"China Likely to Order Tencent Music to Relinquish Exclusive Music Streaming Rights"

Foreign Media Report... "Strengthened Regulation on Internet Companies like Tencent"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Chinese authorities are expected to order Tencent Music, the music streaming subsidiary of Chinese internet giant Tencent, to relinquish its global record label streaming exclusivity rights.

Major foreign media outlets, citing multiple sources, reported on the 12th (local time) that the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China is expected to demand that Tencent Music give up its streaming exclusivity rights.

Tencent Music has maintained exclusive streaming rights within China with global record labels such as Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music.

Regulators appear to view Tencent Music’s streaming exclusivity as an anti-competitive practice and have begun to apply pressure accordingly.

Nonetheless, sources predict that Tencent Music may still retain exclusivity over some domestic indie artists’ music.

The SAMR is also reported to impose a fine of 500,000 yuan (approximately 87.9 million KRW) on Tencent Music for failing to properly report its 2016 acquisitions of online music platforms Kugou Music and Kuwo Music.

Tencent seems to be under intense pressure from domestic regulatory authorities recently, coinciding with China’s broader crackdown on its internet companies.

Earlier this year, Chinese authorities imposed the largest-ever antitrust fine of 18.228 billion yuan (approximately 3.2 trillion KRW) on e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

In addition, in April, the SAMR reportedly considered ordering Tencent to divest Kugou Music and Kuwo Music.

On the 10th, the SAMR prohibited the merger of Huya and DouYu, two major internet game live streaming platforms affiliated with Tencent.

Previously, in August last year, Tencent had formalized the merger of the two companies and applied to the SAMR for approval of the corporate merger.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.