(Yicai Global) Aug. 11 -- Chinese music streaming platform Tencent Music Entertainment Group increased its revenue in the second quarter with a rising number of paying clients and robust digital album sales.

TME's revenue climbed almost 18 percent to USD981 million from a year ago, the Shenzhen-based firm said in its earnings report published after the New York Stock Exchange closed yesterday. Its net profit climbed by 1 percent to USD133 million.

The company has renewed its contract with global music behemoth Universal Music Group once more to set up a music label to train artists and create great content, TME added.

Big and smaller segments grew. Income from TME's music subscription rose by 65 percent to USD186 million. Social entertainment and other business revenues climbed by 9 percent to USD677 million.

Meanwhile, the number of paying users increased by 52 percent to 47.1 million over the quarter. Each user spent about 8 percent more on average.

The platform has boosted its ratio of paying customers to 7.2 percent from 4.8 percent from a year ago due to its content leadership, smart paywall strategy, and enhanced recommendations, said Chief Executive Cussion Pang.

TME was formed by a merger between China’s three major music platforms, namely QQ Music, Kugou, and Kuwo in 2016. The new firm, which has more than 800 million monthly active users, has partnered with foreign music giants such as Spotify, Warner Music Group, UMG, and Sony.

TME's stock price [NYSE: TME] fell 2.06 percent to USD15.69 yesterday in New York but in after-hours trading, the shares were more than 2 percent up.

Editor: Emmi Laine