Believe celebrates 10 years of empowering music in Asia-Pacific,
ramping up for next decade of growth in the region
Believe celebrates 10 years of empowering
music in Asia-Pacific,ramping up for next decade
of growth in the region
Paris, September 7, 2023 – Believe, one
of the world's leading digital music companies, celebrates a decade
of presence in Asia Pacific where it enjoys leadership positions
across multiple markets, having played a pivotal role shaping the
region's music landscape.
Firmly rooted in Asia’s music ecosystem since
its launch in the region in 2013, Believe was the first
international company to establish an on-ground presence in Asia
Pacific and is now present in 15 countries across the region, with
teams of around 480 between India, China, Southeast Asia, Australia
and Japan. Over the past decade, Believe has been committed to
supporting and empowering local artists and labels at all stages of
their career, as well as to contribute to the emergence of a strong
and thriving digital music landscape. With over 10,000 labels &
artists1 signed across the region in the past decade, Believe has
paid more than 700M€ in royalties back to the local music
industry2, further fuelling the growth of a sustainable local music
ecosystem by fostering new artist development, funding the launch
of new labels and exploring new genres of music and addressing new
audiences.
Such impact was strengthened by Believe’s
continuous effort to invest in and nurture a new generation of
music executives and digital experts, being one of the first
companies to sign deals with local digital music services, also
supporting its international digital music partners as they rolled
out their services in the region. The Group has played a central
role in the structuring of Asia Pacific’s music market. In the last
four years alone, Believe APAC has grown around twice the market
growth, thus contributing to substantially strengthening and
increasing local content market share3.
Sylvain Delange, Regional Director,
APAC, Believe, commented, "Over the past 10 years in APAC,
we have been committed to bringing back the attention of the local
audience, and the revenues that come with it, towards local
content. Music is by essence local, it takes its roots in daily
life, in the culture, the language, the beliefs, the values of
local communities. It’s the people that create it, their special
connection with the world around them that makes music unique. I’m
very proud to say that we have made significant progress in this
mission to bring value back to the local music industry to build
healthier, fairer and more diverse music ecosystems across the
region.”
Continuous leadership strengthening in
India In India, Believe has become one of the largest
players since 2013. The Group’s local investment has been mainly
focused on building a strong regional team presence in key market
segments, to develop the business with carefully tailored offerings
adapted to India’s unique music culture and landscape. An early
mover into the original soundtrack market, India’s largest digital
music market segment progressively switching to digital, Believe
provides digital go-to-market solutions to Bollywood music labels,
notably with the acquisition of Venus Music in 2019 (renamed Ishtar
in 2021), one of the largest catalogue of original Bollywood
soundtracks in Hindi, and that of Think Music in 2021, a leading
independent company for original soundtracks in Tamil language. In
2022, Believe also confirmed its appeal to highly successful talent
producers by signing an exclusive agreement with Panorama Music,
founded by a prominent Indian film producer, distributor and studio
executive. Beyond Bollywood, Believe is a leading player in
regional music, supporting artists from all local languages and
folk genres such as Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi among others,
signing top local talent such as Punjabi Pop artists Arjan Dhillon
and Chani Nattan, as well as Maharashtra’s MC Stan who cumulated
+1bn views on YouTube for his song “Insaan”, and duo Cheema Y &
Gur Sidhu who reached +22m streams on Spotify for the track
“California Love”, the latter winning Best Pop Regional Song/Album
Punjabi for ‘Bamb Aagya’ at the radioandmusic.com CLEF
Music Awards 2023, alongside Brodha V (Best Rap
Regional Song/Album Tamil for ‘Basti Bounce’) and Lucky Ali
(Editorial Choice Outstanding Work – Original Music).
Vivek Raina, Managing Director, Believe
India commented: “Believe India is positioned as a premium
digital music company, recognized as leading artist
development in the digital music space. I’m very proud and humbled
to service such a diverse and fast-growing artist and label roster
across all Believe offerings, spanning throughout the whole country
and representing a variety of languages.”
An accelerated development in Greater
ChinaIn the Greater China region, where Believe operates
since 2016, the Group massively accelerated its investments in
recent years as the market matured and the digital monetization
increased. Believe deployed its blueprint long-term strategy
locally, being one of the first international companies to sign
distribution deals with local platforms and to significantly invest
in local teams, notably for its Label and Artist Solutions and
Artist Service offerings. With a team of around 80 people in 5
offices across the market’s largest cities, Believe now represents
more than 300 labels –including the largest independent label by
catalog and size in China– and above 250 artists directly through
its Premium Solutions. Believe’s local partnerships strengthened
the wide range of services provided to its labels and artists
locally to accompany them in reaching significant levels of success
such as Chinese singer Young Captain, one of Believe’s Artist
Services key clients in China (who was # 1 on the NetEase Music
Chart and Douyin Hot Chart, with 1 million streaming per day
overall).
