Get ready to rock with SINA (Nasdaq: SINA ) . The Chinese Internet media company has teamed up with five of the world's largest music labels to launch a new digital platform.
Sony (NYSE: SNE ) , Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG ) , Universal, Rock Records, and EMI (Nasdaq: EMIPY ) will lend their libraries to the service. The labels will then share in the money derived from track downloads, online ads, and wireless value-added services.
That last revenue channel is important. Digital music and advertising are booming industries, but cell phones are where the population is at. A lot of people who don't have Internet connectivity at home still have wireless handsets, and music is a major part of the customization experience.
It's a great move for SINA, and it's great to see Taiwan's Rock Records on board. The company has been signing artists like Fish Leong and Wakin Chau in China for years. SINA will need more of the regional labels to make this work, but they are bound to come around once the platform takes off.
Is SINA the new Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) ? Please. This is a far-reaching digital service, but it can be easily copied by other wireless and Internet heavies in China. SINA isn't getting into the hardware business with its own iPod to tie consumers to its service.
Still, it's going to create opportunities, and perhaps foster a little bit of harmony. Last year's headlines about music labels and Internet companies often centered on record companies suing Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU ) for search results that led to pirated downloads.
Working together is so much more pleasing to the ear. It's amazing what can happen when media giants are playing in the same key.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a fan of China's growth story, but he does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the
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