Warner Music Group has renewed its licensing agreement with China’s NetEase Cloud Music.
The multi-year extension covers distribution of Warner‘s recorded music and publishing catalog across the streaming platform.
It also broadens the partnership beyond distribution into promotion of Warner artists and multimedia content.
The companies announced the renewal on Thursday (July 16).
NetEase Cloud Music is China’s second-largest music streaming service, behind Tencent Music Entertainment.
The renewal comes during a run of licensing activity across China‘s streaming market.
According to a press release, the two companies will expand their partnership from distribution of WMG’s recording and publishing catalog to “collaboration on promoting WMG’s talent, who will benefit from dedicated marketing support by NetEase Cloud Music to strengthen and grow their relationships with Chinese audiences”.
The renewed partnership will also focus on multimedia content collaboration beyond audio streaming to “creat[e] a richer and more immersive experience for fans,” according to WMG and NetEase Cloud Music.
“China is a vital part of the global music ecosystem, and our continued partnership with NetEase Cloud Music is key to our mission to maximize our artists’ reach in the region.”
Robert Kyncl, Warner Music Group
“China is a vital part of the global music ecosystem, and our continued partnership with NetEase Cloud Music is key to our mission to maximize our artists’ reach in the region,” said Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group.
“By leveraging NetEase‘s innovative social platform and deep understanding of Chinese youth culture, we’re building lifelong fanbases for our artists in this important and fast-growing market,” Kyncl added.
“We’re delighted to extend our successful collaboration with Warner Music Group,” said William Ding, CEO of NetEase Cloud Music.
“NetEase Cloud Music has always been the platform of choice for young users to discover and share great music, and to interact with artists.”
“Together with WMG, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of how music is experienced, ensuring that the world’s premium music is accessible to our users.”
William Ding, NetEase Cloud Music
“Together with WMG, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of how music is experienced, ensuring that the world’s premium music is accessible to our users,” he added.
The Warner relationship with NetEase Cloud Music dates to May 2020, when Warner Chappell Music granted the platform access to 1.3 million of the publisher’s songs.
That 2020 agreement covered the use of songs by writers behind hits from Green Day, Katy Perry and Madonna, in areas including online karaoke.
Those direct deals with the major record companies came ahead of a July 2021 ruling in which China’s antitrust regulator forced Tencent Music Entertainment to give up the exclusive sub-licensing rights it had held over their catalogs.
Universal Music Group struck its own direct licensing deal with NetEase Cloud Music in August 2020, followed by Sony Music Entertainment in May 2021.
The renewal follows Universal Music Group‘s own multi-year licensing renewal with NetEase Cloud Music, announced in January.
China overtook Germany to become the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market in 2025, according to the IFPI, with revenues up 20.1% YoY.
NetEase Cloud Music reported more than 1 million registered independent artists in its 2025 results, alongside a recent run of licensing deals covering catalogs from Universal Music Group and multiple K-pop labels.
Those independent artists have uploaded more than 5.6 million tracks to NetEase Cloud Music.
The platform’s subscription revenues rose 13.3% YoY to RMB 5.1 billion ($715 million) last year.Music Business Worldwide