Wang Leehom files police report over pirated versions of his music app

Taipei — Taiwanese Mandopop idol Wang Leehom has filed a police report against those who pirated his Yuexue app, which teaches singing and songwriting.

The app was first launched in February and the first semester of classes was very popular. It gained 20,000 students and reportedly made Wang SGD7 million richer. On Monday a second semester began but unscrupulous pirates attempted to secretly record the classes and even lured away students, causing the app to lose about SGD360,000.

The 45-year-old singer-songwriter issued a stern warning against the pirated versions, which have proliferated to more than 1,000 websites. “Don’t be deceived. Only the original version will have classes, classmates, homework and critiques.”

A new teacher, renowned lyricist Vincent Fang is included in the latest classes. Fang is best known for collaborating with Taiwanese megastar Jay Chou on many of his hits. On July 12, Wang had shaved off his massive pandemic beard on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok to drum up publicity ahead of the second semester. According to Straits Times, the 70-minute live stream was watched by 12.31 million viewers and it managed to recruit an additional 3,450 students to sign up to Yuexue.

Born on May 17, 1976, Wang Leehom, sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music is known for fusing hip-hop and R&B, with traditional Chinese music (Beijing opera, Kunqu, Chinese orchestra, and tribal music from Tibet, Yunan, and Mongolia). Since his 1995 debut, Wang has released 25 albums, that have sold over 60 million copies.

He is a four-time winner and 19-time nominee of the Golden Melody Awards, the “Grammys” of Chinese music. His sold-out concert at the 90,000 seat Beijing Bird’s Nest on April 14, 2012 was the first solo pop concert to be held at the iconic venue. With over 72 million followers on social media, Wang is one of the most followed celebrities in China (peaked as #1 most followed person in China’s social media in 2014)./TISG