The copyright authority in China has just announced that digital music platforms are no longer allowed to sign exclusive copyright deals, apart from certain exceptions. The announcement was shared earlier this week and arrives as the latest efforts from Beijing to crackdown on digital companies.
According to a Reuters report, the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) shared the order on Thursday during a meeting in Beijing. Notably, this meeting included some major digital music platforms, along with other known record and songwriting copyright based firms. The move from the copyright authority is the latest efforts of Chinese regulators in cracking down on the nation’s tech industry. The steps from the Chinese government seek to address growing issues like monopolistic behavior, unfair competition and consumer rights, which has also been widely debated in western regions like Europe.
Just last year, Tencent Holdings announced that it had ended all exclusive music copyright deals following an order from the Chinese regulator. The intervention from the authorities arrived due to Tencent reportedly holding access to more than 80 percent of exclusive music libraries. In other words, it held an almost complete monopoly in the market and could leverage upstream copyright parties to restrict the entry of new players in the market.
Unfortunately, it is unknown which companies were involved in this recent meeting, although, known brands like Xiaomi, China Mobile, and even Netease own popular streaming services in the Asian country, since global streaming services like Spotify are banned in Mainland China. NCAC added that “The talks emphasized that record companies, songwriting copyright companies and digital music platforms should … settle payment according to a guaranteed sum plus a share of actual usage, and should not sign exclusive copyright agreements except under special circumstances.”
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