Major Chinese and international music labels are starting to recognize the potential of digital music distribution and are now in a race to get the most out of the boom.
The development was made apparent during a gathering of prominent music industry players in Beijing on July 25.Among those present were Sony Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music, China Entertainment News reported.
One of the main points of discussion in the event was the growth of the Chinese digital music industry. According to the data provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, digital music sales in China has grown by as much as 83.8 percent in 2015, posting revenues of $170 million.
Among those companies that have successfully ridden the boom was QQ Music, a digital music service platform operated by Tencent, one of China's main internet companies. QQ Music general manager Andy Ng said that the service was able to sell more than 20 million digital copies of music albums within the first 18 months of their operations, generating $15 million revenues.
Ng also said that their roster of artists has greatly expanded since they first released the albums of Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, Aiyo, and Not Bad back in 2014. He added that QQ currently counts Chinese music stars Lu Han, Zhang Jie, and Zhou Bichang, as well as British pop singer Adele and South Korean boy band Big Bang in their list of releases.
The general manager attributed their success to the ever-growing number of Chinese digital music consumers, saying that they6 currently have more than 10 million subscribers.
As part of its expansion, QQ Music announced in July that they are merging their music service with that of China Music Corporation, which is expected to create an even bigger digital music business.
Meanwhile, international music corporation BMG is also seeking to partake in the booming Chinese digital market, as it announces that it has signed a new deal with e-commerce giant Alibaba to promote its roster of songwriters and artists in the country, Billboard reported.
Under that new agreement. Alibaba will have digital rights to BMG's catalog of more than 2.5 million recordings featuring artists like Black Sabbath, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Kylie Minogue, and the Rolling Stones.
The deal is seen as a response by Alibaba to a similar deal made by its chief rival Tencent with Warner Music Group.