China's Top Search Engine To Begin Paying Record Labels

Now Operating Legally

CHINA's top search engine BAIDU will begin to pay three major record companies for music downloads on its site, after years of facing criticism for hosting links to pirated songs. BAIDU has signed an agreement for the distribution of digital music with ONE-STOP CHINA (OSC), a joint venture whose shareholders are three of the leading global record companies: UNIVERSAL MUSIC, WARNER MUSIC, and SONY MUSIC.

OSC shareholders will license to BAIDU their catalogues and upcoming new releases, including Chinese songs (in Mandarin and Cantonese) and international tracks, which can be streamed or downloaded from BAIDU's servers.

Under the terms of the deal, BAIDU will remunerate music content owners on a per-play and per-download basis for all tracks delivered through the BAIDU MP3 Search service, as well as BAIDU's newly launched social music platform, TING!. The new product offers users the ability to discover and share music and music-related content.

"BAIDU has always striven to provide the best possible experience to our users," said BAIDU CFO JENNIFER LI. "Our partnership with ONE-STOP CHINA marks an exciting new beginning. I'm confident that BAIDU, the Chinese music fans, recording artists, and the record companies alike will all benefit from this win-win partnership."

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