NetEase Cloud music revenues reach $331M

NetEase Cloud Music, China’s second biggest music streaming provider, posted a 22.5% year-over-year jump in revenue in the third quarter, which the company attributed to the continued growth in its paying user base.

Revenue in the three months ended September 30 reached RMB 2.36 billion (approx. $331 million), up from RMB 1.92bn in the year-ago period and from RMB 2.19bn in the second quarter of the year.

The figures were disclosed by Cloud Music’s majority shareholder NetEase last week (November 17) as it reported its overall (unaudited) Q3 results. Cloud Music accounted for 9.7% of its parent company’s overall revenue of RMB 24.43bn during the quarter.

Internet giant NetEase is publicly-traded Cloud Music’s majority shareholder. When the latter company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2021, it was reported by the company that NetEase owned a 47.51% share, after making a US $200 million cornerstone investment in its spun-out music subsidiary.

NetEase’s Chief Financial Officer Charles Yang told analysts during an earnings call that Cloud Music’s revenue grew as the unit continued to expand its paying user base and optimize its pricing strategy.

During the quarter, Cloud Music further improved its “music-oriented community and content ecosystem” and continued to accelerate its monetization efforts and “gain meaningful operating leverage,” according to the executive.