Tencent Holdings and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) jointly issued a statement on May 22 announcing that, in accordance with the antitrust review decision made by the State Administration for Market Regulation on May 11—which approved Tencent’s acquisition of shares in Ximalaya under certain restrictive conditions—they will formally relinquish the right to sign exclusive licensing contracts for online audio content rights with relevant copyright holders. They also pledged to terminate all existing exclusive licensing agreements in various forms within a stipulated timeframe. The statement made it clear that these copyright holders may henceforth grant licenses to other platforms at their discretion, without any recourse from Tencent; furthermore, Tencent stated it would henceforth pursue copyright collaborations with partners solely on a non-exclusive basis.
This acquisition proposal dates back to June 10, 2025, when TME announced plans to acquire Ximalaya outright for $1.26 billion in cash plus Class A common shares representing up to 5.2% of its total share capital, amounting to roughly RMB 9.06 billion in total consideration. The regulatory authority received the filing the following day, and after approximately 11 months of review, granted approval subject to five conditions. In 2024, the combined market share of both parties in China’s online audio streaming sector stood at 45%–55%, deemed sufficient to potentially exclude or restrict competition. Abandoning exclusive copyright licensing constitutes a core requirement among these conditions; this move is set to dismantle the long-standing practice of exclusive licensing in China’s online audio industry, allowing competitors such as LIZI and NetEase Cloud Music to secure rights to premium content under comparable terms. Additionally, the regulatory body established a two-year rectification period to oversee compliance with these stipulations.