App Reviews • By Zoe Stephens •
QQ Music Review (2022) 🎼 Where To Find The Best Chinese Songs
QQ Music Review – how does it rank vs Spotify? Can I learn Chinese with QQ Music? All your questions, answered.
Learning Chinese through listening to Chinese songs is one of the best ways to learn Chinese like a native.
It may not be so popular in the West, but there is a whole bunch of Chinese music out there that you’re missing out on.
Some of it may just be useful for Chinese language practice… But some of it is actually decent music too!
QQ Music Review – Getting Started
QQ Music Review – Costs
QQ Music Review – Using QQ
QQ Music Review – What’s Available
QQ Music Review – Software
QQ Music Review – Using QQ to Learn Chinese
QQ Music Review – Conclusion
QQ Music Review – ONE LAST BONUS
QQ Music Review: Getting Started

QQ music is available on any Chinese app store.
If you have previously downloaded Chinese Apps such as iQiyi, you will already have a Chinese app store.
If not, you can get Chinese app stores in the Play Store for Android, or alternatively you can change your location to China on the App Store for Apple and download it, then change it back to your original location.
Unlike different Chinese apps such as iQiyi, you won’t need a VPN to use this app.
You can freely use the app for streaming and downloading.
Although, it may be a bit quicker in China in our experience.
It should also be noted that some music won’t be available in your country.
This only happens every so often, and if it does, you will need a Chinese VPN to listen to this particular song/artist.
QQ Music Review: The Costs
When challenging QQ Music vs Spotify, QQ Music wins hand-down in terms of cost.
There are two different packages you can purchase on QQ Music.
The cheapest package allows you to listen to 100,000 songs from the VIP area and download 300 songs per month.
The costs are as follows;
- Monthly: 8 CNY
- 3 Month Package: 24 CNY
- Year (12 months) package: 88 CNY

The other package is the “luxurious” package.
This is more costly but doesn’t include any of the aforementioned restrictions, and offers “privileges”.
The costs are as follows;
- Monthly: 18 CNY
- 3 Month Package: 45 CNY
- Year (12 month) package: 168 CNY

Even if you go for QQ Music’s most costly package and pay the least cost-effective way (per month), you are still saving a huge amount.
In fact, Spotify costs $9.99 per month.
That’s about 70 CNY.
In comparison, at its most expensive, QQ Music costs approximately $2.50 per month, and at its cheapest, QQ Music costs a mere $1 per month.
This means that a year of QQ Music is almost equal to one month of Spotify.
Which do you prefer, QQ Music or Spotify? Leave us a comment below please.
How do I make payment to QQ Music?
You will have to have a Chinese bank account or access to WeChat pay to set up your payments on QQ Music.
If you have WeChat, you can choose to pay monthly and pay every month.
Otherwise, you can choose the option to pay for the year and it is set up then. You won’t get billed automatically, but rather will get prompted to top up your payment.
No sneaky subscriptions.
Nice!
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QQ Music’s handy features helping you discover new music will also help in exploring Chinese songs and Chinese culture through music, and really boost your Chinese language learning too!
Search
You can search here for a song or band name you know. If it’s a Chinese band or song, you should use Chinese characters to search – but you can also use Pinyin sometimes.
You can use the search feature to find different artists and songs popular in different countries and different genres, as well as finding the most recent popular Chinese songs in that category.
Download
When you are playing a song, you have the option to download it.
9/10 times it’s free and included with your package, but sometimes if the song is particularly new, you will need to pay for this. It may be 10 cents or so.
You will have the option to choose in which quality you wish to download it.
There may also be a music video included with the song that you can choose to download or not.
You should keep the app open whilst downloading.
Recommendation
Much like Spotify’s Discover Weekly, QQ Music gives you a Discover Daily. Spotify – such slackers!
This playlist updates daily and is based on your recent music listening. However, Spotify does offer different Daily Mixes, which QQ Music does not offer you.
Explore
QQ Music allows you to browse different playlists according to mood or genre, as well as browsing different artists popular in different countries and popular in different genres.
Share
If you wish to share a song to a friend on QQ Music you can simply click on the share button and there are various options for you to share the song. (Chinese app platforms only).
Lyrics
Probably the best feature of QQ Music that Spotify is really missing out on – and especially useful for the Chinese language learners – this feature allows you to follow the lyrics to a song as it is playing.
Pretty much every Chinese song on QQ Music will have lyrics attached.
