Online distributors keen to boost live streaming of shows

South Korean band Girls' Generation is one of the groups featured in Tencent K-Pop Live, a series of real-time broadcasts online.[Photo provided to China Daily]

More than 1.57 million fans on the Chinese mainland watched the live streaming of a recent concert as eight young women from Girls' Generation, in thigh-high leather boots, black denim shorts and plaid shirts, sang and danced to the music of their hits at the Wapop hall in Seoul.

"It's exciting to know that we have many Chinese fans watching our show right now," says South Korean singer Im Yoona in Mandarin.

Chinese video websites see online live-concert broadcasting as a new growth point for their streaming services. Now, they are expanding their vision to include overseas artists.

Girls' Generation is part of performances of the Tencent K-Pop Live series, a collaboration between the Chinese Internet giant and Cantara Global, a South Korean content distributor.

Since February, the project has seen Korean-pop artists perform at least one concert a month, which is broadcast via Tencent Live Music.

The first performance was by T-ara, a six-member girl band from South Korea, which was followed by other pop groups of the country, including Sistar and 4 minute, with each attracting about 1 million live viewers online.

Wang Juan, chief editor of Tencent's video division, says the company's live-music business began last year as a comprehensive online service offering content from artists in Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe.

She says the platform allows Chinese fans to interact with stars in real time, noting that South Korean pop concerts by Girl's Day and f(x) are coming in October.

Tencent started the program with Korean stars, Wang says, because they have a large fan following among young Chinese, thanks to Korean movies, reality shows and TV commercials.

Tencent was set up 10 years ago and now has more than 800 million users. The platform is useful to South Korean artists who want to break into the Chinese market, Wang says.