Alibaba announced yesterday that it reached an agreement with one of China’s biggest record labels, Taihe Music Group, to obtain music content and distribution support for its suite of entertainment products, including streaming service Xiami Music, bluetooth speaker Tmall Genie, and karaoke app Changya.
Under the partnership, Taihe will provide music service solutions including copyrights, tailored playlists, and AI-powered song libraries for Alibaba’s products.
While Alibaba is primarily an e-commerce company, it has also been aggressively expanding into other sectors such as the entertainment industry. Last September, Alibaba invested around USD 700 million in NetEase’s popular app Cloud Music for a 20% stake, KrASIA reported.
According to industry data provider iiMedia Research, the number of users for mobile music services in 2019 increased by 6.6% year-over-year, reaching 580 million, and is expected to increase to 618 million in 2020.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.