Independent record label from Cornwall England signs distribution deal with China. 

A deal struck earlier this month between IODA, the San Francisco-based global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music and film industry, and R2G, the Beijing-based leading digital music distribution company in China, will make Cornwall-based independent record label and music publishing company Aardvark Music’s catalogue available in China for the first time.

IODA handles the Aardvark catalogue for international digital retail.  Aardvark Music’s catalogue, based upon releases from its subsidiary record labels Aardvark Records and Aardvark Dance, will be available on R2G’s Wawawa Music store at www.wa3.cn. The digital music store is the largest in China. The partnership between IODA and R2G represents the first time foreign independents have had a robust legal conduit to the burgeoning Chinese market for full length downloads. International selling and chart topping Aardvark artists such as Yahel, Eric M, Jeff Alford, Little Spitfire and Zetan Spore are now available to purchase in China through the deal.

China’s Internet users, 85% of whom listen to music online, have until now had to contend with the limited selection of pirated music available via online search engines like Baidu. A recent survey by Beijing-based research group Music 2.0 (http://blogs.music20.org/music20/) found that one-third of Chinese music consumers are willing to pay for music downloads. In the study, consumers cited their current inability to find non-mainstream music and their desire for better niche and foreign music discovery tools as chief among the reasons they’re willing to pay for music online.

Accordingly, Wawawa, with the largest catalogue of legal music available in China, is keenly focused on music discovery, convenient access and attractive pricing for the local market. Created exclusively for mainland Chinese consumers, Wawawa delivers all songs in DRM-free mp3 format via a monthly subscription plan; all downloads are permanently owned by the customer – even beyond their subscription period. Additionally, the service allows current subscribers to stream their downloaded music from any location with an Internet connection. This feature provides convenient access for the 40% of Chinese Internet users who access the Web from Internet cafes.

“We are making great independent music easy for the Chinese music fan to discover and buy through our partnership with R2G and the Wawawa store,” said Kevin Arnold, founder and CEO of IODA. “Labels like Aardvark who had interested fans in China, but no real means to feed and grow that fan base made it clear that the time was right to open up distribution in China for the independent music community. This is an important first step in levelling the playing field in what could one day be one of the largest digital music markets in the world.”
 
This opportunity has not been lost on Aardvark’s directors.  Aardvark’s website, where music fans can find out about their favourite artists and listen to full audio tracks online, achieves around 3,000 unique visitors per day. Approximately 23% of that daily traffic comes from Mainland China and Hong Kong.

“Aardvark has waited four years for the opportunity to sell its music in China,” said Aardvark’s Head of Communications, Alex di Savoia. “It has been four years filled with frustration, knowing we had artists who were popular with younger generations of Chinese and not being able to provide music to them in their own currency.

The deal between our digital aggregator partner IODA and R2G allows us to achieve this goal.”

Expanding music tastes in and beyond Beijing and Shanghai have created an enthusiastic audience in recent years for music festivals like Beijing Pop, Midi Music & the Yue Festival. International artists have more opportunities than ever to connect with Chinese fans, and fans for the first time have access to a wide variety of international music downloads at compelling prices through Wawawa.