The 3rd Hong Kong Music Fair opened here Wednesday with more than 70 exhibitors taking part in the three-day fair.

The fair will continue until March 19 with exhibitors from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Germany, South Korea and Singapore. Record companies, new media content providers, music portals, mobile and hardware manufacturers, along with music industry artists and other professionals joined the fair.

Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council(TDC) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry(IFPI)(Hong Kong Group), the fair caters to business as well as public interests, promoting music products and raising awareness of legal downloads.

"Thanks to the 10 German companies joining us for the first time, our fair is more international than ever," said Benjamin Chau, TDC assistant executive director, speaking at the opening ceremony.

"With the development of new media, music's business model can no longer focus solely on the sales of CDs and other traditional music products. That makes artist management, including concert management and celebrity endorsements, an even more important aspect of the industry," he added.

A series of seminars will be staged on March 20, with artist managers from all over Asia sharing their management secrets.

Among the other new features this year is the Talent Showcase, giving promising singers and composers from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland a chance to be discovered by industry professionals.

The Hong Kong Music Fair is one of the events of Entertainment Expo Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2008)