But the news has received mixed reviews from China industry experts who indicate the market may already be over subscribed.
The advertising-supported music subscription service has teamed up with Tom Group, the media arm of Hutchison Whampoa, to launch in the mainland, but not in Hong Kong.
The advertising-supported music subscription service has teamed up with Tom Group, the media arm of Hutchison Whampoa, to launch in the mainland, but not in Hong Kong.
Spotify uses a two-tier tariff system ; registered users can enjoy music free on their desktops and mobile phones in a service that is funded by advertising played periodically between songs. Those willing to pay a monthly subscription get the service without advertisements.
However, Tencent, Sina, Baidu and three main telecom operators including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom all have their own music online streaming portals already. Apple has iTunes and Google China has also launched its music search engine this April in partnership with Top100.cn.
Liu Ning, principal analyst at BDA, said: “Many local websites are already providing the same free services in China for online music streaming. I don’t expect Spotify to be popular in China, as Chinese people are not familiar with this website. It will depend on Spotify’s business models. Track download will be hard to charge in China as people can still find lots of small websites for illegal music download via search engines.”
But Sean Leow, co-founder of creative networking site Neocha.com, said he had been using the service, having tried other services such as iTunes, Pandora and last.FM. “I think Spotify service is the best; it offers one of the largest bodies of streaming music available.”
Leow pointed out that Spotify “had a limited amount of Chinese musicians” and was unsure whether the service would sign up more China labels.
“Chinese music consumers are used to paying no money. I believe Spotify’s free service would do well in China, but its premium subscription service will find it more difficult,” he added.
The music industry around the world is struggling to deal with the way digital consumption is changing the industry. China is one of the most extreme examples - the popularity of search engine Baidu is often attributed to its MP3 Search function, which allows users to find free downloadable music.
Leow added that credit card payment issues were also a potential barrier, and suggested that Spotify could form a partnership with Taobao’s Alipay.
However, Tencent, Sina, Baidu and three main telecom operators including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom all have their own music online streaming portals already. Apple has iTunes and Google China has also launched its music search engine this April in partnership with Top100.cn.
Liu Ning, principal analyst at BDA, said: “Many local websites are already providing the same free services in China for online music streaming. I don’t expect Spotify to be popular in China, as Chinese people are not familiar with this website. It will depend on Spotify’s business models. Track download will be hard to charge in China as people can still find lots of small websites for illegal music download via search engines.”
But Sean Leow, co-founder of creative networking site Neocha.com, said he had been using the service, having tried other services such as iTunes, Pandora and last.FM. “I think Spotify service is the best; it offers one of the largest bodies of streaming music available.”
Leow pointed out that Spotify “had a limited amount of Chinese musicians” and was unsure whether the service would sign up more China labels.
“Chinese music consumers are used to paying no money. I believe Spotify’s free service would do well in China, but its premium subscription service will find it more difficult,” he added.
The music industry around the world is struggling to deal with the way digital consumption is changing the industry. China is one of the most extreme examples - the popularity of search engine Baidu is often attributed to its MP3 Search function, which allows users to find free downloadable music.
Leow added that credit card payment issues were also a potential barrier, and suggested that Spotify could form a partnership with Taobao’s Alipay.
