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Tencent launches joint venture label with Sony Music
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 1 February 2018
The music division of Chinese web giant Tencent – which is both a music distributor and a streaming service operator – has announced a new alliance with Sony Music which will see the creation of a new dance music focused record label to be called Liquid State.
At launch, the new label’s roster includes Chinese DJ Lizzy and Korean duo Junkilla, while Chinese American artist Zhu – who is signed to Sony’s Columbia label – will also release music via the entity in China.
Tencent already has distribution partnerships in place with various Western record companies, including Sony Music, though this is the first time the firm has set up a joint venture label of this kind to sign new artists.
Tencent Music boss Cussion Pang says: “With the formation of Liquid State, our goal is to create an unmatched culture exchange between the East and the West through the power of electronic dance music”.
Later this year, Tencent is expected to spin off its music company into a separate business via an initial public offering.
