NetEase Cloud Music has signed a copyright agreement with Korean entertainment group Starship Entertainment.
This cooperation sees both companies leveraging their strengths. While NetEase Cloud Music will provide its vast distribution and community platform, Starship Entertainment will contribute its K-pop content and artist roster.
Current hits from K-pop girl group IVE, including their newest songs and third mini album IVE EMPATHY, will now be available to a broader Chinese audience as a result of this partnership.
In addition to expanding the availability of K-pop content to Chinese listeners, the deal also ensures Chinese fans have access to current and future Starship releases.
NetEase Cloud Music revealed that its platform now hosts 206 million monthly active users, with over 31.4% engaging with recommended tracks. The company says this marks a change from ordinary listening patterns to community-oriented music consumption.
The company’s user base has shown minimal growth since the 205.9 million MAUs reported for 2023. That year, NetEase recorded 44.12 million paying subscribers and achieved its first full year of profitability. Subscriber numbers were not updated in last Thursday’s (February 20) earnings report.
NetEase says its platform has become particularly appealing to younger Chinese listeners, making it an ideal partner for Starship Entertainment to connect with emerging segments of the Chinese market.
K-pop continues to gain traction on NetEase, where Starship Entertainment artists are attracting more followers. IVE has gained over 349,000 fans on the platform, with some songs hitting more than 100,000 favorites shortly after their release.
“The copyright partnership with Starship Entertainment is a significant milestone in NetEase Cloud Music’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its K-pop offerings.”
NetEase Cloud Music
“The copyright partnership with Starship Entertainment is a significant milestone in NetEase Cloud Music’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its K-pop offerings,” NetEase said.
For NetEase, the Starship deal further expands its K-pop portfolio after previously securing partnerships with other major South Korean entertainment companies, including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Kakao Entertainment, and CJ ENM. The agreement with Kakao, signed in October, gave NetEase users exclusive access to music distributed by Kakao for 30 days from the moment of its global release. Kakao is the majority shareholder of Starship Entertainment, having acquired 70% of the label through Kakao M (formerly known as Loen Entertainment) in December 2013 for 15 billion South Korean won (approx. USD $10.5 million).
The Starship agreement comes amid increasing competition with market leader Tencent Music Entertainment for exclusive content. Tencent maintains a substantial lead with 576 million monthly active users as of September 2024 — far exceeding NetEase’s 206 million. Tencent’s paying subscriber base of 119 million (Q3 2024) also significantly outpaces NetEase’s last reported figure of 44.12 million from 2023.
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