More China, and a Beijing based company called R2G has announced it is launching a new online music subscription service in the country which will feature songs from Western artists via US-based independent digital aggregator the Independent Online Distribution Alliance. I think the new service will work a little like eMusic in that people will pay a monthly subscription fee which will allow them to download a certain number of tracks a month. Subscribers will also be able to stream bought tracks over the net.
Some in the industry hope that new legitimate digital music services in China may help curtail piracy, which is rife in the country. Billboard quote R2G VP Matthew Daniel thus: "One of the biggest complaints about services like Baidu [which links to illegal sources of MP3s] is that the music supplied by the pirates is not the music that consumers want. This leaves music discovery to chance, providing no guide for fans to connect with one another and share their passion for the artists they love. R2G's partnership with IODA will change all that". Daniel added that his company was in talks with the majors about involvement in the new service.