China's Sina.com will team up with five leading international record companies to provide copyrighted music online, a Xinhua News report said.
The Xinhua News report said music pact will generate revenues from advertising and providing wireless value-added services such as musical ringtones.
Profits will be shared by Sina and the record companies that include EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music, the report said.
Analysts believe all parties involved will benefit from the move as the Web site will consolidate its revenues while the record companies will be able to arrest, to some extent, the decline in profits caused by widespread piracy, the report said.
The report quoted Yang Huiying, president of Sony M\BMG China, as saying that digital music had gained tremendous popularity in China, which provides great opportunities for record companies
Sina's online advertising revenues rose by a huge 41% from last year, hitting $120.1 million, the report said.Analysts predict the market share of digital music in China 's music industry will jump five-fold from last year to reach $14.9 billion by 2010, accounting for 40 % of the overall industry, the report said.