You simply click onto the song you’re listening to enlarge the screen, then swipe once to the left. You will then see the lyrics appear.
You can use this feature to help you understand Chinese song lyrics, learn Chinese songs for a night out in KTV, and learn some new Chinese characters!
Not only is this great Chinese language practice, but you can also change the characters to appear in traditional characters.
This is a great way to get used to reading traditional and simplified characters.
This feature not only works for Chinese music but also Korean, Japanese, Russian…
It should be noted that the lyrics for more obscure songs are provided by the public and may have mistakes in them. You can report a mistake or contribute lyrics to a song yourself.
Karaoke
As well as just singing out-loud to no audience whilst you read along with the lyrics, you also have the option to open up the karaoke feature.
This opens up in a new karaoke app that combines the music from QQ Music, as well as your profile, so you can record your karaoke songs and upload them to your own personal profile.
People can then follow you here and listen to your new uploads!
Listen Together
There is a “listen together” feature “一起听” that allows you to listen to music with other users of the app, and make comments or chat whilst you do so.
PK (Battle)
The Chinese love a good “PK”, i.e. competition/battle.
On QQ Music you can battle another user to be the best singer.Get your Karaoke on!
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Mainly Chinese songs.
In fact, this may be the biggest collection of Chinese songs out there.
If listening to Chinese songs is what you’re after, then QQ Music beats Spotify hands down.
Spotify offers a small selection of Chinese songs, especially more traditional ones and those popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but if it’s mainland Chinese music you’re after, QQ Music is the place to go.
As well as Chinese songs, you’ll be pleased to know that QQ Music offers a surprising amount of foreign music too.
In fact, the collection of Korean music here is almost as good as Chinese music. There’s also a wide range of Japanese music.
Aside from K-Pop, J-Pop, and C-Pop, there are also the latest western releases.
QQ Music Review: Software

As I have found with most Chinese App software vs Apps found on more popular app stores, QQ Music’s interface is more user-friendly, and most importantly, much more speedy.
It loads up quickly, especially offline.
Since all of your downloaded songs are stored in your phone instead of how it seems on Spotify in some kind of Spotify cloud storage, you can listen to your downloaded songs by opening up your downloads in your phone and clicking on them here.
They will then open up in QQ Music.
You can’t listen to these songs on any other music platform, and if you wish to share them the person you are sharing to should also have QQ Music.
There are adverts when you first open it up even if you have VIP membership, but you can skip these with the membership.
Apart from this, the software is very easy to use (if you read Chinese) and has many features that Spotify or many other music apps are missing.
QQ Music Review: Using QQ Music for Learning Chinese
Switching your phone to Chinese and surrounding yourself in Chinese characters you simply have to learn is a great way of learning Chinese.
This is a useful way you can use QQ Music to learn Chinese too, but this is only just the start of the many ways you can use QQ Music to learn Chinese.
Even if you’re not much of a music fan, learning Chinese through Chinese songs is a top way of learning Chinese.
Not only will you learn many different phrases and vocabulary you may not learn in the classroom, but it’s also a fun way of learning! Plus, you will be surprised how much it helps you learn Chinese culture, as well as just the language.
The absolute best feature of QQ Music to assist your Chinese learning through Chinese songs is the karaoke/lyrics feature.
If QQ isn’t an option, you can always make your own Karaoke with our SpongeBob and Peppa Pig theme tune videos including the lyrics!
You can listen to Chinese music and follow the lyrics whilst reading the Chinese characters.
This means you can get used to reading the Chinese characters, or help with recognising them. This is perfect for those just starting to learn Chinese or any level between HSK1 – 3.
If you feel like this isn’t challenging enough already, switch those characters to traditional Chinese characters and see how well you do! HSK 4 – 5 levels will find this feature interesting.
If this isn’t challenging enough already, you can listen to a song in a different language (that you don’t know) and turn on the Chinese translation feature, and try to understand the lyrics of that language from the Chinese translation as the music is playing…!
HSK 6ers, we’re speaking to you!
If you haven’t started using this already, use it now!
QQ Music vs Spotify: Conclusion
- QQ Music vs Spotify – Cost: QQ Music
- QQ Music vs Spotify – Usage: QQ Music
- QQ Music vs Spotify – Availability: Foreign Music – Spotify / Chinese Music – QQ Music
- QQ Music vs Spotify – Software: QQ Music
- QQ Music vs Spotify – Learn Chinese: QQ Music
This may seem quite drastic, but once you lay everything out – QQ Music is a clear winner. But, it may not be for everyone.

