Shaking the market

In stark contrast, the traditional karaoke market has been looking bleak in the last few years. Party World KTV, which used to be the champion in this sector, closed three of its four stores in Beijing in early 2015. In the same year, Wanda Group announced the shutdown of its entire KTV parlor business.

Li Jiachao, a culture industry analyst, attributed the decline of KTV clubs to rising rent and labor costs as well as more diversified entertainment options brought by the Internet.

“KTV businesses are severely undermined by the Internet. For one thing, some consumers choose mobile phone karaoke apps over physical KTV clubs. For another, new Internet-based sales promotion methods such as group buying intensify competition. To attract consumers and survive, KTV clubs have had to constantly cut down their prices