How many music apps do you have on your phone? Are you fed up with switching among different apps just to listen to all the songs you like? Well, there's some good news for you, and Yu Wen has it.

It's taken China a long time to work its way to music copyright sharing, but it all began last year. Xiami, affiliated to the Alibaba Group, started it by signing deals with QQ Music, owned by Tencent, last September. Netease Music then followed the move by signing agreements with QQ Music and Xiami in February and March. In the past music platforms dealt only with exclusive copyrights, but from now on, all three major music sites have agreed to purchase copyrights from one other.

"Copyright sharing is really helpful. Several songs and albums were not available on Xiami, but now I can listen to these songs online without downloading them. I normally use Xiami and Netease Music. Xiami knows what I prefer, and it will feed me exactly what I'm interested in. And the comments left by other users on Netease Music are really interesting; I often read them when I'm picking music."

"Xiami used to put on several live songs in place of their original versions. It's a nice try, but after all the original versions are still better. So now I'm pretty happy that copyright sharing allows us to listen to the original songs. I think one thing Xiami excells at is that it really knows what I like."

With copyright sharing in effect, the music streaming sites are now on a level playing field, and analysts say their challenge now is to develop different competitive edges. QQ Music can benefit from its sister products--WeChat and QQ, which in total have 1 billion users. Netease Music and Xiami, are relying on their interactive user facilities, to provide comments and recommendations.

HUANG YIHE, RESEARCH ANALYST MINTEL "We found that 49% of users tend to listen to music during their working or studying, which means music streaming is quite relevant to Chinese consumers. So I think it is the important time window for these players to better engage with users, learn from users and recommend users what they really want."

Following their local agreements, the mainstream music sites took a further step. In early March QQ, Netease and Xiami all signed deals with independent music copyright agency Merlin, which controls over 12% of all world music copyrights. The deals will expand the import of overseas music, including all 28 albums from The Beatles.

HUANG YIHE, RESEARCH ANALYST MINTEL "The contract with Merlin shows that the market players want to consolidate their leading positions by enriching their music library. Our research found that 61% of users will search for the music they want to listen directly. So the completeness of the music library is a key measurement for users to judge the platform. And for the market side, we estimate that the market value from 2015 to 2017 has already tripled."

The music sites are now focusing on issues like ensuring they have complete versions of each song, and on attractive app design, and user fees. Xiami is running a promotional project called "Xunguang Jihua" or "The Undiscovered", to encourage grassroot singers and domestic independent musicians.