Tencent Holdings Ltd. was ordered to give up exclusive music streaming rights and pay half a million yuan (¥8.5 million) in fines, becoming the latest Chinese internet giant to be brought to heel by regulators.
An official investigation found Tencent’s 2016 acquisition of China Music Corp.’s stakes violated regulations partly because of a lack of reporting to authorities, according to a statement by the anti-trust watchdog on Saturday. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) required Tencent and its affiliates to waive exclusive music rights within 30 days and handed down a fine of 500,000 yuan ($77,145).
That deal had helped create Tencent Music Entertainment Group, which was formed after the merger of QQ Music and China Music Corp.