iTunes Radio Adds Chinese Music to Its International Lineup

iTunes Radio has added Mandarin Radio to its lineup. Mandarin Radio provides modern Chinese pop music in an English interface, enabling non-Chinese readers to explore the world of Chinese pop.

(PRWEB) September 19, 2006 -- For the first time, iTunes 20.7 million visitors can hear contemporary Chinese music on iTunes Radio. The station is aptly called “Mandarin Radio” and is part of a syndication agreement with the Live365 internet radio network, who provides the hosting and bandwidth enabling up to 500 listeners at a time to tune in for free.

Mandarin Radio plays modern Chinese pop music from the thriving music scenes in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore & Mainland China. “The music is permeated by the optimism of people confident in their future.” Says Mandarin Radio founder, Rhys Ludlow, “The sound tends toward light rock and has been described by listeners an having a breezy, sunshine-after-the-rain feel to it. The quality of the vocals, compositions and production often impresses Westerners.”

That a whole world of high-quality pop music exists in Chinese should come as no surprise. According to CIA World Factbook, there are about 874 million people who speak Mandarin as their first language (in contrast to 322 million English speakers). “To me, it would be odd if there wasn’t a huge body of modern Chinese music.”

This is first time Chinese music has been available on iTunes Radio, and it is presented in such a way that English readers can tune in and read the artists names and song titles in western characters. Additional English information is available on the station’s website www.mandarinradio.com

“Our mission is to provide access and raise awareness of modern Chinese music for people who can’t read Chinese. This includes non-Chinese who are curious to explore the world of pop music beyond Western borders as well as repatriated 2nd 3rd and 4th generation Chinese who can speak (but not read) Chinese. Mandarin Radio provides the essential music to catch up with Chinese pop culture.”

The station has been on available on Live365 for about a year-and-a-half but the vast user base of iTunes means that many more people can discover the most popular music from 14% of the world’s population.

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