Alibaba signs digital distribution deal with BMG

Germany's BMG music rights company said on Monday it had signed a music digital distribution deal with China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, as the world's largest e-commerce firm firms up its bid to become a digital media empire.

德国音乐版权管理公司贝塔斯曼音乐集团周一宣布，已与阿里巴巴集团签署音乐数字版权分发协议。阿里巴巴当前正在打造其数字传媒王国。

The deal, one of the first in China made by a major music publisher rather than a label, will bring more than 2.5 million copyrights to Alibaba, whose music platforms already had many of the songs from artists including Kylie Minogue, the Rolling Stones and Jean-Michael Jarre, an Alibaba spokeswoman said.

阿里巴巴发言人称，这笔交易将为阿里巴巴带来超过250万个音乐版权。在此之前，阿里巴巴音乐平台上已经拥有许多知名艺术家的音乐版权，包括凯莉·米洛、滚石乐队和吉恩-迈克尔·雅尔等。

Alibaba has set its eyes on becoming an online-media powerhouse, with music, film and television. The $210-billion firm has touted the potential for selling digital products as well as physical products in China, despite the country's track record of users not paying for media content. In the process, it is vying with Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's biggest social networking and online entertainment firm, and search leader Baidu Inc and its online video unit, iQiyi.

阿里巴巴目前正在打造其在线传媒王国，内容包括音乐、电影和电视等，公司在该领域的竞争对手主要包括腾讯和百度(爱奇艺)。

For BMG, the tie-up is both a chance to boost earnings by its artists in China and part of its attempt to "grow the legitimate music market in China", the company said. BMG last November linked up with Chinese independent company Giant Jump to manage publishing and recording rights both at home and overseas.

对于BMG而言，此次合作既有助于刺激公司利润增长，也能在中国发展合法音乐业务。去年11月，BMG与中国公司Giant Jump合作来管理发行和唱片版权业务。

Alibaba's Digital Entertainment arm will "promote BMG writers and artists through channels such as its streaming apps Xiami and TTPod" and "monitor and take action against digital and mobile services who may infringe the rights of BMG clients," the subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, Europe's largest media company, said in a statement.

BMG在一份声明中称：“阿里巴巴的数字娱乐部门将通过虾米音乐和天天动听等渠道推广BMG的作者和艺术家，监测可能侵犯BMG版权的数字和移动服务，并采取相应措施。”

"Internet and particular mobile media are quickly providing an answer to the music industry's long-time challenge of how to monetize the vast untapped potential of the Chinese market," BMG Chief Executive Hartwig Masuch said in Monday's statement.

BMG CEO哈特维格·马苏奇称：“音乐产业长期面临的一个问题是如何拓展中国市场的极大潜力，而互联网和移动媒体为解决该问题提供了机会。”