BMG, China's Alibaba Music Join Forces

BMG

BMG and ALIBABA MUSIC, which belongs to CHINA’s biggest ecommerce platform will further develop their strategic relationship in music, building on their successful digital licensing deal first struck two years ago. The new deal will provide a unique gateway for international stars into the potentially huge CHINESE market.

First element of the agreement is a three year extension of the two companies’ existing digital music distribution agreement. This gives ALIBABA’s digital music platforms ALI MUSIC, XIAMI and ALI PLANET access to over 600,000 recordings from the likes of JANET JACKSON, RICK ASTLEY, BLINK-182, SCORPIONS, KYLIE MINOGUE and BLACK SABBATH as well as copyrights in around 1.9m songs from DAVID BOWIE, KURT COBAIN, BRUNO MARS, ROGER WALTERS, WILL.I.AM, JOHN LEGEND, ROBBIE WILLIAMS and JAGGER/RICHARDS.

A new element of the relationship is a plan by ALIBABA DIGITAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT and BMG to jointly leverage their capabilities and competences not just directly in digital music services but potentially extending to new properties in films, TV, fan interactions, or e-commerce.

ALIBABA GROUP is one of the largest and most successful internet companies in the world. The ALIBABA DIGITAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT GROUP will comprise the businesses represented in the DIGITAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT MATRIX STEERING COMMITTEE, including YOUKU TUDOU, UC, ALIBABA PICTURES, ALIBABA MUSIC, ALIBABA GAMING, ALIBABA LITERATURE and ALIBABA DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT.

YOUKU President and ALI MUSIC CEO WEIDONG YANG commented: “Working with BMG, the top global music rights management company, will allow ALIBABA DIGITAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT to access significant international content and perspectives. We believe the cooperation with BMG will be deepened, expanded and explored in the future.”

ALIBABA DIGITAL MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT GROUP Chairman LUCKY YU said; “The ALIBABA DIGITAL & ENTERTAINMENT GROUP was established to better accelerate the cultural and entertainment ecosystem of ALIBABA. We believe that joining hands again with BMG is a great opportunity. By integrating Internet technology, content and business in cultural products, we aim to provide users with a rich and valuable cultural experience.”

BMG CEO HARTWIG MASUCH added: "We have been very satisfied with the rapid progress we have made in our relationship with ALIBABA, surely one of the most innovative and customer-focused businesses in the world. By deepening our relationship with ALIBABA, we are not only helping to pioneer the new music business in CHINA, we are delivering new revenue for our artists and songwriters.”

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