Online subscriptions are music to publishers’ ears
The number of Chinese online music users hit 576 million as of December 2018, accounting for 69.5 percent of the country’s online population, according to a report on China’s internet development.
Close to 553 million people played online music through mobile phones, up 8 percent from the previous year, said the report released by the China Internet Network Information Center.
China’s online music market has made headway in promoting the legal use of music, with copyright cooperation between domestic platforms, such as NetEase Cloud Music and Tencent Music, the report noted.
Citing the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the report said 96 percent of Chinese music consumers listened to licensed music, far higher than the global average of 62 percent.
As a new form in which online music can be presented, short videos are gaining increasing attention from China’s major music platforms. 2018 became the scene of rapid infiltration of online apps and marked growth of short video users.
By December 2018, 648 million Chinese had watched short online videos in the past six months, the report said.
With a growing number of users paying for online services, dotcoms are embracing enormous opportunities.
Tencent Music Entertainment landed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2018. Its prospectus showed that its music platform is home to more than 20 million songs from over 200 Chinese and international artists and has more than 800 million active users.
On another major platform, NetEase Cloud Music, the user base had topped 600 million by November 2018. The sales of the digital album launched by Singer Mao Buyi on the platform surpassed 10 million last year.
“The online music sector has entered the era of paid entertainment and more users are willing to pay for high-quality work,” Zhu Yiwen, CEO of NetEase Cloud Music, told Chinese media.
Chen Shaofeng, a professor from Peking University, said that for platforms, the user number meant advertising revenue in the past but nowadays it means subscriptions.
“The major change shows that China’s internet culture has evolved from the traditional mode of free content and advertisements to the current one featuring paid content and advertisements,” Chen said.
The new mode signifies highquality works, reflects the value of creation and provides creators a motivation. After all, only those of top quality can become smash hits, he noted.
To attract more users, online platforms have increased their spending on copyrights, which in turn spurs soaring royalties.
At the same time, the platforms are accelerating efforts to cultivate musicians.
At NetEase Cloud Music, more than 70,000 musicians have uploaded more than 1.2 million musical works, according to Zhu.
The platform has rolled out a series of programs to support talented musicians. Of them, Mu Xiaoya was a bookstore designer who liked playing music as pastime. After she joined one of the programs focusing on original music and launched her song in May 2018, its view count has surpassed 700 million with 260,000 comments. Her fans registered on the platform topped 220,000.
“Original music is a key driver of the Chinese music sector’s sustained and healthy growth,” Zhu said. “We will expand our supportive programs to reach more beneficiaries.”
The Chinese music market remains on the rise. The revenue from the market surged 35.3 percent in 2017 from a year earlier. China ranks as one of the top growth markets worldwide, according to the Global Music Report 2018 released by the International Federation of Phonographic Industry in April.
Industrial research data show that the proportion of online paid music users grew nearly tenfold in 2013-17 and the percentage is forecast to rise to 28.7 percent in 2023.