Tencent Music’s SVIP subscriptions topped $2 billion in 2024, fueled by over 121 million paying users—with ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User) rising thanks to premium features and AI-enhanced experiences. — Cussion Pang, Executive Chairman, Tencent Music Entertainment Group.
Cussion Pang attributes this surge to user willingness to pay for enriched experiences such as high-quality audio, AI mix tools, and access to exclusive concerts. “We see everyday users upgrade—and we’re reinvesting that trust into content and tech features that drive deeper engagement,” he explains.
China’s music economy is no longer a sleeping giant—it’s a global contender. In 2023, China became the fifth-largest recorded music market in the world, according to the IFPI Global Music Report, driven largely by streaming subscriptions, live events, and tech-integrated experiences.
Its remarkable 25.9% revenue growth makes it the fastest among the world’s top ten markets today. China’s digital music revenue surpassed USD $1.5 billion, showing double-digit year-on-year growth. With a rising middle class, an increasingly mobile-first population, and a government keen on promoting cultural exports, China’s music industry is positioning itself as both a creative and economic force in the global market.
According to the IFPI’s 2024 Engaging with Music report, when surveyed on which country’s music listeners had streamed most in the last 12 months, 19% of global respondents cited China—placing it just behind major music-exporting nations like the U.S., South Korea, and the U.K. While not at the top, this figure marks a notable surge in China’s cultural export visibility, particularly among younger demographics. With rising global interest in C-pop, classical crossover acts, and Mandarin-language hits, China’s influence in music streaming is steadily growing and poised to rise further in the coming years.
Chinese music giants like Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) and NetEase Cloud Music are expanding overseas—investing in foreign labels, acquiring catalog rights, and forming distribution partnerships in Southeast Asia and beyond. Meanwhile, emerging domestic acts are gaining visibility via platforms like Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese sibling), which is increasingly seen as a launchpad for global stardom.
Tencent Music’s Q2 2025 Revenue Jumps 18% on Paid-User Growth - Super Premium subscribers surpassed 15 million. Chinese online music and audio platform Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has reported significant gains in its Q2 financials. TME operates China’s music apps QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing. Total revenue for the quarter of $1.18 billion (RMB8.44 billion), a 17.9% YoY increase which the company puts down to strong YoY growth in revenues from online music services.
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Musicinfo's success stems from its strategic specialization, cultural fluency, and artist-centric innovation. By focusing on the Chinese digital music market—a space often overlooked or misunderstood by Western distributors—Musicinfo carved out a niche that offers real value to independent artists seeking global reach.
Musicinfo has positioned it not just as a distributor, but as a gateway to new audiences and revenue streams. Combined with a lean, transparent pricing model and growing analytics capabilities, Musicinfo empowers artists to expand internationally without losing creative control.
https://www.musicpressasia.com/2025/07/24/will-china-lead-music-business-industry-in-the-next-decade/
https://newindustryfocus.com/articles/tencent-music-s-q2-revenue-jumps-18-on-paid-user-growth
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