BEIJING, NEW YORK, NY and SEATTLE, WA (Top40 Charts/ Warner
Music Group) - Warner
Music Group (NYSE: WMG), SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, ACCESS CO., LTD., MELODEO, Inc. and ACCESS China Media Solutions today announced they are working together to develop and distribute world-class solutions for delivering mobile music and multimedia entertainment to wireless customers throughout China and other Asia Pacific marketplaces and beyond.
Warner Music Group and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT have each made a strategic investment in ACCESS China Media Solutions, a company formed by ACCESS CO., LTD. and MELODEO, Inc. With this investment, Warner Music Group and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT are now key partners in ACCESS China Media Solutions, adding both capital and marketplace expertise.
ACCESS China Media Solutions develops cutting-edge music-based mobile platforms for wireless carriers and handset manufacturers. These platforms provide consumers with the highest-quality music experience available on the mobile handset, incorporating user-friendly interfaces and innovative mobile music products.
Music companies have long sought a secure, economically viable way to distribute their content in China and throughout the world. Piracy of both physical CDs and online digital music has made these efforts difficult over the past decade.
In contrast, mobile phone networks are inherently more secure, and have a built-in payment system that is ideal for the sale of high-value, copyrighted digital media. ACCESS China Media Solutions was formed to develop solutions designed specifically to securely deliver mobile music and multimedia content to wireless customers.
Ultimately, ACCESS China Media Solutions seeks to encourage the growth of a vibrant, legitimate digital music business in China and beyond that will foster the creative and economic development of regional music companies, recording artists and songwriters by ensuring that they are properly compensated for their work.
"This investment by Warner Music Group and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT demonstrates a strong show of faith in bringing together all the key elements to unlock the power of digital music marketing on mobile platforms," said Wayne Zhang, CEO of ACCESS China Media Solutions. "We believe this partnership represents a pivotal point in the industry as we work together in this joint venture (ACCESS China Media Solutions) to unleash a new wave in the music business. Together we have the content, proven technologies, and network operators' support to ensure that wireless customers can get their music and multimedia entertainment content the way they want it, whenever and wherever."
"Our participation in this company is an integral part of our overall strategy to innovate and develop the legitimate music marketplace around the world," commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. "At SONY BMG we are particularly excited about the opportunities from distributing music on mobile phones in China, and this project complements our successful Chinese direct licensing activities for digital music. ACCESS China Media Solutions is offering next-generation mobile music platforms, to be used, for example, for mobile podcasting and Full Track Downloads. As one of the leading major music companies in the world providing a huge depth of international and Mandarin repertoire we are keen to see these technologies introduced into the marketplace by our new joint venture in conjunction with major local mobile phone operators."
"As the first major music company to open a dedicated Chinese office in 2000 and the first to strike a direct, catalog-wide content agreement with a Chinese mobile operator in 2006, Warner Music Group views ACCESS China Media Solutions as an important advancement in our longstanding commitment to the dynamic Chinese music business," said Alex Zubillaga, Executive Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business Development, Warner Music Group. "We're confident that with ACCESS's technology deployment expertise and MELODEO's cutting-edge platforms and user-interfaces, this new venture will unlock tremendous opportunities for content owners, wireless operators and consumers alike in the largest mobile marketplace in the world, which is the strategic key to the music business in this region."
"Ensuring that digital music and entertainment content is delivered securely is crucial for all participants in the wireless marketplace," said William Valenti, Founder/EVP, MELODEO, Inc. "MELODEO is committed to providing solutions that enable the delivery of on-demand digital content in the most user-friendly mode. As part of the ACCESS China Media Solutions joint venture, we are pleased to work with such content and technology leaders as SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Warner Music Group and ACCESS."
"As part of our mission to build a connected world, we're excited to be part of this joint venture along with industry leaders SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Warner Music Group and MELODEO to help develop and deliver a commercialized solution for safely and securely delivering digital music and entertainment content to wireless customers," said Toru Arakawa, CEO, President and co-founder of ACCESS CO., LTD. "Providing the mobile phone industry with a powerful and secure digital music delivery solution benefits all members of the mobile ecosystem - operators, handset and device manufacturers, content providers, application developers and artists. And most importantly, the wireless customers benefit with access to the music they want to hear."
