Aug

7

Google launched free music service in China

Filed Under Computers | Posted By Jennifer Sullivan |

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Google Inc has launched a music search service in China that will give users access to free downloads of licenced songs, while capturing advertising revenue for music providers in a market rife with piracy.

Google said that its service would initially let Internet users search tens of thousands of Chinese songs by singer or song title on its website and download them from Top100.cn, a Chinese music website co-founded by basketball star Yao Ming.

Advertising revenue from the service will be shared among Top100.cn and its music partners.

Kai-fu Lee Google China President said, “The Internet industry should by no means stand in the opposite camp against the music industry,”

“Google always believes profoundly that mutual interest, rather than monopoly, is the key to sustainable growth.”

Downloads of unlicensed music and videos are rampant in China, the world’s biggest Internet market by number of users.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has estimated that more than 99 per cent of all music files distributed in China are pirated.

While Google dominates much of the global web search market, in China Baidu holds a nearly 63 per cent market share while Google has only 26 per cent, according to second-quarter data from iResearch.



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