Yu He, founder of Kuke Music, has expanded his business from classical music to other genres such as Chinese folk music. （Photo provided to China Daily）
Yu He, founder of Kuke Music, has expanded his business from classical music to other genres such as Chinese folk music. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Over the past decade, the country has transformed into one of the largest markets for classical music, and a growing number of licensed digital music services have appeared thanks to the government's commitment to protect intellectual property rights.
"What we do is to bring together music pieces by the likes of Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart and create a bridge with online users. The music library project we launched by collaborating with China's universities, for example, has made classical music more accessible to students," Yu says.
Yu was born in Shanghai into a musical family and received classical music training by learning the double bass.
But unlike his musician brother, Yu Long, who is artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Yu He took a different path.
He studied at the affiliated middle school of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and then furthered his studies at the Duisburg Conservatory in Germany from 1992 to 1995.
Later, after returning to China, he worked in the field of information technology before he founded Kuke Music.
Speaking about his inspiration, he says: "I have always been influenced by the double bass. For an orchestra, it is always placed in the background. But its sound is versatile, which makes the instrument indispensable.
"I hope that my company functions just like a double bass in an orchestra－a link between listeners and artists. It's a necessary part of the classical music industry."
In the early years, Kuke Music built links with Naxos Music Group, one of the world's largest classical record labels providing legal and paid online streaming and downloads, and this enabled Kuke Music to feature music from the company legally.
During the gala, Klaus Heymann, founder and chairman of Naxos Music Group, says in a video: "Naxos Music Group has always been a firm supporter of Kuke Music over the past 10 years, sharing the same goal of promoting classical music education in the Chinese market."
According to Heymann, Naxos now has a catalog with over 2 million tracks that includes content from both Naxos-owned labels and over 600 Naxos-represented third party labels.
