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February 15, 2005
Universal Music, ITunes Team Up To Bring Chinese Artists To The World Online
China Sings! Chinese pop music gets its props
Chinese-language pop music by some of Asia's biggest stars will be available online for the first time in North America and Europe from tomorrow (8), as the result of a ground-breaking partnership between Universal Music South East Asia and Apple's iTunes Music Store (iTMS).In a campaign launched to coincide with the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the best of Cantonese ("Canto-pop") and Mandarin ("Mando-pop") hits by Jacky Cheung, Kelly Chen, Hacken Lee, Alan Tam and many other top artists will be available from iTunes stores in 15 countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
Consumers will be able to choose from more than 1,000 tracks by Universal Music's roster of Chinese artists, in a campaign which represents an industry milestone - the first time that this volume of Chinese repertoire will become available online legally outside its region of origin.
Aimed in particular at the large overseas-Chinese population, the offering allows consumers who live far from the countries where the recordings were originally released to buy them quickly and conveniently. In the past, such music has usually been available only in physical form through a limited number of specialist retailers.
"The new deal is a fantastic development for everyone," said Kelly Chen, one of Universal Music's most popular artists in Asia, whose music will be now available through iTMS. "Fans everywhere can keep up-to-date with our music, while artists are respected and protected on a copyright level," she added.
The tracks will be available for download from February 8. In addition to the performers named above, music by Sam Hui, Andy Lau, Faye Wong, Grasshopper, Leon Lai, Tat Ming Pair and Michael Kwan, among others, will be available. The repertoire will be permanently available on iTMS, and will be augmented in the future by new Chinese releases and select catalogue titles.
Harry Hui, President of Universal Music South East Asia, said, "The consumption of music going forward will be digital, mobile, virtual and personal. I can't think of a better partner to catapult the consumption of our Chinese catalogue than this alliance with Apple iTunes. Also, this new outlet for digital music is a perfect promotional avenue for our younger stars."
Top Chinese Pop Music Artists
[ Jacky Cheung | Kelly Chen | Faye Wong | Leon Lai ] [ Various Artists - International - Far East - China ]Posted by BIGBAER at February 15, 2005 12:30 PM
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