Tencent’s QQ Music is profitable

Tencent logo canvasChina-based streaming service QQ Music has reportedly turned a profit. One of the platform’s general managers shared the update at an event this week, although owner Tencent has not made any formal statement confirming it. This is a noteworthy development both for the Chinese market and for streaming at large, where many western companies have struggled to get into the black.

One likely reason for QQ Music’s success is the backing of conglomerate Tencent. It operates messaging app WeChat along with the QQ suite, which also includes a blog, social network, and games platform. The clout of that company could be giving QQ Music an edge in negotiations with record labels, and the existing audience of people using its ecommerce platform likely makes the migration to a music service easier.

QQ Music alone has 100 million daily active users. Its model combines streaming with paid downloads. The range of payment options appears to be attractive to Chinese listeners, especially with the ease of Tencent ecommerce integration. With the upcoming plan to combine QQ Music with two streaming platforms of China Music Corp., it could start posting even bigger numbers.

Anna Washenko