Sony Music signs separate licensing deals with Tencent and NetEase for China

 

By Emmanuel Legrand

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) has signed two distinct licensing agreement with China's two main music streaming company, Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) and NetEase Cloud Music, marking a change in its licensing policy as until now Sony Music had an exclusive deal with Tencent for the whole of China.

  The multi-year extension of the digital distribution agreement between SME and TME becomes non-exclusive and allows TME to continue to have access to Sony Music's repertoire on its platforms in mainland China, including QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music, as well as its live streaming platforms and online karaoke platform WeSing.

  In addition, the agreement will let TME's online music platforms make music content from SME available on certain designated connected devices, such as smart speakers, television, and in-car audio systems, in mainland China. However, Tencent will no longer have the ability to sub-license SME's repertoire to other platforms in China, as it was the case before.

A natural set-up

  "Extending our cooperation with SME was a natural next-step for us," said TME Executive Chairman Cussion Pang. "We look forward to leveraging our strong distribution channels to explore new ways of music marketing and the promotion of new artists, as well as deepening our reach to Japanese pop culture fans in China."

  Dennis Kooker, SME's President, Global Digital Business and US Sales, said the agreement will allow to "maximise the reach of our artists in the vitally important market of China. We look forward to working with TME to develop further growth in the Chinese music marketplace and drive greater levels of local investment in our global roster of amazing talent, which includes many of the world's biggest superstars."

  TME's Group Vice President of Content Cooperation TC Pan said one of Tencent's growth strategy was "to boost the digital consumption of music in China through the connected IoT device market while exploring more possibilities for music marketing, to further enhance our self-reinforcing ecosystem." 

Explore innovative collaborations

  The deal with NetEase will give China's second largest streaming platform after TME direct access to SME's repertoire. The companies said they would "work together to explore innovative collaboration opportunities across the music value chain to bring elevated music experiences to NetEase Cloud Music's large, unique community of young music lovers in China," including in-depth cooperation in areas such as music distribution, music streaming services, online karaoke, and music vlogs (Mlogs), among others. 

 SME's Kooker said the partnership with NetEase Cloud Music will "further grow the availability of our music in China and increase the level of global investment in our roster of world class artists."

Enrich NetEase's library of music

   DingBo, Vice President of NetEase Cloud Music, said the partnership will "enrich and enliven our already vast and expanding library of quality music and propel China's online music ecosystem forward."

  AndrewChan, Managing Director of SME Greater China, added, "NetEase Cloud Music provides SME with a powerful platform through which to continue to provide the highest quality content to Chinese music lovers and we look forward to continued collaboration with them."