Shanda (SNDA) and Universal Music have signed an agreement to launch a new digital entertainment service to music consumers in China.

Shanda will have access to Universal Music's online music repertoire, which will be offered to Shanda's users through streaming and downloadable means. Shanda's portal at Poptang.com will be the online destination for this new service.

The alliance service is expected to be launched in June 2005 and users will be able to legally access Chinese-language songs by Universal Music's artists via an interactive song-streaming channel operated by Shanda. The services may be combined with Shanda's other offerings, including online games, as users may select song streaming as background music for game playing.