<article>In a bid to up its content game, Chinese search-engine operator Baidu Inc has led an investment round in NASDAQ-listed NetEast Inc&#8217;s music streaming platform NetEase Cloud Music, said Baidu in an announcement dated October 12.</article>

In a bid to up its content game, Chinese search-engine operator Baidu Inc has led an investment round in NASDAQ-listed NetEast Inc&#8217;s music streaming platform NetEase Cloud Music, said Baidu in an announcement dated October 12.
Other investors that participated in the round include General Atlantic and Boyu Capital. No financial terms were disclosed for the financing round.
Following the funding round, Baidu will strategically partner with NetEase Cloud Music to further its businesses in content, copyright, and traffic sharing. NetEase remains the controlling shareholder of the music streaming platform.
Consumers will be able to access NetEase Music through various applications and environments such as home appliances or in cars through Baidu’s voice-command artificial intelligence operating system DuerOS, according to the company. Both parties will also contribute toward enriching the content in intelligent hardware.
Founded in April 2013, NetEast Cloud Music joined the Chinese unicorn club after raising a RMB 750 million ($108 million) Series A round last year, led by China&#8217;s Shanghai Media Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Radio and Television Station of Shanghai.
While, according to Baidu, its mobile app has reached 148 million average daily users for the second quarter of 2018. The internet company has been investing heavily in content, having listed its video streaming platform iQiyi on NASDAQ earlier this year and <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/baidu-iqiyi-debut-ipo-95221/">raising $2.25 billion</a>.
Baidu has also been investing into its own spin-off video search and content aggregation platform Baidu Video, having led a $100 million Series B round last month. It also led a financing round in audio content platform QingTing FM last year. QingTing FM is said to be <a href="https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2172712">mulling an IPO</a> in a few years&#8217; time.
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/shanghai-media-group-contributes-108m-in-online-music-platform-netease-cloud-music-70132/">NetEase Cloud Music joins unicorn club with $108m Shanghai Media-led round</a>
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/china-digest-orchid-asia-leads-soyoung-round-baidu-video-snags-100m-106202/">China Digest: Orchid Asia leads SoYoung round; Baidu Video snags $100m</a>

Following the funding round, Baidu will strategically partner with NetEase Cloud Music to further its businesses in content, copyright, and traffic sharing.

China: Baidu picks stake in NetEase Cloud Music

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China: Baidu picks stake in NetEase Cloud Music

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