NetEase Cloud Music expands K-Pop library with JYP Entertainment partnership – Music Business Worldwide

China-based music streaming service NetEase Cloud Music announced Monday (April 29) a licensing agreement with JYP Entertainment, a powerhouse South Korean entertainment company behind acts such as TWI and J.Y. Park.

The deal grants Cloud Music the right to distribute JYP’s music catalog in China, bolstering its K-Pop offerings after striking similar deals with YG Entertainment (BIGBANG, BLACKPINK) in July 2022, with SM Entertainment (Red Velvet, EXO, Super Junior) in June 2022, and with Cube Entertainment (BTOB, CLC, Pentagon) in January 2019.

Both Cloud Music and JYP will contribute their expertise to promote JYP’s artists to the Chinese music market.

At the end of 2023, Cloud Music had 44.12 million paid subscribers, up 15.3% from 38.27 million a year earlier, while the number of monthly active users as of the end of 2023 rose 8.7% to 205.9 million.

The platform had about 149 million cumulative music tracks by the end of 2023.

“Moving forward, NetEase Cloud Music will continue to collaborate with global music companies, offering Chinese music enthusiasts a wider range of high-quality music content and an improved user experience.”

Netease Cloud Music

Through Cloud Music’s agreement with JYP, the company will be able to offer the discographies of artists and groups like J.Y. Park, TWICE, Stray Kids, BOY STORY, ITZY, Yao Chen, NMIXX, and more, to Chinese listeners. This includes chart-topping albums like TWICE’s WithYOU-th, NMIXX’s Love Me Like This, and ITZY’s CAKE, alongside hits like Nobody, Bad Girl Good Girl, and Stop Stop It.

NetEase Cloud Music has also introduced a range of JYP-themed Vinyl VIP decorations, catering to the tastes of young users.

JYP Entertainment was founded by producer J.Y. Park in 1997. The company has since launched “nearly a hundred” singers, idol groups, and actors. Beyond its South Korean headquarters, JYP has branches in China, the US, and Japan, actively expanding K-Pop’s influence worldwide.

Almost a year ago, JYP expanded its global strategic alliance with Republic Records to cover worldwide distribution of artists and catalogs, A&R, marketing, and business development.

In 2019, JYP partnered with Warner Chappell Music UK to host a songwriting camp in Seoul, and that same year, JYP teamed up with distribution and services company The Orchard, tapping the latter to handle its global digital and physical distribution.

Through the JYP partnership, NetEase Cloud Music says its advanced AI algorithms and user-centric recommendations will further amplify JYP’s content reach and its “advantage in personalized music recommendations, changing traditional listening habits, which bodes well for JYP Entertainment to efficiently distribute content and engage with music lovers in China.”

In addition to K-Pop companies, Cloud Music also has partnerships with Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Rolling Stones Records, Modern Sky, Emperor Entertainment, and Bin’s Music, among others.

“Moving forward, NetEase Cloud Music will continue to collaborate with global music companies, offering Chinese music enthusiasts a wider range of high-quality music content and an improved user experience,” Cloud Music said.

Music Business Worldwide