Classical route to success

Kuke Music, China's first online platform dedicated to promoting the development of music other than pop, has just turned 10. Chen Nan reports.

Yu He founded his company, Kuke Music－China's first online platform dedicated to promoting the development of music other than pop, especially classical music－in 2007 when classical music was enjoyed only by a relatively small group in China and rampant piracy was a common problem.

By offering a legal and paid streaming and downloading music service, the company not only survived but also grew into the biggest internet company of its kind in China working with such world-famous record labels as Naxos, Marco Polo and Countdown.

Now, the company offers about 2 million songs, videos and audio materials from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and the 20th century to more than 400 universities and 200 public libraries and cultural organizations in China.

Yu says that he did not have a vision for the company at the start due to the tough market conditions, but he knew that a legal music service was the right thing to do. He also believed in the longevity of classical music.

"It is like the fable of the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise always comes through in the end," says the 44-year-old at the company's 10th anniversary gala in Beijing recently.