Stuart Watson, the music industry veteran who helped to launch Britney Spears, has been hired by the [British] Government to promote British pop music in China.

The former managing director of the Zomba record label will head a newly created office in Beijing, partly funded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). UK Music Services will act as a point of contact for independent UK music companies wanting to break acts in China. The Government is keen to promote the UK's music industry and believes that China is relatively untapped by new Western acts...

...The Beijing office will be funded by UK Trade and Investment, a unit of the DTI; the Association of Independent Music; and SWAT Enterprises, Mr Watson's private music consultancy. Mr Watson also helped Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake to international success.

So this guy is going to get money from the British government to promote Britain's tackiest pop culture products, in a market where not even Chinese companies can figure out how to make real money from music.

Nice work if you can get it.

The image of Stuart Watson is a screen grab from Musicweek.com

LINKS:
The Independent: From Britney to Brit pop to Beijing
Music Week: UK music office opens in China (subscription only)