And certainly not for those not interested in China and without any knowledge in Chinese or Chinese characters…
Depending on what you’re looking for in a music app, you may find that Spotify and QQ Music are beneficial in different ways.
If the somewhat limited selection of foreign music isn’t enough for you, then Spotify is certainly the way to go.
However, if you’re just after listening to Chinese music, Spotify certainly won’t satisfy your craving, so you’ll need QQ Music.
The best is to combine the two, as they both offer different things. QQ Music is certainly cheaper, and it’s almost worth just getting it anyway since it is so cheap.
What’s certain, though, is that QQ Music is an absolute must for learning Chinese like a native and getting an edge on everyone else.
QQ Music – ONE LAST BONUS
We’ve got a surprise for you here!
You probably didn’t know that we are indeed on Spotify.
Yes, we really do have great belief listening to music is a great way to learn a language!
So, just for you, here are 12 of the best songs of all time in China. Ones of which you will benefit greatly from learning!
QQ Music – FAQ’s
What is QQ Music?
QQ Music is China’s version of Spotify in a nutshell.
How much does QQ Music cost?
Monthly: 8 CNY
3 Month Package: 24 CNY
Year (12 months) package: 88 CNY
Do I need a VPN to use QQ Music?
Unlike different Chinese apps such as iQiyi, you won’t need a VPN to use this app.
Do I need a Chinese App Store to download QQ Music?
Yes.
You can get Chinese app stores in the Play Store for Android, or alternatively you can change your location to China on the App Store for Apple and download it, then change it back to your original location.
What type of music is on QQ Music?
Mainly Chinese songs.
In fact, this may be the biggest collection of Chinese songs out there.If listening to Chinese songs is what you’re after, then QQ Music beats Spotify hands down.
There is also extensive Korean, Japanese and also Russian catalogues.
Is there any Western Music on QQ Music?
There are the latest western releases, yes, but the catalogue is nowhere near as extensive as Spotify in this instance.
Should I download QQ Music?
If you like Chinese/Korean or Japanese music this is well worth a download given the pricing being so cheap.
If you wish to listen to western music, Spotify is a better option.
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14 comments
Leave a Reply
Been wondering about QQ for a while, reading this I think I will take the plunge and see what it’s like.
Thanks LTL
Great to hear Martin, no harm in trying it out.
Any questions let us know.
LTL
Love QQ – best way to learn is with music!
Oh yes – we love to hear this. I guess you know all these already but in case not:
Best Chinese Songs – https://ltl-xian.com/chinese-songs/
Also a BONUS
If you like Rock Music… https://ltl-school.com/chinese-rock-music/
Sweet!! Thanks for sharing
没问题 Omar
You need good Chinese but once you understand its good
Thanks for the comment Ryan 🙂
[…] QQ Music vs Spotify […]
Spotify has both, QQ only Chinese. Spotify WINS and I won’t be told otherwise
👌
umm its tough to buy songs there. Having a chinese bank account just because you want to buy some songs is very inconvenient. The app is available on Playstore so it must be connected to G-pay for in-app purchases like any other app or atleast allow usage of international cards. I don’t really understand the need for us to use wechat/qq pay for making payment. Very impractical. So many fans fail to support their fave artists because of this.
I’m sure this feature will follow in the future, valid point.
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FAQs
Is QQ Music bigger than Spotify? ›
Thanks to Tencent's size, QQ Music also has a colossal user base: 400 million monthly active users, compared to Spotify's 100 million.
What is the most popular music streaming service in China? ›QQ Music. QQ Music is the Chinese leading music streaming service owned by Tencent Music Entertainment Group.
Is Spotify blocked in China? ›Globally popular streaming services like Spotify are banned in mainland China. The NCAC said that while copyright practices had improved since 2015, when the authority banned unlicensed music streaming and ordered platforms to remove millions of songs, the industry still needed to be further standardized.
What music streaming does China use? ›Tencent and NetEase are the two largest music streamers in China, representing over 93% of the market share in 2020. But Cloud Village only accounted for 21%, far behind Tencent Music's 73%, according to Cloud Village's 2021 IPO prospectus. Tencent operates three music platforms: QQ Music, Kugou Music, and Kuwo Music.
Is Spotify big in China? ›...
Tencent is winning.
