GARY CHEN, CEO, Top100.cn, is at the cusp of a huge breakthrough in China and he knows it. The Beijing based co-founder of Top100.cn, a download service, believes that the possibilities are limitless now that Google has signed a deal with the company. With Google’s clout among advertisers and the website’s partnership deals with all the major labels and more than 140 smaller ones, there’s now a way for the legitimate service to take on Baidu and other unauthorized pirate sites. More importantly, it’s a big step towards monetizing the industry on the Mainland in the 21st century. Ahead of his upcoming forum at Music Matters, Chen talked to Scott Murphy at length about how the past has prepared him for the present and the future.

Let’s talk about your background a bit. At one point you studied in the States. Can you tell me more? Chen: I was born in China and I went to college here at Beijing University. Then I went to Brandeis University, got my Masters Degree in finance and worked in the States at a finance company for a couple years. In total, I was there for nine years. I came back in 1998 and started and started a small talent agency called Pulay Talent Agency.

Why the switch from finance into entertainment? Chen: It was just a personal decision. Even when I first went to the States in 1989, the plan was always to come back to Beijing at the age of 30 and do something that I really loved, which is music.

Did the Tiananmen Square incident affect your decision in any way? Chen: I started applying in 1987 but wasn’t able to get a scholarship. My parents only made about US$100 a month. It was impossible for me to go to a school like Brandeis at that time, but I managed to get a full scholarship and I got some money to live every month.

What were your thoughts on the U.S.? Chen: I never felt that I was a poor guy when I was there. From the first day I arrived there until the day I left America--the first two years I was a poor student but never felt that way. I always felt like I had money. I could even buy a used car; my first car was $400. I really felt that America was indeed a good, great country. Everybody has a chance. It doesn’t matter what your background is.

So why did you go back to China? Chen: How do I say this? At that time I felt I could get more opportunities to participate and join the business to do the stuff that I really love, which is the music industry. I had no experience in the music industry. It’s very tough. My first project in the music industry was that I promoted a tour of a Chinese rock singer whose name is Cui Jian and then I promoted a tour for him in the States in 1995. I was totally an amateur, I didn’t know about venues, the booking, I just called a lot of places.

... read more on http://www.musicmattersasia.com/2009/press_releases.php

Jamie Cullum, the UK’s most successful and multi-million album selling jazz artist, will be in Hong Kong this June to announce the release of his new album and perform at the Music Matters forum. The organisers of Music Matters – the Asia Pacific Music Forum are delighted to announce that the grand finale to this year’s event at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong will feature an exclusive performance from multimillion album selling Jamie Cullum. As a part of the closing session, Jamie will be interviewed at the piano about his life and inspirations by music industry legend, Ralph Simon. Additionally, Music Matters delegates will have the unique opportunity to ask the 29-year-old singer-songwriter-pianist questions on his experiences as an artist in today’s music business. With 4 million albums sold, a Grammy, a Brit and 2 Golden Globe nominations to his name, Jamie Cullum certainly knows a lot about international success in the music industry. Rocketed to fame in his early 20’s, Jamie has taken the music world by storm with a headline tour of over 40 countries, and a collection of smash hits. In Asia specifically he has gone Platinum in Singapore, and Gold in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand. Jamie has toured extensively throughout Asia, including Japan at Fuji Rock, Hong Kong and Singapore.

"It is so exciting to be back in Hong Kong and I am honoured to be given the opportunity to perform at Music Matters" says Jamie. "Asia is always a highlight for me on tour; amazing food and a huge wealth of musical talent. The fans in Asia rock, they never fail to provide a warm reception" Now in its fourth year, Music Matters continues to attract the most prominent figures in the music business to Hong Kong. "We are delighted to showcase such an electric and exciting success story like Jamie at our event" says Jasper Donat, Director of Hong Kong-based event organisers Branded and President of Music Matters. "By using Music Matters to announce the release of his new album Jamie is clearly indicating Asia’s importance on the global music map as well as recognising the incredible opportunities that lie in this region".

"This is an incredibly exciting period in the history of the music industry as new technologies are making music available to us at all times - where, when and how we want it whilst empowering the fans to communicate with and influence their hero’s.’’ said Donat. "But it all starts with great artists and their content so we are really looking forward to hearing about Jamie Cullum’s influences and experiences and learning from a true master of his craft.’’

