NetEase Cloud Music Honors Indie Musicians: Mao Buyi wins 'Album of the Year', Wang Yitai claims 'Best New Artist'

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NetEase Cloud Music, the massive online music platform under China's internet giant NetEase, has honored the country's indie and original musicians. The event at Beijing's M Space BROUGHT together artists from all over China, including some music veterans.

The biggest winner was Mao Buyi. The 24-year-old won "Album of the Year" for "Perfect Day", which was released last May. It has sold more than 11 million singles on the platform.

MAO BUYI SINGER-SONGWRITER "Thank you! This is my debut album, and also the first album that I released on NetEase Cloud Music. I'm very happy that the album can be recognized. This will be a new beginning for me. Thank you!"

Mao's "Someone Like Me" was one of the Top-10 songs of the year.

"Rapper of the Year" went to the four-man group, Higher Brothers. Their single "Lover Boy 88" inspired a lot of online discussion over the year.

While Chengdu-based rapper Wang Yitai claimed "New Artist of the Year" and performed his hit song "Feel and Sight".

WANG YITAI RAPPER "First of all, I'm very thankful for this achievement, it's quite a unique achievement for me. But I must say that a lot of underground rappers, they tried a lot like I did. I should say we deserve it, and we gonna keep it up."

And "Sunset Rollercoaster", an alternative rock group from Taiwan, was rewarded with "Band of the Year" for their romantic, upbeat style.

The event presented 11 other awards, including "New Age Artist" and "Most Reviewed Song". The audience was also thrilled by a performance by veteran rocker Zhang Chu.

Meanwhile, Ding Bo, vice president of NetEase Cloud Music, together with singer-songwriter Mu Xiaoya, launched the third season of Project Stone, an incubation program to support independent musicians.

Mu, herself, was a beneficiary of the Project. She said it gave her a chance to collaborate with top music producers and get more media exposure.

MU XIAOYA SINGER-SONGWRITER "It (Project Stone) has done a lot of work to make my songs accessible to more audience, it gave me a chance to learn and I've got a lot advices from experienced music producers and sound engineers."

NetEase Cloud Music is China's biggest platform for original music, with millions of users, and tens of thousands of registered singer-songwriters. Initiated last year, the ceremony honors the contributions and influence of independent musicians. Its winners are derived from big data analysis of online clicks and comments.