Music Service | Price per month |
---|---|
Kugou Music/QQ Music/Kuwo Music/NetEase Cloud Music | US$2.17 |
Xiami Music | US$1.73 |
Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal/YouTube Music | US$9.99 |
Yes. Unfortunately, Spotify is currently blocked in China. Due to China's strict Internet censorship and their nearly-impermeable Great Firewall, users will not be able to use Spotify free in China.
What Chinese use instead of Spotify? ›QQ Music (Chinese: QQ音乐) is one of the three Chinese freemium music streaming services owned by Tencent Music, a joint venture between Tencent and Spotify. As of 2018, the service is set to reach over 700 million users with an estimated 120 million subscribers.
Does Spotify play Chinese songs? ›I can vouch that Spotify has a lot of Chinese content on it, even pretty old Chinese/Taiwanese pop music from early 2000s.
How big is Chinese music market? ›Record Industry in China
At the same time, the gross revenues remain very low, as the retail value of the Chinese market is about 3,3% of the U.S. record industry with its $8,7 billion in music sales.
Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Tencent Holdings owns 16.6 million shares of Spotify, representing 8.7% of total shares outstanding, according to Spotify's annual report for the period ending Dec. 31, 2021.
What app do Chinese people use? ›
Wechat and Weibo are the social media giants most used in China. Each has more than a half-billion active users.
Where is Spotify banned? ›Spotify removed content from Kremlin-backed outlets RT and Sputnik and closed its office in Russia earlier in March, but this new step goes further by shutting down the streaming service in the country. The company also said in March that its paid subscription service would no longer be available in Russia.
What is the biggest music platform in China? ›Globally, Tencent is one of the biggest music streaming providers. The Chinese tech behemoth owns the largest music company in the country – Tencent Music Entertainment (TME).
How do Chinese people listen to music? ›Tencent, NetEase, and Baidu are the top names to watch in China's streaming music market. Pandora and Spotify are the most popular streaming music services in America, but neither company has a meaningful presence in China's market of over 650 million streaming music users.
How do you use QQ Music outside of China? ›You can make this a reality by using a VPN app on your device and unlocking QQ Music whether you are in the United States, Canada, and Singapore. All you have to do is install a VPN app, connect to China, and use QQ Music with no restrictions.
What is the biggest music market in the world? ›The United States Of America
America, unsurprisingly, has the biggest music industry in the world. The country often considered the epicentre of media and dramatics has a music industry that is ever-growing and showing a regular year-on-year increase.
Spotify is pulling out of Russia entirely because recent laws restricting news operations could put the streamer's employees and listeners at risk, the company said on Friday. Spotify is best known as a music streamer, but it also hosts and distributes a range of podcasts with political content.
Does Apple Music have Chinese music? ›More Chinese songs will be available on Apple Music as Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) announced a partnership with the iPhone maker. Record labels and artists who are part of TME Music Cloud can distribute their songs via Apple Music.
What sites are blocked in China? ›- BBC.
- CNN.
- Facebook (and Messenger)
- Gmail.
- Google Apps (e.g. Calendar, Docs, Hangouts, Maps, etc)
- Hootsuite.
- Instagram.
- OneDrive.
Spotify launches in Japan with premium service for $9.70 per month.
Is Youtube available in China? ›
Yes, Youtube is blocked in China. Attempting to load the Youtube app or website while in mainland China will return an error. Youtube videos embedded on other sites will not load. Likewise, Youtube's paid content and Youtube TV are also blocked.
Is melon like Spotify? ›In addition, Melon offers a wider range of features than Spotify, such as karaoke and lyrics viewing, which are popular among South Korean users. As a result, it is unlikely that Spotify will be able to overtake Melon in the South Korean market any time soon.
What is the most popular music platform in Japan? ›Most popular on-demand music streaming services Japan 2020. According to an online survey conducted in October 2020 among users of subscription music streaming services, the most used service was Amazon Prime Music with 569 respondents. Amazon Prime Music was followed by Spotify and Apple Music.
Is NetEase cloud music free? ›Latest version. NetEase Cloud Music is an app to stream music and download songs to your device's memory. The best thing about it is that it lets you do this with thousands of songs, all completely free.
Which app can listen Chinese songs? ›Xiami Music (iPhone and Android)
Xiami Music is one of the most popular Chinese music apps in mainland China. Luckily, it's available for iPhone and Android users for free! Think of it as a Chinese Spotify. Enjoy millions of songs, an album store, high-quality audio and billions of playlists made by Xiami users.
- Purchase a VPN service of your choice.
- Connect to a Chinese server.
- Head over to the Chinese Play Store and download the. ...