Vincent Li, Believe Greater China
Business Head, said: “As the structuring of the local
music market accelerates across Greater China, I’m excited to see
the rise of a more diverse range of music genres, fostering endless
opportunities for more and more artists and labels to grow and
reach wider audiences both locally and internationally. As an
active player in shaping this evolution, our aim is to work hand in
hand with our artists and labels as well as DSPs, to contribute to
this acceleration.”
A confirmed leadership in Southeast
Asia Southeast Asia is at the very beginning of its
digital growth with a growing penetration of paid music
subscriptions at only 1.8% of the population. Believe holds leading
positions in the largest music markets of the region such as
Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, but also in booming
Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore. With its full services’ offer
deployed in most of them, Believe’s expert teams leverage the
Group’s strong network of digital music partners and innovative
partnerships with DSPs to successfully accompany an ever-growing
roster of local labels and artists in growing their careers and
expanding their audiences. Among them, Indonesia’s top charting Pop
act Tulus and Pop singer Yura Yunita, as well as Saran, one of the
new leading figures of the Thai hip-hop scene and 3rd most streamed
artist on YouTube in 2022, signed to Believe’s recently launched
hip hop imprint Byond. A priority region of investment
opportunities for Believe, the Group entered into a strategic
partnership with outstanding results with Viva Music and Artists
Group in the Philippines and, more recently, installed new
leadership team members to supercharge its regional impact.
Antoine El Iman, Managing Director,
Southeast Asia, Believe, said: "As we celebrate this
milestone, we remain dedicated to our mission of empowering artists
and labels, and fueling growth of Southeast Asia’s music industry
by collectively embracing change and innovation to lead with
operational excellence and continue delivering high-added and
long-term value to the artists, labels and partners who place their
trust in us.."
Supercharging the next decade of growth
in APACAs Asian music markets undergo an acceleration of
their digitalization and an increased adoption of subscription
streaming, Believe is uniquely set to strengthen its position as
the region’s largest music company and best partner for local
independent artists and labels, thus fueling the rapid increase in
market share toward domestic content and the growth for regional
genres.
Sylvain Delange, Regional Director,
APAC, Believe, concluded, "The decade-long legacy of
Believe in the Asia Pacific stands as a testament to our
outstanding teams’ dedication, passion and commitment to empowering
artists at all stages of their careers and across all music genres,
with fairness, transparency and respect. We are grateful for our
artists and partners’ trusts and, as Asia gears up to become the
world's largest music market in next decade, Believe is poised to
maintain its leadership position. We look forward to continuing
this extraordinary journey, empowering the next generation of local
artists and labels, and ushering in the next wave of creativity,
innovation and success.”
***
Quotes from leading digital music
services, with which Believe is privileged to collaborate in
Southeast Asia in order to develop artists and labels across the
region:
Jay Bae, Head of Global Music
Partnership Development, TikTok | Bytedance, commented: “I
wish Believe can help and encourage more and more artists from Asia
to be on the world stage.”
Dona Inthaxoum, Head of Music Label
Partnerships APAC, Meta, commented: “What Believe has
managed to do is to get all those people together and to educate
them, understand the music business and also to build trust. I
really wish Believe the best for the next ten years.“
Paul Smith, Managing Director,
YouTube Music, APAC, commented: “We have been working with
Believe from the very beginning and it’s incredible to see their
growth and expansion in various markets across APAC over the past
decade. We’re excited to see their continuous growth on YouTube and
we will continue to work with the Believe team to help make YouTube
the best place for every music fan and every artist.”
About BelieveBelieve is one of
the world’s leading digital music companies. Believe’s mission is
to develop independent artists and labels in the digital world by
providing them the solutions they need to grow their audience at
each stage of their career and development. Believe’s passionate
team of digital music experts around the world leverages the
Group’s global technology platform to advise artists and labels,
distribute and promote their music. Its 1,720 employees in more
than 50 countries aim to support independent artists and labels
with a unique digital expertise, respect, fairness and
transparency. Believe offers its various solutions through a
portfolio of brands including Believe, TuneCore, Nuclear Blast,
Naïve, Groove Attack, AllPoints, Ishtar and Byond. Believe is
listed on compartment B of the regulated market of Euronext Paris
(Ticker: BLV, ISIN: FR0014003FE9). www.believe.com
Press contacts:Manon JESSUA –
manon.jessua@believe.comYousr ABASSI –
yousr.abassi@agenceproches.com | Cell: +33 6 99 45 48
64 Investor Relations contact:Emilie
MEGEL – emilie.megel@believe.com | Cell: +33 6 07 09 98
60
1 Source: internal data. 2019 to 2022 period, APAC Premium
solutions only (ex. Japan).
2 Source: Internal Data, Amount Paid by Believe group to APAC
clients (Premium Solutions + automated solutions) between April
2013 to March 2023.
3 Source: : Believe APAC Premium Solutions client digital
revenue CAGR in APAC territory, compared to APAC market digital
revenue CAGR between January 2019 and December 2022. Internal,
IFPI.
- PR - 10 years of Believe APAC - 09-07-2023
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