China-based Xiami Music, a wholly-owned entity of the Alibaba Group, has partnered with HD audio firm MQA.
MQA, which delivers master-quality music in a file small enough to stream, will be introduced into the SVIP tier of Xiami Music iOS and Android apps, making Xiami Music China’s first domestic MQA-enabled music service.
All users will be offered a free trial for a limited period, and can then subscribe to the SVIP tier to continue to access all MQA music.
MQA states that China is already the fourth largest market for sales of MQA devices even before the existence of a domestic MQA-enabled music service.
Xiami Music was founded in 2008 and acquired by the Alibaba Group in 2013. Alibaba Group owns e-commerce platforms in China, which according to the company, attract 654 million annual active consumers.
As part of Alibaba’s ecosystem, the Xiami Music service has access to Alibaba’s full resources.
Xiami Music says that it has attracted over 40,000 independent musicians, and its library contains over 500 million playlists and 20 million songs.
In terms of music streaming income, China is the fourth largest global market, behind only the US, UK and Germany according to the IFPI Global Music Report 2019.
“We are very proud to be the first music service in China to offer MQA, as we continue to push the technological boundaries in pursuit of improved sound quality to benefit our music fans and all musicians on our platform.”
Long Yang, Xiami Music
Long Yang, Director of Xiami Music said: “We are very proud to be the first music service in China to offer MQA, as we continue to push the technological boundaries in pursuit of improved sound quality to benefit our music fans and all musicians on our platform.”
“Many of MQA’s current device partners have successful and growing relationships within Alibaba’s e-commerce businesses, so this collaboration is the perfect platform on which to create a complete MQA ecosystem for the Chinese consumer market.”
Mike Jbara, MQA
Mike Jbara, MQA’s CEO, added: “MQA is a consumer-centric technology company, driven by a commitment to deliver the master recording all the way through to the music fan, wherever and however they choose to listen – and it was clear from our first meeting that the Xiami team shared our vision.
“Many of MQA’s current device partners have successful and growing relationships within Alibaba’s e-commerce businesses, so this collaboration is the perfect platform on which to create a complete MQA ecosystem for the Chinese consumer market.”Music Business Worldwide