- Download the QQ app onto your Android device.
- Create an account on QQ, if you already don't have one!
- Log in and start streaming your favorite music.
It's been a long wait, but Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service, finally landed in Hong Kong last month. The music service which lets subscribers stream music for free already has 24 million users around the world - six million of whom are now paying customers. So how does the service work?
Which country has best music in Asia? ›- Kazakhstan.
- Brunei Darussalam.
- Bangladesh.
- Syria.
- Uzbekistan.
- Kuwait.
- Mongolia.
- Bhutan.
Chinese Music Industry
Chinese music market values licensed music, as 96% of Chinese consumers listen to licensed music and 89% of them listen to licensed audio streaming. Message apps are the main ways for Chinese consumers to share their favorite songs (65% using WeChat, 64% using QQ and 62% using Weibo).
Chinese orchestras initially focused on indigenous folk music, but in the last twenty years, they have developed and performed new works; and their four sections—bowed-strings, plucked-strings, wind, and percussion—have been augmented with new instruments with lower pitch ranges to balance the high pitches of the more ...
What does China use instead of Spotify? ›
QQ Music (Chinese: QQ音乐) is one of the three Chinese freemium music streaming services owned by Tencent Music, a joint venture between Tencent and Spotify. As of 2018, the service is set to reach over 700 million users with an estimated 120 million subscribers.
Does Spotify play Chinese songs? ›I can vouch that Spotify has a lot of Chinese content on it, even pretty old Chinese/Taiwanese pop music from early 2000s.
How do you use QQ Music outside of China? ›You can make this a reality by using a VPN app on your device and unlocking QQ Music whether you are in the United States, Canada, and Singapore. All you have to do is install a VPN app, connect to China, and use QQ Music with no restrictions.
How can I use Spotify in China? ›Spotify is not currently available in China, however a premium subscription lets you travel and use Spotify abroad in any country while you are traveling. The only requirement is that you have a payment method from your home country on your account and actively paying for the subscription monthly.
Does China have its own Spotify? ›Spotify, as you know, was founded in 2006 in Sweden. It was founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. In the same year, the first Spotify office was opened in Stockholm. To date, the company has managed to attract many large investors, among which, as far as is known, there are no Chinese ones.
Which app can listen Chinese songs? ›Xiami Music (iPhone and Android)
Xiami Music is one of the most popular Chinese music apps in mainland China. Luckily, it's available for iPhone and Android users for free! Think of it as a Chinese Spotify. Enjoy millions of songs, an album store, high-quality audio and billions of playlists made by Xiami users.
- Purchase a VPN service of your choice.
- Connect to a Chinese server.
- Head over to the Chinese Play Store and download the. ...
- Download the QQ app onto your Android device.
- Create an account on QQ, if you already don't have one!
- Log in and start streaming your favorite music.
It's been a long wait, but Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service, finally landed in Hong Kong last month. The music service which lets subscribers stream music for free already has 24 million users around the world - six million of whom are now paying customers. So how does the service work?
In which country QQ is available? ›Tencent QQ was first released in China in February 1999 under the name of OICQ ("Open ICQ", a reference to the early IM service ICQ). After the threat of a trademark infringement lawsuit by the AOL-owned ICQ, the product's name was changed to QQ (with "Q" and "QQ" used to imply "cute").
How do I buy QQ Music? ›QQ music is available on any Chinese app store.
If not, you can get Chinese app stores in the Play Store for Android, or alternatively you can change your location to China on the App Store for Apple and download it, then change it back to your original location.
How do I transfer my QQ Music to my new Iphone? ›
It takes just a few clicks! Start by selecting QQ Music (QQ 音乐) as a source music platform and then, select the next destination — Apple Music streaming service. Once you pick your playlists and albums for the migration process, FYM will transfer them in a few minutes or less.
Is Apple Music blocked in China? ›Older services, such as the App Store, Apple Pay, and Apple Music are available in China. So is iCloud, but, unlike in other countries, it is operated by a local provider backed by the government, giving authorities greater access to Chinese user data.
Is Apple Music in China? ›Apple has officially launched its streaming music service in China. The company announced Wednesday that Apple Music will cost 10 RMB per month, or only $1.50 US, but not before users exhaust a…
Is Youtube available in China? ›Yes, Youtube is blocked in China. Attempting to load the Youtube app or website while in mainland China will return an error. Youtube videos embedded on other sites will not load. Likewise, Youtube's paid content and Youtube TV are also blocked.