One of the biggest music streaming services in China. Learn more about NetEase Cloud Music and how to upload your music for free!

NetEase Cloud Music is the music streaming service from Chinese technology company NetEase, Inc.

RouteNote has been directly partnered with NetEase since 2019 to help independent artists grow their music across one of the fastest growing music streaming markets in the world – China.

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How to upload to NetEase Cloud Music

Artists of all sizes can distribute their music to the world’s largest stores, streaming services and social media platforms for free when they choose RouteNote. It’s easy to get started, simply:

  • Sign up for a free account at routenote.com
  • Head to DistributionCreate New Release
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to input your metadata, and upload your tracks and artwork
  • In the Manage Stores page, tick Netease and any other platforms you want to see your music on
  • Choose between Free and Premium distribution

To maximize your presence on Chinese streaming services, in the Manage Stores page, be sure to tick “Tencent” and “Kanjian” too.

One of the features that RouteNote offers that is only available on a handful of stores including NetEase, is Timed Releases. With Timed Releases, you can choose an exact time your single or album goes live on your specified release date.

RouteNote has two primary ways for artists to distribute their music. Our Free tier doesn’t cost a penny – artists keep 85% of the revenue generated. Perfect for artists starting out. Our Premium tier costs a small upfront fee and $9.99 annual cost – artists keep 100% of the revenue generated. Perfect for established artists.

We believe in offering artists of all sizes the same opportunities. Regardless of which tier you use, the features and stores we offer are the same. You are never locked in with RouteNote. You can freely switch between our Free and Premium tier, on a release-by-release basis, letting you maximize your revenue based on popularity. You always retain 100% of the rights to your music. You are free to leave RouteNote at any time.

For labels and larger artists, our All Access tier offers additional services like dedicated account management and support, pitching services, and more. This tier has custom pricing to suit you. Get in touch to hear more.

Once you’ve chosen how you want to distribute your music, the release will be sent to RouteNote, and it’s down to us to get your music on all of your chosen platforms. First, your release is sent to our moderation team. They’ll check over your release for any formatting errors or copyright issues. Our moderation team aims to get to releases within 72 hours, but this time can extend during busy periods.

Once approved, your release will be sent to our distribution team. They’re the ones who ensure your music is sent to all of your chosen stores and territories. We send releases to stores within 24 hours (excluding weekends). Most stores will have your release live within 14 days.

Now your release is live on all stores and pulling in streams around the world, it’s time to start reviewing your statistics and earning royalties. Statistics are published monthly, 45 days after the close of each month for most stores. This means you can view earnings on the 15th of each month. Payments are processed within the next five days. NetEase is one of few exceptions that updates quarterly rather than monthly.


What is NetEase Cloud Music?

Let’s learn how NetEase Cloud Music got to their current status as one of the largest music streamers in the world, despite only being available in China.

How did NetEase Cloud Music start?

NetEase Cloud Music was launched by Chinese internet technology company NetEase, Inc. in 2013. Although at the time competitors in China such as QQ Music, Kugou Music and Kuwo Music existed, these music services were not brought under Tencent Music’s umbrella until 2016.

In 2019, Chinese technology company Alibaba bought a minority stake in NetEase Cloud Music. This was followed in 2021 by the closure of Alibaba’s own music streaming service, Xiami Music. This gave Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music massive control over a huge share of the music market in China. December 2021 saw Cloud Village, the brand behind Cloud Music IPO, raising $422 million.

At the end of Q4 2023, under “online music services”, NetEase Cloud Music reported 205.9 million monthly active users and 44.1 million paying users. Under “social entertainment services”, they reported 1.6 million paying users. Q4 2023 concluded NetEase Cloud Music’s first-ever full-year of net profit.

This immense growth of Chinese music streaming outpaced global player Spotify at times.

