclusive licensing deals.
Alibaba Singapore Holding has filed dozens of applications beginning in June for Xiami Music and Entertainment in various categories, including concert production, ticketing and music publishing, according to a search on the website of the Trademark Office of China National Intellectual Property Administration.
Alibaba, which owns South China Morning Post, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Alibaba’s moves came in tandem with Beijing’s efforts to encourage competition in the country’s music streaming market by forcing Tencent, which controls a dominating share, to give up its exclusive music rights.
Xiami Music, which ceased operations in February, was once Alibaba’s main competitor for Chinese listeners against Tencent and NetEase, the number one and number two companies in terms of music streaming market share.
During Beijing’s crackdown on pirated music in 2015, Xiami was forced to remove 2.2 million tracks from its platform but was slow to pursue licensing deals. It went from one of the top streaming platforms to a distant laggard with just 22.4 million monthly active users (MAU) by October last year.
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