NetEase Cloud Music Signs Licensing Agreement With J-Pop And Anime Music Company Pony Canyon

China-based NetEase Cloud Music has signed a digital music distribution license agreement with Japanese anime and music production company Japan.

According to a Dec. 8 press release, the agreement will give the music-streaming platform rights to distribute Pony Canyon’s music catalog, which includes J-pop and anime music, to Chinese audiences.

Pony Canyon’s catalog includes prominent J-Pop artists such as Official HIGE DANdism, GARNiDELiA, Kana Hanazawa, Maaya Uchida, aiko and luz.

The company also produced anime series such as attack on Titan and The quintessential quintuplets.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Pony Canyon was founded in 1966 and has offices in Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea and the United States.

Cloud Music has previously formed partnerships with Japanese companies such as Studio Ghibli and most recently Avex Group (often referred to as Japan’s fourth largest music company).

The company, which ranks as the second largest music streaming provider in China, had 37.6 million monthly paid online music users at the end of June, after adding another 872,000 paid music users from April to June. The company has yet to release its Q3 sub numbers.

“NetEase Cloud Music has established itself as a trusted partner for well-known Japanese copyright owners.”

NetEase Cloud Music

“As one of China’s leading online music platforms, NetEase Cloud Music has long been a favorite online destination for music enthusiasts, especially among the younger generation. NetEase Cloud Music has established itself as a trusted partner for well-known Japanese copyright owners,” the company said.

“NetEase Cloud Music’s unique music community appeal, highly interactive user base, and impressive user loyalty underscore the platform’s abilities to efficiently promote the distribution of music content while expanding audience reach through meaningful interactions,” it added.

The partnership with Pony Canyon of Japan follows Cloud Music’s music copyright collaborations with record labels across Asia including Modern Sky, Emperor Entertainment Group, China Record Group, Feng Hua Qiu Shi, Yuehua Entertainment, Linfair Records, SM Entertainment, TF Entertainment, YG Entertainment, KAO !INC and Avex.

For Pony Canyon, the partnership with Cloud Music is the latest attempt to expand its distribution network. The company recently announced on December 9th that it started a new label called Pandrec, specializing in author marketing and artist support as part of the company’s digital distribution service.

Japanese actress and singer Dori Sakurada, who is part of the Netflix series Alice in Borderland, debuted as the first artist under Pony Canyon’s new label.music business worldwide