BEIJING - Google's music partner in China Orca Digital is planning to reduce its reliance on the search engine for future growth and may even rope in rivals of the US company as investors.
At the same time Orca remains confident that Google will continue to operate in China and get its Internet Content Provider (ICP) license renewed.
Gary Chen, chief executive of Orca Digital, which partnered with Google to distribute music free online through domestic website Top100, told China Daily that the company plans to seek more partners for its development.
"We never planned to rely on one company," said Chen. "We are open to partnership opportunities."
Top100 is the first major service that lets users download and stream licensed songs free of charge. At present, nearly 7 million songs are downloaded or streamed every day in Top 100, with around 70 percent of it coming from Google's music search service in China.
But Chen said he plans to reduce Google traffic on the website to 30 percent by the end of this year.
He said the company will aggressively expand partnerships with domestic firms like social networking websites and telecom carriers. The company also plans to launch a music service for mobile users in China by next year, Chen said.
"Google is happy to see our independent growth, as the potential of the digital music market is big enough to create world-class firms," Chen said.
He said Google agreed a few weeks ago to increase its investment in Orca Digital. Currently the US company is only a minor investor in Orca, which has Chinese basketball star Yao Ming as its cofounder.
Expressing confidence that Google will sort out its problems in China, Chen said Orca may have representatives from other companies on its board in the future.
He said the company's goal is to establish a "music republic". "We only follow the rhythm of the music."
