(Yicai Global) May 14 -- Tencent Music Entertainment Group's profit gained 17.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier thanks to a strong showing from its social entertainment services such as WeSing.

Net profit came in at USD147 million on a 39.4 percent jump in revenue to USD855 million in the three months ended March 31, the Shenzhen-based unit of internet giant Tencent Holdings said in an earnings reports published today.

Income from TME's core online music business rose 28 percent to CNY1.6 billion (USD232.5 million), while that from social entertainment services surged 44.3 percent to CNY4.1 billion.

The company's online music services had 654 million monthly active users and 28.4 million paid users, who each shelled out an average CNY8.30 (USD1.20) a month. Its social entertainment services gathered 225 million monthly active users and 10.8 million paid users, with each person paying an average CNY127.50 a month.

WeSing is TME's main social entertainment service provider and has similar functions to Spotify, the world's leading streaming music service platform. It also allows users to share their musical creations with friends, rate them and compete with each other.

The online music user base expanded in the past few quarters, and more and more people are spending money on music-streaming services, Chief Executive Peng Jiaxin said in the firm's 2018 earnings report, adding that the company is adapting to the trend and will transform into a paid streaming service provider over the coming years.

TME and Spotify formed an equity partnership through cross-shareholding at the end of 2017. Spotify was TME's third-largest shareholder, with a 8.6 percent stake at the end of March, today's earnings report showed.

Editor: Dou Shicong