New deals with China’s copyright body will help Korean music collect more royalties

 
Korean musical works will now be able to collect royalties more easily from Chinese music streaming services after China’s music copyright body signed licensing deals with the country’s two largest digital music platforms.
 
The Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) has signed agreements with Tencent Music and NetEase Cloud Music, the Korea Music Copyright Association (Komca) said Tuesday.
 
MCSC is a collective management organization that administers music copyright holders’ rights in China. Under a reciprocal representation agreement with Komca, it collects royalties for Korean musical works used in China and transfers the proceeds to Komca.
 
Komca has pointed to structural problems that have made it difficult to collect and settle royalties for Korean music in China due to the regulatory and market environment of China’s digital music industry, and has been holding working-level consultations with MCSC to address them.
 
In 2025, Komca officials visited Beijing to discuss issues including the current status of K-pop licensing operations in China and ways to exchange data with MCSC.
 
Komca has also held direct talks with major platform operators in China’s digital music market.
 
In August 2025, Park Haki, a former vice president of Komca, met face-to-face with Tencent Music officials alongside Lee Soo-man, visionary K-pop producer and founder of A20 Entertainment. Park supported Lee’s discussions with their Chinese counterparts, and the parties exchanged practical views on the use of Korean music in China, platform operating structures and the flow of royalty settlements.
 

A man walks outside Tencent’s headquarters in Nanshan district of Shenzhen, China on Sept. 2, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

 
Amid those talks, MCSC said it signed a licensing agreement with Tencent Music in November 2025.
 
The agreement, concluded with officials from the National Copyright Administration of China and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers in attendance, includes provisions that will apply retroactively to usage prior to the signing — a move expected to close a longstanding licensing gap.
 
MCSC also said it wrapped up negotiations with NetEase Cloud Music in September 2025 and signed a licensing agreement. That deal likewise includes retroactive provisions for past usage, and additional talks on agreements for future years are reportedly underway.
 
Komca, which has distributed royalties generated in China to its members after receiving them from MCSC, said the latest agreements lay the groundwork for improving the collection and distribution process.
 
“I’m pleased that a meaningful turning point has been reached on the issue of China royalties, for which we have long called for corrective measures,” said singer-songwriter Lee Si-ha, president-elect of Komca. “Building on the association’s accumulated practical groundwork and my own experience from closely tracking the China royalties issue, I will do my utmost to ensure these agreements lead swiftly to actual royalty collection and distribution.”

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]