Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) announced on Friday (March 22) that its President and Chief Technology Officer, Zhenyu Xie, will be leaving his role at the company effective March 31, 2024.
Citing personal reasons, Xie will also relinquish his seat on the company’s board, the Chinese online music and audio entertainment platform said in a press release. He was named co-President and board member in May 2019.
Shares of the company closed 4% lower on Friday following the announcement.
Xie’s departure marks the end of a significant chapter for TME. He played a key role in driving the company’s technological advancements and product development, according to TME’s Executive Chairman Cussion Pang.
“On behalf of the Board and the Company, we would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Xie for his remarkable service at TME as well as his dedication to the innovation and growth of the digital music industry,” said Pang.
“Zhenyu has played a vital role in leading our teams to significant breakthroughs, which has greatly enhanced TME’s product appeal and user experience. We appreciate his contributions and wish him well in all future pursuits.”
Cussion Pang, Tencent Music Entertainment Group
“Zhenyu has played a vital role in leading our teams to significant breakthroughs, which has greatly enhanced TME’s product appeal and user experience. We appreciate his contributions and wish him well in all future pursuits,” the executive added.
While details about Xie’s future plans remain undisclosed, the press release confirmed his continued involvement with TME in a consulting capacity.
The company has yet to name a successor for the President role, although it announced the appointment of Min Hu, the current Chief Financial Officer, as a new member of the board of directors, effective on the same date as Xie’s departure.
Hu, also known as Shirley Hu, brings over two decades of experience in finance and corporate IT functions. Her extensive background includes previous controller roles within Tencent’s business groups from 2007 to 2016.
Before joining Tencent, Hu served as the director of internal audit department at Huawei Technology. She is currently a member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), CPA Australia, China Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).
Xie’s departure comes as the company continues to face challenges from competitors like NetEase Cloud Music. However, Tencent Music remains the dominant streaming platform in China, with its paying subscriber base growing 20.6% YoY in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 106.7 million. That reflected an increase of 3.7 million paying users from the previous quarter.
In comparison, NetEase Cloud Music’s paying music subscriber base, despite rising 15.3% YoY in 2023 to 44.12 million, still lags far behind TME.
TME operates four music streaming services: QQ Music, Kugo, Kuwou, and WeSing. In January, Universal Music Group renewed its multi-year licensing deal with TME, allowing the Chinese company to continue gaining access to UMG’s music catalog for its music streaming services.
In 2023, China remained the world’s fifth-largest music market, according to the IFPI’s latest Global Music Report. Recorded music revenues in China surged 25.9% in 2023, which was “the fastest rate of increase in any top 10 market,” the IPFPI said.
However, Andrew Chan, CEO, Sony Music Entertainment, Greater China, highlighted in the report that “Paid music subscribers account for a much lower percentage of the population compared to Korea and Japan, so we can see there is still huge opportunity for growth.”
Music Business Worldwide
