Has Tencent’s Abandonment of Exclusive Audio Rights Truly Delivered Listening Freedom?

Regulatory background

State Administration for Market Regulation reviewed Tencent’s planned acquisition of Ximalaya. After an 11‑month antitrust review, the deal was approved in May 2026 with a core condition that Tencent must terminate all existing exclusive online‑audio licensing contracts and may not sign any new exclusive contracts.

Commitments

Do not sign new exclusive licensing contracts for online audio content; rights holders may license to any platform without Tencent interference.

Terminate all current exclusive online‑audio contracts within the stipulated timeframe and thereafter cooperate only on a non‑exclusive basis.

Scope of relinquished rights

The relinquished exclusivity applies only to long‑form audio such as audiobooks, radio dramas, podcasts, and paid‑knowledge content. Exclusive copyrights for songs, including those of artists like Jay Chou, are unaffected.

Impact on users

Removal of exclusive barriers allows popular long‑form audio to be accessed across multiple platforms without switching apps or maintaining separate subscriptions, subject to rights holders choosing to license content elsewhere. The regulator also prohibited platforms from raising subscription or on‑demand service prices and required that the proportion of free content not be reduced.

Historical context of music licensing

Exclusive licensing for online music was dismantled in 2021. After regulatory pressure, 99 % of mainstream Chinese pop catalogues became non‑exclusive, but approximately 1 % of core songs—mainly from top Mandarin artists—remain exclusively licensed to Tencent Music.

Market data

By March 2026, Soda Music (汽水音乐) reached 156 million monthly active users (MAU), a 78 % year‑over‑year increase, overtaking NetEase Cloud Music and becoming the third‑largest player.

QuestMobile data show that in September 2025 Tencent Music’s platforms recorded MAU declines: KuGou ‑8.1 %, QQ Music ‑2.8 %, KuWo ‑8.0 %.

Soda Music’s MAU grew 90.7 % to 120 million, indicating substantial user migration from Tencent Music.

Competitive dynamics

Soda Music combines short‑video content, algorithmic recommendation, and a free‑plus‑advertising model, bypassing the traditional “pay‑for‑licensing” approach and establishing a three‑way competitive landscape among Tencent Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Soda Music.

Tencent Music’s response

Tencent Music is pursuing two main tactics: (1) completing the acquisition of Ximalaya to fill the long‑form audio gap, and (2) deepening strategic integration with WeChat Channels so that users discovering music in short videos can jump directly to QQ Music for playback, collection, and premium consumption. The effectiveness of these measures in preserving Tencent Music’s market position remains uncertain.

Code example

往
期
推
荐
1、
谷歌CEO承认Coding落后了
2、
我说：“咱们以后面试，必须要问 Harness” 老板说：“Harness 和 Context、Prompt Engineering 不一回事吗？” 我说：“你可别掺和了”
3、
给Claude Code装上这个超酷的状态栏，瞬间高大上了！
4、
你敢相信，60年前电脑硬盘跟洗衣机一样大！
5、
线上慢SQL导致CPU飙升，怎么解决？