Highlights
- Tencent Music's revenue rose 5.8% to over $1 billion USD, backed by its latest Ximalaya deal.
- Music services grew to 85.1% of revenue, driven by offline events and Super VIP subscriptions.
- On the other hand, social entertainment revenue fell to 16.4%, reflecting weaker live-streaming revenue.
Tencent Music Entertainment Group recorded a second-quarter revenue of RMB 8.93 billion (~ $1.32 billion USD), up 5.8% from the prior-year period. The surge is primarily driven by the consolidation of audio platform Ximalaya and growth in live performance services. Notably, adjusted EBITDA hit RMB 3.25 billion (~ $482M) by the end of June 30, marking a 5.2% year-over-year increase. The results depict an ongoing structural repositioning across TME's platform. Music-related services surged 11.0% to RMB 7.61 billion (~ $1.13B), accounting for 85.1% of overall group revenue.
TME Growth Gets Lift From Ximalaya, Super VIP Subscription
TME recently completed its $2.4B acquisition of Ximalaya on May 18, 2026, adding the Chinese audio operator into its consolidated results for the first time. Ximalaya reportedly produced RMB 407 million (~ $60.34M) during the quarter, highlighting that TME's overall top-line growth this time relied significantly on this integration.
Within music services, membership revenues expanded 8.1% year-over-year to RMB 4.79 billion (~ $710.12M). According to TME, the gain came in part because of adopting the Super VIP tier. The high-tier subscription reportedly has a monthly fee of about RMB 40 ($5.90), nearly five times the standard monthly rate of RMB 8 ($1.19).
Although TME withheld active user figures, paying subscriber totals, and average revenue per paying user for the second consecutive quarter, during 2025, TME reported 127.4 million total paying music subscribers, including over 20M Super VIP accounts.
Live Events & Music Investments Drive TME Expansion
Revenues from marketing and consumption services, including advertising, merchandise, and concerts, surged 16.2% to RMB 2.81 billion (~ $417M). Growth in the division was further boosted by offline touring like fan events in Macau for SM Entertainment trainees and a stadium tour for rapper GAI. TME holds a secondary position in SM Entertainment following an approximately $180M equity buy from HYBE last year.
The company also expanded its content portfolio during the quarter by seizing first-release window rights with Dream Music Group, while making a strategic investment in South Korean THE BLACK LABEL, which houses K-pop artists like BLACKPINK’s Rosé and BigBang’s Taeyang.
Social Entertainment Sector Declines
Tencent Music’s growth across audio and live events helped to offset a sharp drop in its legacy social entertainment division. Notably, revenues from karaoke and live-streaming operations declined 16.4% year-over-year to RMB 1.33 billion (~ $197.2M).
To drive engagement across core streaming apps, TME embedded its platforms with Tencent's Weixin XiaoWei assistant and introduced enhanced features like AI music recommendation on QQ Music and Kugou Music.
Although inorganic growth from Ximalaya and price surges via Super VIP brought TME a strong quarter, the real test lies ahead. To sustain this momentum, the platform must prove that its main organic music engagement can thrive on its own once the recent acquisitions and new tier rollouts mature.
