Core Viewpoint - The ongoing legal dispute between NetEase Cloud Music and South Korea's SM Entertainment has escalated, with a court hearing scheduled for August 6, 2023, regarding allegations of market dominance abuse [1]. Group 1: Legal Dispute - NetEase Cloud Music and its subsidiary have filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment and its affiliates, with the case set to be heard in Hangzhou [1]. - The lawsuit follows a series of complications in the partnership between NetEase Cloud Music and SM Entertainment, which began in 2018 [6][8]. Group 2: Historical Context of Partnership - The collaboration between NetEase Cloud Music and SM Entertainment started in 2018, but faced challenges when SM Entertainment signed a strategic deal with Tencent Music in 2019, leading to the removal of SM's songs from NetEase's platform [8]. - In 2021, regulatory changes allowed for the cessation of exclusive copyright agreements, leading to a renewed partnership in 2022 where NetEase regained full music rights from SM Entertainment [8][9]. Group 3: Financial Performance - For the year 2024, NetEase Cloud Music reported online music service revenue of 5.35 billion yuan, a 23.1% increase from 4.35 billion yuan in the previous year, driven by a growing subscriber base [9]. - Subscription revenue reached 4.46 billion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 22.2%, while content service costs decreased from 4.6 billion yuan in 2023 to 4 billion yuan in 2024 [9].
网易云音乐版权风波后，起诉韩国SM娱乐滥用市场支配地位