Over the years, Tencent Music has boosted their power in the music streaming market by partnering with some of the biggest names in the industry. NetEase too has partnered and invested in music companies such as Sony Music, Warner Music, Emperor Entertainment and AIVA.


The basic features of NetEase Cloud music

NetEase Cloud Music competes with Tencent Music on music streaming in China, but takes a different approach. NetEase Cloud Music combies all of the various features, such as music streaming, live streaming, karaoke, social networking, audiobooks and podcasts, into one app. This is unlike Tencent Music who split music and other entertainment features between several apps. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

NetEase Cloud Music has a catalog of over 100 million songs and 3.4 billion playlists. Much like popular Western services, NetEase has personalized recommendations based on what you’ve been listening to. As mentioned above, there are additional features such as online karaoke, audiobooks, podcasts, social networking and live streaming. Live streaming memberships and virtual gifts also acts as another revenue source for NetEase and creators in China.

NetEase Cloud Music is a freemium music streaming service, with basic features available for free. Enhanced features are available on a subscription basis. Subscriptions can be purchased through the app.

With no subscriptions, listeners can stream limited songs, at limited audio quality, with ads. A paid membership unlocks features such as all songs, higher audio quality, reduced ads, audiobooks, multiple device compatibility, special sound effects and customized themes. Much like QQ Music, rights holders can choose to restrict their music to paying subscribers or only available for purchase, as these two options generate far higher revenue than ads alone. Artists using this method include Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.

NetEase Cloud Music is available on Windows and Mac computers, as well as Android, iPhone and iPad. You can also access NetEase Cloud Music worldwide on music.163.com.



What countries is NetEase Cloud Music available in?

NetEase Cloud Music is available in China only. That being said, anyone can browse the platforms online worldwide. This is super useful, as it allows artists to check their music is live on the store and attain shareable links.

Just head to music.163.com to browse NetEase Cloud Music.


Artists

So you’ve uploaded your music to all stores. Now what? Well you can’t expect the streams to come flooding in without any work. Step one is ensuring you have an engaging presence across social media platforms and streaming services.

How to customize your NetEase Cloud Music artist profile

Unfortunately, NetEase Cloud Music does not have a Spotify for Artists-like portal for you to claim your artist page, customize visuals and view listening statistics. However you can link your NetEase Artist Page to a NetEase ‘Fan Connect’ account. Fan Connect is NetEase’s social media platform available to creators worldwide.

By linking the two, you will get a verification badge, enable fans to follow you, boost yourself in the algorithm, and give you the ability to engage with your community.

Find out how to connect your Artist Page and Fan Connect accounts here.


How to market your music with PUSH.fm

As I’m sure you’re aware, marketing is a super important part of being an independent artist. When it comes to sharing your music online, simplify the process with our friends over at PUSH.fm. PUSH.fm has several free-to-use campaign tools. The one we’ll be looking at today is Smart Links, as this tightly relates to NetEase Cloud Music, but you can find more information on PUSH.fm’s other tools, including Pre-saves, Reward Links, Pay Links and Competitions.

Smart Links

How do you tailor for your audience when they are across so many different social media platforms, streaming services and stores? Smart Links compile multiple links into one landing page. There are many different types of templates to choose from when creating your Smart Link, such as Fan Links. Fan Links typically feature all of the different places your release is available.

Smart Links are fully customizable, allowing you to switch the images, change the URL and link to any and everywhere. You can create unlimited Smart Links for free with PUSH.fm.

Click here to see this example Fan Link.

Statistics

Whether you’re releasing music or marketing it, it’s important to stay on top of your statistics. Find where your audience is interacting with your music the most, with detailed insights available to all PUSH.fm users. With Smart Links, see visits, conversions, success rate, engagement, sources and more, broken down by year/day/hour.

So, what are you waiting for? Get started on PUSH.fm by creating your free account today!


Distribute your music to NetEase Cloud Music and the world’s biggest platforms. It’s free and easy to do! Find more on routenote.com