(Yicai Global) Nov. 12 -- China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group, which runs applications such as QQ Music and WeSing, has increased its revenue in the third quarter of this year on the back of popular releases including Jay Chou's "Won't Cry" and Taylor Swift's Lover album.

TME widened its revenue by 31 percent to USD910 million from a year ago, the Shenzhen-based music streaming company said in its earnings report today. Its net profit climbed by 6.4 percent to USD144 million. 

TME rode on a wave of new releases, including the recorded sixth-anniversary concert of boy band TFBoys. Jay Chou's "Won't Cry," launched on Sept. 16, made over CNY20 million (USD2.9 million) for QQ Music, Kuwo, and Kugou during the first 24 hours, becoming TME's best-selling digital track ever. 

Over the quarter, revenue from music subscription services rose nearly by one-half to USD132 million. TME platforms' total number of paid subscribers advanced by over 42 percent to 35.4 million, hitting a historic high. 

Perhaps surprisingly, most of TME's money does not come from its basic on-demand music streaming. Instead, in the third quarter, revenue from TME's free karaoke app WeSing and other entertainment services, including live streaming, rose faster than that of on-demand music streaming services to make up more than 70 percent of the total.

Anticipating the results, the share price of TME [NYSE: TME] rose by 2.6 percent to USD14.40 yesterday. Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent Holdings [XHKG: 700], TME's parent, advanced by 2.1 percent to HKD329.80 (USD42.15) in the afternoon.

Editor: Emmi Laine