 

Major Record Labels:

Calvin Wong, EVP, Warner Music

Daniel DiCicco, President, Sony Music Entertainment Asia

Lachie Rutherford, PRESIDENT & CEO, Warner Music

Kei Ishizaka, CEO & Chairman, Universal Music LLC Japan (Chairman RIAJ)

Michael Nash, EVP Digital Strategy & Business Development, Warner Music Group

Michael Paull, EVP Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment

Richard Sanders, President of International, President of Global Marketing, Sony Music Entertainment

Rob Wells, SVP Digital  Universal Music Group International

Sandy Monteiro, SVP (ASEAN), VP - Digital (SE Asia), Universal Music Group

 

Publishers:

Ken Othake, President, Sony Publishing Japan

Susanna K.O. Ng, Regional Managing Director, EMI Music Publishing Asia

 

Independents:

Hajime Tanaguchi, Managing Director/Internaitional Strategy & IP Strategy, Avex Group Holdings Inc

Anthony Tse, CEO, Cosmedia

Norman Abdul Halim, President & Group CEO, KRU Studios

Simon Wheeler, President, Beggars Banquet

Song Ke, Managing Director, Taihe Rye Music Co Ltd 

 

Advertisers:

Harry Hui, Chief of Marketing, PepsiCo China Ltd (formally Universal Music & MTV) Allen Guo, CEO, YOBO.com

Mark Patterson, CEO,  GroupM Asia Pacific

Umut Özaydinli, Global Music Marketing Manager, Coca Cola Company

Kel Hook, GM, WK China

 

Others (Music):

Chris Dalston, CAA

Jackie Subeck, Entertainment Group

Scarlett Li, CEO & Co-Founder, Zebra Media

Terry McBride, CEO, Nettwerk Music Group

Tim Clark, manager, Robbie Williams manager

 

Others (Technology):

Gary Chen, Founder & CEO, Orca Digital Inc. (top100.cn)

Elizabeth Schimel, Vice President, Music, Nokia Inc.

Janice Lee, EVP, PCCW

Jay Kim, VP, Head of APAC Business, RealNetworks Asia Pacific

Martin Blomqvist, Global Head of Content Acquisition & Management, Sony Erricson

Ralph Simon

Rob Lewis, CEO, Omnifone

Ruuben van den Heuvel Head of APAC - Digital Music Retail, Nokia

William  Bao Bean, Partner, SoftBank China & India Holdings

Alvin Liu, Chairman, CEO, Executive Director, A8 Digital Music Holdings Ltd

... and more on www.musicmatters.asia!

Music Matters donates over HK$ 200,000 in admission tickets to alivenotdead.com members to attend Asia Pacific’s only music business conference, Music Matters!

In a move to support Hong Kong’s creative and musical communities, Music Matters has announced a donation of over HK$ 200,000 worth of admission tickets to artists and bands who are members of Hong Kong based artist site alivenotdead.com. Working closely with alivenotdead.com’s co-founders, Patrick Lee (CEO), Stephen Wang (CTO) from Rotten Tomatoes, and Daniel Wu (吴彦祖), Terence Yin (尹子维), Andrew Lin (连凯) and Conroy Chan (陈子聪) of ALIVE, Music Matters aims to encourage artists to gain more exposure amongst leaders from the local and global music industry and learn more about the business of music. Music Matters takes place in Hong Kong from 2nd to 4th June. In total 50 artists will be given this fantastic opportunity. "Music Matters is the only industry event of its kind in Asia Pacific and we want to support the region’s creative community" says Jasper Donat, Music Matters President and co-Founder of Hong Kong based Branded Limited. "Musicians just don’t get the opportunity to meet so many business leaders in one place at one time. Our prices are very reasonable in relation to global music conferences in other parts of the world. However, in many case artists can’t afford the registration price so we’re delighted to be able to do this. Having so many musicians there will also really add to the content and makeup of the event. Not only will they gain tremendous exposure whilst learning valuable industry insights but who knows, maybe one or two will get picked up by a record label, artist manager or agent!" To facilitate this generous offer, Music Matters has forged a unique partnership with Hong Kong-based social networking site, alivenotdead.com, who have over 420,000 registered users and 1,200 official artists providing access to the heart and soul of the Asian music industry. alivenotdead.com’s CEO, Patrick Lee says, "We are very grateful to Music Matters for providing our artist community with this amazing offer. It will be a great opportunity for the artists on our site to meet with music industry leaders and gain contacts that will hopefully prove valuable to their careers down the road."

The global spotlight is on the Asian market with the international music industry looking to realise the region’s potential whist searching for Asia’s first global star. Lee agrees, saying, "Not only is Music Matters a unique opportunity for Asian artists to gain international exposure but also, and perhaps more significantly, it is the only opportunity for the global music industry to tap into Asia’s talent". Artists who meet pre-agreed qualification criteria will be granted the passes on a first come first served basis. For more information contact events@alivenotdead.com.

With the spotlight on the Asian music industry and new technologies providing more platforms to connect music with the fans, Music Matters 2009 looks at the shift from Content to Context, and everything that lies in between!

Once again, Asian industry leaders will share the stage with their international counterparts as we bring you a truly global line-up of the most innovative and dynamic figures from across the entertainment and technology businesses.

Below are just some of the speakers attending Music Matters 2009 – will you be there too?