Believe, formerly Believe Digital, is a Paris-headquartered distribution company. Believe’s team of digital music experts around the world leverages the Group’s global technology platform to advise artists and labels, distribute and promote their music. Its 1,430 employees in more than 50 countries aim to support independent artists and labels. Believe offers its various solutions through a portfolio of brands including TuneCore, Nuclear Blast, Naïve, Groove Attack and AllPoints. The firm was founded by ex-Vivendi executive Denis Ladegaillerie in 2005, and he remains the company’s CEO today.
Sylvain Delange, Managing Director, APAC at Believe, said, “We are thrilled to have renewed our deals with both TME and NetEase Cloud Music. China is one of the most domestic music markets in the world, with a strong consumption of local artists, by local audiences on local platforms, which could not be more aligned with Believe’s vision and core values of supporting local acts in their own markets. I’m very excited by the opportunities these partnerships will unlock for our labels and artists, allowing them to reach new wider audiences, and very much look forward to growing our business in China even further in the future.”
In 2015, Tencent entered into an agreement with Believe to distribute content in mainland China. Tencent became the sole Chinese partner of Believe to offer a selection of over 6 million songs on its QQ Music platform and sub-licensing deals with local internet music service providers.The company claims further to have become one of the first companies to make daily stream statistics from TME and NetEase Cloud Music available for labels and artists.
Believe cites Chinese singer Young Captain as one of its Artist Services ‘key clients’ and success stories in the country. The company says he’s grown his fanbase from 50,000 to 1 million on TME, with a record of 200 chart entries on TME. Additionally, Believe says that he’s grown his audience from 300,000 to 2.7 million on NetEase Cloud Music since he started releasing music through Believe in May 2021, including his album Young Captain’s Music World and multiple singles.