Chinese star Cai Xukun studio's marketing of album sales cops flak

Chinese pop singer Cai Xukun's has apologised for the marketing tactic used to promote sales of his latest music album. According to media reports on SCMP and Shine, five out of 11 songs on the album titled "Mi" were released after four months of going on sale on Chinese music steaming sites. However, no news was shared as to when the exact time of the album release which was priced at 26 yuan (US$4).

The studio has since apologised on Weibo for not sharing the exact release time of all songs, and published five more songs from the remaining six. The studio also asked for fans to leave comments reasonably and rationally and comply with the law when browsing the internet.

According to Jimu News, lawyers said neither the studio not the music platform made it clear or reminded to consumers that the album would be charged initially but only delivered later and this could be a violation of China's Consumer Rights Protection Law.

Lawyers said that neither the studio nor the music platform have clearly informed or reminded consumers that the product was to be "charged initially and delivered later," which could be in violation of China's Consumer Rights Protection Law, news portal Jimu News reported yesterday. According to SHINE, more than 3.2 million copies of the album have been sold with a revenue of around 84 million yuan on Tencent Music.

Cai has been the face of many campaigns. Earlier this year, he appeared in Prada’s Qixi festival campaign where he also created the soundtrack “You Know What I Want” for the campaign. Meanwhile, luxury jewellery brand De Beers also named the 22-year-old singer and actor as its new brand ambassador. Cai is one of the most followed young stars in the country.

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