NetEase Cloud Music has struck another partnership with a South Korean media company, expanding its offering of Korean content to its Chinese customers.
On Friday (September 5), Korean soundtrack producer Most Contents announced that it has signed a deal with the Chinese music streaming platform to stream over 70 Korean drama, or K-drama soundtracks on NetEase Cloud Music.
Through the deal, NCM, which competes with Tencent Music Entertainment in China’s crowded streaming market, will gain access to soundtracks from popular Korean dramas including Young Lady and Gentleman, That Year, Us, Boyhood, The World of the Married, and Love in the Moonlight.
The partnership also includes access to soundtracks such as V’s Christmas Tree, the first Korean drama OST to enter the Billboard Hot 100, and Lim Young-woong‘s Love Always Runs Away, which remains popular among Korean music fans, according to Most Contents.
Most Contents, founded in October 2014, claims to control 50% of South Korea’s drama music market. It is engaged in drama music-centered content planning, production and distribution, drama production, OST concert, and more, according to its website.
The partnership comes as NCM, dubbed as China’s second-largest operator of music streaming services next to Tencent Music Entertainment, recently reported a 15.2% YoY jump in revenues from membership subscriptions in the first half of 2025 to RMB 2.47 billion ($346 million).
NCM said the number of monthly active users (MAUs) “maintained steady growth momentum,” but did not disclose specific figures when it reported its H1 2025 results last month. Most recently, Most Contents said NCM has monthly active users exceeding 200 million.
During the first half of the year, NCM had expanded its relationships with copyright holders – including deals with South Korean K-pop companies RBW (home to K-pop acts such as MAMAMOO, ONEUS, ONEWE, and PURPLE KISS) and Starship Entertainment (IVE, MONSTA X, WJSN, CRAVITY, KiiiKiii, and IDID).
“This copyright collaboration with Most Contents is a significant step forward in expanding Korean pop music content.”
NetEase Cloud Music
Over the past few years, NCM has also secured partnerships with other prominent South Korean entertainment companies, including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Kakao Entertainment, and CJ ENM.
Commenting on the partnership with Most Contents, NetEase Cloud Music said: “This copyright collaboration with Most Contents is a significant step forward in expanding Korean pop music content.”
Most Contents added: “By providing over 70 OSTs that were not officially serviced until now to the Chinese market, we will promote healthy consumption of Korean drama OSTs, and create more active exchanges and synergy between the two countries through fandom expansion and various additional business development.”
“By providing over 70 OSTs that were not officially serviced until now to the Chinese market, we will promote healthy consumption of Korean drama OSTs.”
Most Contents
NCM’s Korean deals arrive amid reports that China is set to lift an unofficial ban on South Korean cultural imports. K-pop groups have reportedly been unofficially barred from performing in China since around 2016/2017.
Back in May, it was revealed that NetEase rival Tencent Music is acquiring a 9.38% stake in K-Pop giant SM Entertainment from rival HYBE for nearly $180 million. Following that report, HYBE (BTS, ENHYPEN, Seventeen) officially launched a subsidiary in China, the world’s fifth-largest recorded music market.
Music Business Worldwide
