The CEO of Singapore-based Soundbuzz, Asia’s largest digital online and mobile music retailer, says they are preparing to launch the service in Mainland China, where online and physical piracy is ubiquitous. According to Soundbuzz’s CEO, the challenge is formidable but there’s reason to be hopeful a legitimate music download service will catch on in China. “The Chinese spend on mobile music, gaming, matchmaking, and all sorts of online services. The culture of paying for products there is not as alien as people would have us believe.”
The article goes on to observe,
Asia is going to continue to play the central role in the development of the nascent digital music industry. “The new business models in Asia are dramatically different from those in the West.” The US$4 billion Ringtone business is being replaced by “Truetones”, “Mastertones” and “ring-back tones”, all Asian developments. “Interaction with music is changing dramatically. Even ten years ago, the primary aim of music was to entertain. Now with digital music, a lot of music utilization is for expression. Asia is leading that.”