Digitally China Podcast: Tencent Music vs Spotify

Digitally China is a bi-weekly podcast from RADII hosted by Tom Xiong and Eva Xiao, and produced by Jacob Loven. On each episode, the team will tackle a different timely tech-related topic, providing key insights on all you need to know about the fast-changing nature of innovation in China. Find previous episodes of Digitally China here and subscribe on iTunes here.

Last month, Chinese tech giant Tencent announced that they had raised around 1.1 billion USD via an IPO in the US that valued its music streaming service at 21.3 billion USD. The platform claims to have 800 million active users across a range of apps under the Tencent Music umbrella, including a karaoke app (WeSing) and three separate streaming services: Kugou, KuWo, and QQ Music.

But what exactly is Tencent Music’s business model and how does it compare to that of streaming behemoth Spotify? Should Spotify be worried by Tencent’s New York Stock Exchange IPO and the rise of its streaming model, or does it offer the Swedish company a way into the Chinese market?

In this latest episode, The Digitally China Podcast team dig into Tencent Music, drawing comparisons with Spotify and turning up some surprising answers to the above questions (and more).

Listen to the episode on iTunes here.

Cover image: Shutterstock.com