Sony BMG and Warner Music Group have invested and partnered with a JV operating in China that develops technology for distributing music downloads and other content to mobile phones, the record companies said Tuesday.
The two labels have invested in Access China Media Solutions, a JV between Japanese mobile browser firm Access Co. Ltd., and Seattle-based mobile media firm Melodeo.
Access China Media Solutions was formed early last year to provide a platform for Melodeo to distribute its technology to wireless carriers and handset makers in China and other markets in Asia. The company makes software through which mobile phone users can dial up digital content such as ringtones, listen to streams of audio like podcasts, or download full-length songs. The music companies’ investment also gives them some say in how the technology works and, perhaps most importantly for them, could help protect their recording artists’ music from piracy and other illegal copying.
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