Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has partnered with Dolby Laboratories to make its Dolby Atmos service available on QQ Music, one of China’s largest domestic music streaming services.
According to a press release announcing the partnership, TME-owned QQ Music will be the first domestic music service in China to integrate Dolby Atmos sound, which adopts spatial audio technology for immersive sound experiences.
The service is available now to QQ Music SVIP subscribers.
TME says that the announcement marks the “start of a strategic partnership between TME and Dolby” that will “make music in Dolby Atmos more accessible in China”.
According to the press materials, the catalog of music and artists available on QQ in Dolby Atmos includes the likes of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Roddy Ricch, and Sia.
Music from domestic artists such as Buyi Mao, Charlie Zhou, Mayday, Jam Hsiao, Tia Ray, Nana Ou-yang, and INTO1 is also available in the format.
At launch, TME says that Dolby Atmos is available to QQ Music SVIP subscribers with a Dolby Atmos-enabled Android smartphone, and includes Android devices from brands such as Lenovo, moto, OPPO, OnePlus, realme, Redmi, Samsung and Xiaomi.
TME also says it plans to roll out the service soon to more use cases, such as vehicles equipped with Dolby Atmos.
“As China’s first domestic music service supporting Dolby Atmos, QQ Music is a leader in providing innovative listening experiences for music fans.”
Alan Zhou, QQ Music
Alan Zhou, Vice President of Technology, QQ Music, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, said: “Our collaboration with Dolby allows us to provide QQ Music subscribers with an incredible music listening experience.
“As China’s first domestic music service supporting Dolby Atmos, QQ Music is a leader in providing innovative listening experiences for music fans in China.
“Users will feel sound from all around with crystal clear details when listening to music in Dolby Atmos and experience the beauty of music more vividly and realistically.
“TME will work closely with Dolby to bring more high-quality content in Dolby Atmos from various artists and labels to the service, offering creators and fans a new world of music brought to life in Dolby Atmos.”
“We are thrilled to collaborate with TME.”
Jeff Wong, Dolby Laboratories
“Dolby Atmos is transforming how music is created and enjoyed.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with TME and bring this revolutionary music experience to more Chinese music fans through QQ Music.
“We look forward to extending that experience with TME to more scenarios where music is essential.”
“I hope that music fans on QQ Music will enjoy the phenomenal experience I enjoyed when I first heard my music in Dolby Atmos.”
Tia Ray
Tia Ray, Singer, said: “Dolby Atmos enables us to open our mind when creating music, introducing new rich depths of sound.
“It allows me to see my music in a new way.
“I hope that music fans on QQ Music will enjoy the phenomenal experience I enjoyed when I first heard my music in Dolby Atmos.”
“Dolby Atmos offers unlimited space for creativity.”
Lei Qian, Composer and Music Producer
Lei Qian, Composer and Music Producer, added: “Dolby Atmos offers unlimited space for creativity.
“As a result, I can express emotions and pictures in music more freely than I could before.
“Now, with QQ Music supporting Dolby Atmos, music fans will be able to feel the creativity and expression in my music in a deeper way.”
“Dolby Atmos makes music feel more vibrant and immersive.”
Kevin Shin, WAJI Music
Kevin Shin, General Manager of WAJI Music, said: “My first experience with Dolby Atmos was hearing Buyi Mao’s latest album Lonely Planet.
“Dolby Atmos makes music feel more vibrant and immersive while allowing artists to share their artistic intent in new ways. It’s a major step forward for music.”
“As an industry, we are constantly seeking ways to provide music fans with a better listening experience.”
Sam Hu, Taihe Music Group
Sam Hu, Vice President of Taihe Music Group, said: “As an industry, we are constantly seeking ways to provide music fans with a better listening experience.
“Dolby Atmos is one of our solutions.
“Now, music fans can feel a deeper emotional connection when listening to their favorite music from Taihe in Dolby Atmos on QQ Music, like Charlie Zhou’s Brightness from the documentary Forbidden City or Nana Ou-yang’s upcoming new album.”
By partnering with Dolby to allow for spatial audio streaming, TME follows in the lead of Amazon Music and TIDAL, who both introduced Dolby Atmos-mixed tracks to its services in 2019.
Apple Music‘s spacial audio format, with support for Dolby Atmos, was rolled out in June 2021.
Amongst its many hats as a tech giant, Tencent Holdings, owner of TME, also owns the social app WeChat, which has over 1.2 billion active users as of Q1 2022.
In June, the WeChat platform hosted a free livestream performance from the Backstreet Boys. It was watched by 45 million viewers in China, the highest-attended livestream on WeChat from an international artist.
TME also became a global music distributor in April with the launch of its ‘One-Click For All’ service, which allows independent musicians registered to its platform to distribute music to over 150 platforms globally, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music.Music Business Worldwide
