Sony Music Renews Licensing Deal With NetEase Cloud Music

Sony Music Entertainment has renewed its licensing agreement with NetEase Cloud Music, the Chinese streaming service, keeping its recordings available to the platform's users. The renewal was announced on Friday, 13 November 2026, and it is a multi-year deal, according to Music Business Worldwide.

A licensing agreement is the contract that gives a streaming service the right to offer a label's songs to listeners. Without one, the music cannot legally be played on the platform. The renewal means Sony Music's catalogue, the full set of recordings the company owns or controls, stays available to NetEase Cloud Music users across China.

The financial terms were not disclosed. Neither company has put a figure on the deal, so its value is not known publicly.

The renewal is the latest in a run of deals with the platform this year. Universal Music Group signed a new multi-year licensing agreement with NetEase Cloud Music in January, before Sony's move. Warner Music Group followed with its own multi-year deal in July. With Sony's renewal, NetEase Cloud Music has now re-signed with all three of the world's largest record companies in 2026.

Those three companies, Universal, Sony and Warner, are often called the majors. Their contracts decide a great deal of what a service can offer on any given day, so keeping all three signed means fewer gaps in what listeners can find.

Andrew Chan is the chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment Greater China, the company's division covering the region. For listeners in China, the practical change is small: the catalogue stays where it was, and the renewal keeps it that way.