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Matt Haldane · · 6 min readA comparison of Tencent’s three dominant music apps
As China’s music-streaming sector has become a mature and lucrative market, one company in particular has taken up most of the revenue and users through three different brands: Kugou Music, QQ Music, and Kuwo Music.
All three apps have seen significant growth throughout 2018. App usage data from QuestMobile show that between December and June, Kugou’s monthly active users (MAUs) grew by 56 percent to 358 million, QQ Music’s by 34 percent to 284 million, and Kuwo’s by 16 percent to 131 million.
The company’s next largest competitor is NetEase Music, which has just 114 million MAUs. However, it did grow 70 percent over the same period.
| Rank | App | Monthly active users (millions) | Market share |
| 1 | Kugou Music (Tencent) | 358 | 37.25 percent |
| 2 | QQ Music (Tencent) | 284 | 29.55 percent |
| 3 | Kuwo Music (Tencent) | 131 | 13.63 percent |
The front page of each app from left to right: QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music. Kugou has options for videos and singing in the top menu bar, while Kuwo highlights the karaoke feature with a microphone icon that can be quickly noticed.
QQ Music
All three services offer on-demand music streaming similar to services in the US and Europe, among other markets. However, QQ Music is the most similar to foreign counterparts like Spotify. QQ Music exists first and foremost to sell music and streaming plans.
Tencent Music itself describes QQ Music in its prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission as “leading online music services” with popular music video content and music from a wide range of popular artists that appeal to younger audiences in top-tier cities.
See: A look at China’s massive music streaming industry and how it differs from Spotify
The app’s front page encapsulates this approach. Various options for browsing music, artists, radio stations, and videos are front and center, and the menu isn’t cluttered with options for much else. While other apps highlight additional features, QQ Music keeps it about listening to music.
This also makes QQ Music the most similar app to competitor NetEase Music, which has grown in popularity among younger users. According to search data from Baidu Index, teenagers and users in their 20s search for QQ Music more than any other music-streaming app except NetEase. Among users in their 30s, QQ Music gets similar search numbers as Kugou, both of which beat out NetEase.
Kugou Music
Kuwo Music
Tencent’s strategy gets results
