KKBOX, a leading cloud-based music service provider in Asia with 10M registered users, just launched in Malaysia and Singapore. The company’s decision to enter the Southeast Asian marketplace is a sign of how important that region is becoming to Internet companies. By 2014, KKBOX plans to offer its services in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Founded in Taiwan in 2004, KKBOX is currently available in that country, Hong Kong and Japan with Web sites in traditional and simplified Chinese, English, and Japanese. With more than 10M songs, KKBOX describes its online music library as “the largest and most complete” in the Chinese-speaking marketplace. KKBOX is a popular marketing tool for artists and boasts Facebook integration and features such as “listen along,” which allows users to listen to a song together and is meant to replicate the experience of sharing a set of headphones with a friend.
KKBOX’s majority shareholder is Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI, which holds a 70 percent stake. Smartphone maker HTC also owns 10 percent of the company.