HANGZHOU, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Among Uygur music fans, Gheni Ablez may be the most tech savvy, while among computer science students, he is probably one of the most enthusiastic music lovers.
The 24-year-old student at Zhejiang University has devoted himself to creating an app named Subat, which he claims is the largest online platform for Uygur music.
Subat means "handsome and stylish youth" in Uygur. The platform has attracted more than one million registered users in the last three years.
"Music is an important part of life for Uygurs. I wanted to combine my major in computer science with my love of music to spread the beauty of Uygur songs," said Ablez, founder and CEO of Hangzhou Subat Network Technology Co., Ltd.
More than 10,000 songs are available on Subat's account on messaging app WeChat as well as the mobile application Subat FM. Eighty percent of them are Uygur songs.
On the Subat FM homepage, users can search for singers, songs, videos or broadcasts by typing Uygur or Mandarin.
FROM WEST TO EAST
Ablez was born in 1993 to a farming family in a village near the city of Kashgar in the south of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
His hometown is in Jiashi, a remote and landlocked county known for the Jiashi melon, which provided the main income source for his family.
Due to its remote location, Xinjiang lags behind other provincial regions in terms of development and faces challenges in capital, technology, skills, talent, and management
The Chinese government has initiated many programs to build infrastructure, promote industry and improve education in the region in recent years.
In 2009, Ablez jumped on a tractor and left his village for the first time in his life. He then transferred to a car and later to a train, travelling 5,000 kilometers from the far west to attend high school in Shanghai.
"If not for this program, I don't believe a rural boy like me would be able study in Shanghai and then enter a top university," he said.
The program Ablez mentioned is called "Xinjiang Classes". Since 2000, it has given students from remote parts of Xinjiang the opportunity to study at high quality schools in other parts of the country.
Currently around 36,000 students, most of whom come from ethnic minorities, are studying at 93 high schools in 45 cities outside the region.
Ablez was accepted to Zhejiang University in 2013 and is now in his senior year studying digital media technology.
Zhejiang University is known for its entrepreneurial climate. When Ablez was still a freshmen, he attended a speech given by Yu Minhong, CEO of education company New Oriental. After the speech, a student introduced his startup project and Yu agreed to invest in it.
It was the first time, Ablez had heard of the concepts "startup" and "angel investment" and it ignited his dream of starting his own business.
In the later half of 2014, he registered a public WeChat account for Subat. One year later, he set up an eight-person team.
"Half of team are studying at Zhejiang University," said Kayir Mahmut, a team member who is majoring in software engineering.
The latest version of Subat FM was created in a free business incubator offered by the university. Subat has five desks in the incubator that covers an area of more than 1,000 square meters and consists of over 50 entrepreneur teams.
Ablez receives a total of 10,000 yuan (around 1,470 U.S. dollars) in subsidies from the government and his university each year. In the spring of 2016, the company received angel investment of 500,000 yuan due to its contribution to cultural exchange.
MAKING XINJIANG MUSIC HEARD
Xinjiang is home to people from 47 ethnic groups including Han, Uygur, Kazak, Mongol and Tajik.
"Each voice contains a charm; each song contains a way of thinking," Ablez's favorite singer Abdulla Abdurehim commented on the Subat FM app in the Apple Store.
Statistics showed that around 40,000 people have logged in to Subat each day during the latest month. They come from many different ethnic backgrounds.
"My colleagues and students all use Subat, saying that it makes their lives more colorful," said Emam Mehem, a teacher in Jiashi County.
Currently, Subat has signed contracts with 50 singers from various ethnic backgrounds such as the Uygur, Kazak and Uzbek. They make up the most influential group of young singers in Xinjiang.
Mominjan Ablikim, dubbed the "prince of love songs" in Xinjiang, was the first Uygur singer to sign a contract with Subat.
"The themes of my songs are related to love of family, motherland, nature, and beautiful life," he said.
Recently, the 41-year-old gave the online publishing rights for his new album to Subat.
"Subat boycotts piracy and calls on my fans to say no to pirated products. My album has surpassed 30,000 sales after our cooperation. Previously, the figure was only 5,000," he said.
In addition to professional musicians, members of the public can also join Subat and upload their own music to the app.
Eli Aqsopa, a primary school music teacher, has published more than 30 songs on Subat, which have been played over 200,000 times.
For him, Subat means more than just publishing his own songs, but allowing the world to hear Xinjiang music.
"Xinjiang is an important part of Silk Road. Its music boasts ethnic and regional characteristics," Aqsopa said.
His grandfather and mother are inheritors of the Twelve Muqams, known as "Mother of Uygur Music."
It is a group of classical music pieces combining Uygur singing, dancing, and music, considered a treasure of Chinese ethnic music and recognized by UNESCO as World Intangible Heritage in 2005.
Now users can listen to the Twelve Muqams on Subat. "Subat is the most important platform to promote Uygur music and let people learn about the different types of music from Xinjiang, central Asia as well as other parts of the world," he said.
Ablez said he is now looking for a second round of investment to "further promote Xinjiang folk music through Internet technology".
