On 8 August 2000, HIM International Music held a “Universal 2000 Talent and Beauty Girl Contest” in search of new artists to be signed onto their label. The staff of the TV show “Cruel Stage” encouraged Tien to participate in this televised competition. The contest had about 1,000 contestants, and after several rounds of competition, seven contestants remained for the final round. In the first round, Tien’s voice began to crack while singing “Return Home”. As a result, she decided to sing in a lower key in the final round, choosing Singaporean singer Kit Chan’s “Loving You”. However, because she was unfamiliar with the song, about ten seconds of the final lyrics went unsung. Following the competition, the Taiwanese record company gave all seven contestants an audition. The show’s manager appreciated her straightforward personality and powerful vocals. As a result, Tien was invited to become a member of S.H.E, with Selina Jen任家萱 and Ella Chen陳嘉樺, and was signed under the Taiwanese record label HIM International Music.

Following a very successful career with S.H.E, Tien debuted as a solo music artist in 2010 to similar success and critical acclaim for her music albums. In May 2011, Tien’s album was nominated for four awards in the 22nd Golden Melody Awards. Also, was selected as the Top Ten Albums by the Association of Music Workers in Taiwan and her song was chosen as the Top Ten Singles.

In September 2011, Tien launched her second album . On 17 October 2012, this album’s song reached 10 million views on YouTube, making Tien the first Chinese female singer whose music video scored 10 million views. On 21 January 2013, from her first album also reached 10 million views on YouTube, making Tien the first Chinese singer who have 2 music videos with more than 10 million views. In May 2012, received a total of seven nominations in the 23rd Golden Melody Awards and it was also the album with most nominations for that Golden Melody Awards.

On 13 November 2013, Tien launched her third album . The album’s title song reached one million views on YouTube within four days and the album sold 40,000 copies in Taiwan within a week. Tien became the female singer with the highest selling album for that year. In May 2014, her album was nominated for two awards in the 25th Golden Melody Awards. In the same year, Tien was awarded as the Best Taiwanese Singer in the MTV Europe Music Awards.

In 2014, Tien embarked on her world tour If World Tour, which it spanned 1002 days, comprising 38 concerts in 24 cities around the world. On 6 December 2014, Tien began her first concert for in Taipei Arena. Tickets for both concerts in Taipei were sold within 10 minutes. It ended with 2 concerts in the If Plus Taiwanese leg in Kaohsiung on 3–4 September 2017.

In early 2015, Tien’s songs in three albums received more than 10 million views on YouTube. In July 2015, she sang for a Taiwanese film Our Times. In September 2015, she sang a movie soundtrack for another film . In the same year, and from her third album received more than 10 million views.

On 13 July 2016, Tien launched her fourth album Day By Day. On 20 August 2016, Tien’s song “A Little Happiness” reached 100 million views on YouTube, making her the first Chinese-language singer with more than 100 million views. Tien is also the second Asian female singer with 100 million views.

In February 2017, Tien performed the Chinese theme song for the film Beauty and the Beast with Chinese singer Jing Boran. In May 2017, her album Day By Day was nominated for two awards at the 28th Golden Melody Awards.

In September 2018, Tien officially left HIM International Music after 17 years and founded her own management company, A Tune Music (樂来樂好).

In April 2019, Tien signed a recording deal with Pourquoi Pas Music (PQPMusic; 何樂音樂) and announced that her fifth studio album and second concert world tour is in preparation.