Sony BMG and Warner Music invest in Chinese mobile download market

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are backing an effort to provide full-track mobile music downloads to Chinese subscribers.
The companies announced a strategic investment in Access China Media Solutions, a joint venture between U.S.-based digital content delivery company Melodeo Inc. and Access Co. Ltd. of Japan. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Access China is targeting carriers with a mobile music platform for delivering full-length tunes, podcasts and other audio content. The company is hoping to tap the massive Chinese wireless market-which claims a whopping 460 million subscribers-and is marketing its offering as a way to counter the country’s notorious music pirating industry.
“Providing the mobile phone industry with a powerful and secure digital music delivery solution benefits all members of the ecosystem-operators, handset and device manufacturers, content providers, application developers and artists,” said Toru Arakawa, CEO of Access. “And most importantly, the wireless customers benefit with access to the music they want to hear.”