IODA and R2G launch online music store for China

The first partnership of its kind in China, Wawawa will reportedly offer users more than one million full-length international recordings, becoming the market’s largest inventory of legally downloadable music.

Tracks will be accessible exclusively to mainland consumers in DRM-free mp3 format on a monthly subscription basis. Paying customers assume full ownership of all songs once the subscription has expired.

While IODA will make its catalogue available to the market, R2G will employ an anti-piracy infrastructure to protect the site, while ensuring rights holders are compensated for consumption of recordings.

While success is not guaranteed in a country with widespread online piracy, a recent study by Beijing-based research group Music 2.0 indicated that one third of China’s music consumers were prepared to pay to download music.

The new service will reach a potential 253 million internet users nationwide.