名不幸者....Google's China Music Partner Faces Unsure Fate

According to the Wall Street Journal, hanging in the balance of Google Inc.'s possible withdrawal from China is the fate of the search giant's pioneering partnership with a Chinese company to distribute music free online.

The music venture, which relies on advertising, is the first major service to let users to download and stream licensed songs without charging them. Done in partnership with Top100.cn, a site owned by Chinese company Orca Digital Inc., the service has been closely watched since its launch last March as a possible solution to rampant piracy, which has crippled the music industry.

Gary Chen, CEO of Orca Digital, in which Google owns a stake, said he was surprised when Google issued its statement last week saying it would stop censoring its Chinese search results and might have to close its Chinese operations.

Chen said Google had yet to contact him about the announcement as of early this week, although he said advertisers have been calling him daily to inquire about the fate of the enterprise. People familiar with the matter said Google is currently reviewing the collaboration. Chen, who has studied and worked in both China and the U.S., is remaining studiously neutral in the Google-Beijing conflict. He said he sees Top100 as a bridge and "as a bridge, you cannot take sides."

He hopes Google and Chinese authorities compromise on a way to allow Google to keep operating in China. "I love Google, and I love China," he said.

The Google-Top100 music venture has about six million songs downloaded or streamed each day. Top100 licenses the music from record labels and serves them as downloads and streams to users.

Collaborators include the world's four biggest record companies—Warner Music Group Corp., Vivendi SA's Universal Music, EMI Group Ltd., and Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment—who have contributed much of their catalogues.

The service offers songs by famous Chinese-language pop stars like Jacky Cheung and Faye Wong, as well as western stars like Lady Gaga and rapper Lil Wayne and even more obscure older acts like 1960s and 70s experimental rocker Captain Beefheart. In all, Top100 has licensed some five million tracks, although it has so far loaded only about a third that number on its site.

Google drives most of Top100's traffic through its Google.cn/music page. When users click on a link for a song they like in the search results, a Top100 window pops up carrying a music player or a download button along with an ad. Users with Internet connections outside China are blocked from downloading music through the service.
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A snapshot of the free music service offered in China by Google and Top100.cn

* Number of songs licensed: 5 million
* Number of songs currently available for download: 1.5 million
* Sample artists included in catalog: Jacky Cheung, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Captain Beefheart
* Sample advertisers: Nokia, Apple, Sony Ericsson, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz
* Advertising revenue: $732,000
* Number of downloads or streams per day: 6 million
* Number of unique users (estimated): 2 million to 3 million
* Record labels: Warner Music, Universal Music, EMI Group, Sony Music

Source: Top100.cn and WSJ reporting

Music labels have been especially hopeful about the Google-Top100 venture because rampant piracy had effectively ruined their business in China. Record companies had long complained about Google's chief competitor in China, Baidu Inc., offering direct links to unlicensed music downloads, and saw the ad-supported model, in which they receive a share of revenue, as a possible way forward not just for China, but potentially in other markets.

Sandy Monteiro, a Universal Music executive in Asia, said it would be "unfortunate" if Google's standoff with Beijing affects its Chinese music venture, adding that the outcome is "uncertain."…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704541004575011683006036028.html?mod=googlenews_wsj