Tencent betting on online music education

Online music education platform Peilian.com said it has received a nine-digit series B capital injection led by Tencent and Orchid Asia, and followed by BlueRun Ventures, GSR Ventures and Long Capital, Yicai.com reported.

Xun Weiqian, investment director at Tencent, believes the company’s model — offering exercise partners online to music instrument learners — is easier for the market to accept, and will be able to gradually expand the market online.

Online music education is becoming the darling of capitals, given to the huge demand. According to incomplete statistics, there are 20 million Chinese children learning to play piano. Each year, 1.5 million people take part in the national music test.

While there are about 9,000 musical training institutes, the total output value of the musical training market has reached about 60 billion yuan (US$9.23 billion).

However, different from K12 education, the barriers facing music education remain relatively high. The essence of music education is often reflected in the comprehension and interaction with instructors, so the model of teaching online is still far from meeting the needs of educators and learners.

(ASIA TIMES)