Tencent Music reaches 127 million paying subscribers in 2025
Tencent finished 2025 with 127 million paying music subscribers, strong subscription revenue, and growing interest in its premium SVIP tier.
Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) has reported solid growth in paid streaming for 2025, with more listeners choosing to subscribe. The company’s latest results show a clear shift towards higher-value users, even as its overall audience slightly declined.
New figures reported by Music Ally, alongside the company’s own financial results, reveal that 127.4 million users were paying for music on TME’s platforms by the end of the year. That’s an increase from 121 million in 2024, highlighting steady progress in converting listeners into subscribers.
Interestingly, this growth comes alongside a slight decline in total users. Monthly active users fell to 528 million, down 5% year-on-year. Rather than signalling a slowdown, this reflects a clear change in focus: fewer free listeners, but more people willing to pay for music.
That shift is already paying off. TME’s online music business generated RMB 32.9 billion ($4.71 billion) in revenue across 2025, marking a 15.8% increase compared to the previous year. Subscription revenue alone reached RMB 17.66 billion ($2.53 billion), up 16%, making it one of the biggest drivers behind the company’s growth.
A key factor behind this rise is the success of TME’s premium offerings. Its ‘SVIP’ tier has now attracted over 20 million subscribers, offering enhanced features and exclusive perks at a much higher monthly price. These users are reportedly paying around five times more than standard subscribers, helping to boost overall revenue.
Growth in this top tier has been strong, with SVIP subscribers surpassing 20 million by the end of 2025. This kind of momentum is being closely watched across the global industry, as other streaming services prepare to launch their own super-premium plans.
Beyond subscriptions, TME is also expanding how people interact with music. The company has invested heavily in AI, building a music creation platform that now has more than 10 million users and supports over 150,000 artists. These tools make it easier to create music and could play a big role in shaping how artists and fans engage in the future.
The scale of engagement on the platform remains huge. As one example, TME highlighted the success of Xiao Zhan’s track ‘Year After Year’, which was described as “amassing over 100 million views across social media platforms in a single day”. Moments like this show just how quickly songs can reach massive audiences.
TME is also experimenting with new business models to bring in more listeners. Its ad-supported subscription tier is still developing, but early signs suggest it could help attract users who are not yet ready to pay for a full subscription.
Overall, TME’s results point to a wider trend across the music industry. Success is no longer just about growing user numbers, but about building stronger connections with listeners and encouraging them to spend more on music.