Seven months after Tencent Music Entertainment struck a partnership with US music media brand Billboard to promote the development of Chinese music globally, the pair are now launching a global original music competition called THE ONE.
International singers, songwriters and musicians including TIA RAY, Lenka and Greyson Chance have been tapped to serve as ambassadors for the competition, Billboard China said Tuesday.
The competition will be divided into three categories: Musical Work, Fresh Face and Label, allowing songwriters, emerging musicians and labels to audition based on their respective fields.
Under the Musical Work category, the competition will collect works from across the world through TME’s Qimingxing Music Assistant. TME and Billboard have invited Chinese original musicians such as Bird Zhang, L.T. and Ma SiWei, Mikey Jiao and Chen Zhuoxuan to participate.
The Fresh Face category will combine with Tencent Musician Platform’s New Forces project to pick artists in the new generation.
“With this partnership, TME will continue to strengthen its in-depth collaboration with more music industry partners, bringing more quality original works and exciting performances to music lovers around the world.”
Under the Label category, the participants will submit their original music works and submissions will be judged according to the quality of music creation and the diversity of music styles.
Tencent Music, through its QQ Music platform, will work with Billboard China in integrating its technology and user insights in the Chinese music industry to provide musicians with a full range of services starting from the first demo recordings to the release of songs.
As of the end of 2022, TME — which operates QQ Music, Kugou and Kuow — had 88.5 million paying users, up 16.1% from a year ago.
The works of THE ONE winners will be distributed globally through TME Music Cloud for rollout in digital music channels like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others.
Winners will also receive promotional traffic support and core resources from TME’s various platforms including QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and Tencent Musician Platform.
They will also be featured on the Billboard China master song list Golden Ears and honorees will have the chance to join a special collaborative performance with Billboard Live in Shanghai.
“With this partnership, TME will continue to strengthen its in-depth collaboration with more music industry partners, bringing more quality original works and exciting performances to music lovers around the world. TME will continue the exploration of value patterns for the construction of Chinese music’s global influence, supporting and accompanying the birth and bloom of high-quality original Chinese music,” Billboard China said.
Back in September, TME said its partnership with Billboard China aims to “shine a light on the diverse stories of Chinese music artists before an expansive world stage.”
Billboard launched its Chinese arm in August 2022 to provide a platform for Chinese musicians to share their music to a global audience.
Music Business Worldwide