Kuke's Ground Breaking Talent Program Reaches Record Enrollment Level

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Jan 09, 2023, 08:00 ET

BEIJING, Jan. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kuke Music Holding Limited ("Kuke" or the "Company") (NYSE: KUKE), a leading classical music service platform in China with approximately 3 million audio and video music tracks, announced the Company's ground breaking Youth Artist Development Program, which is focused on competition, discovery and development of young artistic talent, has reached a record enrollment level. Nearly 8,500 students have already successfully enrolled in the Company's 2022 program, up 200% year-on-year and representing 61 cities across China. Qien Wang, who topped the piano category in Kuke's 2021 competition, won the opportunity to release his digital recordings under the Naxos label.

Kuke's highly successful Youth Artist Development Program is also breaking new ground, with nearly 60 of China's most famous artistic experts joining the Performing Arts Committee, including Chen Leiji, the famous guqin player; and Lin Chen, professional, conductor and the Chair of the Conducting Department at the Central Conservatory of Music in China. The comprehensive program includes eight different competitive categories: keyboard, orchestral, percussion, folk, vocal, plucking, musical and language.

Mr. He Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Kuke Music Holding Limited, commented, "Our program provides a great platform to connect young people from across the country through art, and promote development of high-quality fine arts training. We are very pleased with the strong support from prominent fine arts professionals and program participants. The record enrollment level is a testament to the success we have achieved in leveraging our program to uncover and develop new musical talent. We expect our program will continue to grow in 2023 based on demand we are seeing from cities across China, which will help further establish our brand and the powerful platform."

"We believe there is a huge opportunity in front of us to drive meaningful growth and expansion through the integration of music training with our highly successful music licensing and subscription businesses. For example, it is estimated that there are already nearly 40 million children learning to play piano in China. This would account for almost 80% of the world's piano-playing children. In addition, in China's first and second-tier cities, almost half of the children are learning to play an instrument. This is just one segment for us, however, as we remain committed to supporting the broader classical music industry chain, as one of the world's largest classical music copyright and subscription services, with a strong brand, and influential development and creator platform for international competition, training and performing arts."

As a leader in China's classical music market, Kuke Music has achieved an estimated 47% market share in classical music copyright licensing services in China. Kuke continues to expand its digital music library, focusing on strengthening classical music content and continuously exploring the value of classical music copyright monetization.

About Kuke Music Holding Limited (NYSE: KUKE)

Kuke is a leading classical music service platform in China encompassing the entire value chain from content provision to music learning services, with approximately 3 million audio and video music tracks. By collaborating with its strategic global business partner Naxos, the largest independent classical music content provider in the world, the foundation of Kuke's extensive classical music content library is its unparalleled access to more than 900 top-tier labels and record companies. Leveraging its market leadership in international copyrighted classical music content, Kuke provides highly scalable classical music licensing services to various online music platforms, and classical music subscription services to over 800 universities, libraries and other institutions across China. In addition, it has hosted Beijing Music Festival ("BMF"), the most renowned music festival in China, for 24 consecutive years. Through KUKEY, the Company's proprietary smart music learning solutions, Kuke aims to democratize music learning via technological innovation, bring fascinating music content and professional music techniques to more students, and continuously improve the efficiency and penetration of music learning in China. For more information about Kuke, please visit https://ir.kuke.com/

Forward-looking Statements

This announcement contains forward looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident," "potential," "continue" or other similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Kuke's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including those in Kuke's registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Kuke's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Kuke undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Kuke Music Holding Limited