Tencent Music Entertainment Group reported second-quarter revenue of $1.18 billion, up 17.9% from a year earlier, fueled by rising music subscriptions and the rapid adoption of its higher-priced "Super VIP" tier.
Net profit attributable to equity holders climbed 43.2% to $336 million, with non-IFRS profit up 37.4% to $359 million. Operating profit rose 35.5% to $416 million, while gross margin expanded to 44.4% from 42% a year ago. Tencent Music ended the quarter with $4.87 billion in cash, equivalents, and short-term investments.
Revenue from online music services rose 26.4% to $957 million. Music subscription revenue reached $611 million, a 17.1% year-over-year increase, with paying users totaling 124.4 million, up 6.3%, even as monthly active users fell 3.2% to 553 million. Monthly average revenue per paying user increased to $1.63 from $1.49, driven by SVIP adoption.
The SVIP program, priced at about $5.58 per month versus $1.12 for standard subscriptions, surpassed 15 million members-roughly 12% of Tencent Music's subscriber base-up from 10 million in the third quarter of 2024. Premium users receive benefits such as HiFi audio, priority concert ticket access, exclusive digital albums, and collectible artist merchandise.
"Our focus on product innovation to deliver immersive user experiences has driven solid growth in our online music business," CEO Ross Liang said. "We are especially pleased to see our SVIP subscribers recently surpass 15 million, a new milestone reflecting the deep trust and loyalty of our users." Executive chairman Cussion Pang added that the company's expanding suite of music-related services-including advertising, concerts, and merchandise-showed "impressive momentum."
Tencent Music strengthened its content portfolio through partnerships with The Black Label, H M Music, and SM Entertainment, including the release of NCT Chenle's Chinese EP Lucid. The company also collaborated with Chinese star Wang Feng and increased work with Zhejiang Satellite TV.
Live events contributed strongly, with G-Dragon's concert in Macau drawing 36,000 fans and selling out merchandise. Over 300 offline shows were staged via its City Live and Buff Live platforms.
