Apple Music expands its Chinese music catalogue with Tencent Music Entertainment

Chinese music will have more listeners around the world after the signing of a worldwide deal between Apple Music and China’s Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME).

Starting this month, labels and artists registered and released on TME’s new Music Cloud will also have their songs and albums available around the world on Apple Music, adding a healthy addition to their already 90-million-strong track catalog.

In a press statement, TME said, “Bringing TME's premium music content from Chinese labels and creators to Apple Music users worldwide, will enable music lovers to explore China's unique music culture and genres, further enhancing the global discovery of Chinese music and assisting in the international development of Chinese musicians.”

While the announcement sounds grand, not much other detail about the agreement has been revealed yet and it is unclear exactly what TME’s Music Cloud platform will really entail. This is what the company says about the new Music Cloud platform:

“As a new global music distribution platform launched by TME, TME Music Cloud will also adopt ‘content self-management,’ ‘online distribution and promotion,’ ‘settlement of royalties,’ and “music data insights,’ providing global level omni-channel distribution for a wide range of partner labels and creators. At the same time, TME’s industry resources and Tencent’s social ecology will offer comprehensive assistance to content creators in content production and promotion as well as commercial realisation.”

It can only be assumed that Music Cloud will be pushing to sign up more independent artists through Music Cloud. But without that being made, it’s probably safer to assume that independent artists and labels will not be considered. As it is only release their music in China and not globally because platforms like Bandcamp are banned, and Tencent is still being deregulated from the recent axing by the Chinese Government to diffuse the company’s exclusivity agreements on streaming rights.

Hopefully, all types and levels of music from China can be enjoyed around the world soon enough.