Tencent signs deal to stream Sony Music artists in China

Tencent (0700.HKG) has signed an exclusive agreement with Sony Music Entertainment giving the Chinese internet firm exclusive rights to manage online distribution of the latter company’s music library on the mainland, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Tencent Senior Executive Vice President Dowson Tong. The alliance comes on the heels of Tencent announcing other distribution deals with Warner Music Group and HBO as it seeks to build up its entertainment portfolio to compete with online rivals Alibaba (BABA.NYSE) and Baidu (BIDU.NYSE) in using entertainment as a hook to attract the mainland’s more than 600 million internet users.