Nowadays, online concerts can be watched for free, and there is no need to activate VIP members. Some music fans who are used to recharge and consumption also have a question while being excited: Will online concerts always be free in the future? Lu Shiwei, a well-known music critic, said, "As long as the broadcasting platform can find the sponsor to pay, it should not be a big problem for free." In fact, whether it is an online concert or an offline concert, only by monetizing traffic can the platform survive. After more than two years of exploration, online concerts have gradually moved from low-end manufacturing to high-end production, and from completely free to diversified profit model.
However, the online concert was not like this at the beginning, and it made more money.
On the Chinese Valentine's Day in 2014, Wang Feng held a "Peak Blast" concert at the Bird's Nest, and at the same time, it started the online live broadcast mode and was the first to perform on the domestic trial line. According to statistics, the live broadcast of this concert attracted more than 75,000 online paid viewings, with a revenue of more than 2 million yuan.
On December 30, 2016, the Faye Wong "Fantasy Music" concert was held, and it was hard to find a ticket, but the concert was broadcast online on the video platform, with 21.49 million people synchronized and watched the concert for free, with a total cumulative total playback volume of 350 million. At the same time, 88,000 people spent 30 yuan to watch VR (virtual reality) paid live broadcasts, with revenue exceeding 2.6 million yuan.
In November 2019, the Chinese style music concert of the popular drama " Untamed " showed strong money-making ability online. The audience paid 30-50 yuan to watch the online live broadcast, and the total number of people in the live broadcast room was as high as more than 3 million, and it is estimated that the total revenue easily exceeded 100 million.
According to incomplete statistics, from 2017 to 2019, the number of viewers of online live concerts was maintained by TFBOYS, with 118 million, 125 million and 156 million respectively. However, there is no need to pay to watch these three live broadcasts.
The strength of the "fan economy" certainly makes people see the business opportunities. On August 22, 2020, the TFBOYS "Sunlight Travel" 7th anniversary concert launched by NetEase Cloud exceeded one million tickets, of which the lowest ticket price was 30 yuan and the highest was 860 yuan. At the same time, the peak number of online users was 786,000. Even if calculated at the lowest ticket price, the organizer still had ticket revenue of more than 30 million yuan.
In June 2020, the Rocket Girls 101 disbanding concert started live ticket sales, with a member price of 18 yuan and a non-member 40 yuan. In March 2021, the ticket price for the first online concert of the girl group THE9 was set at three levels: 139 yuan, 399 yuan and 999 yuan. The online concert of JJ Lin "Sanctuary FINALE" held in July 2021, with the four levels of 188 yuan, 238 yuan, 338 yuan and 938 yuan respectively, which caused controversy on the Internet about "high ticket prices" and "cutting leeks", and even fans said they "can't stand it".
However, the online concert, which was lively with the "fan economy" as the selling point, gradually disappeared with the rectification of fan circle culture in the second half of 2021, and free gradually became the mainstream.
In addition to tickets, the current monetization methods for online concerts mainly include advertising and selling products. For example, in the online concert of Cui Jian , a car brand gained a total of 90 million users while the logo was exposed, completing nearly 10 million exposures. The brand then exclusively named the online concert of Luo Dayou .
Douyin was held in August. Singer Liang Jingru , Zhoushen , Wang Sulong , and Wang Sulong sang one after another, which was also exclusively sponsored by a certain makeup brand. Tencent WeChat’s video account has harvested a lot of traffic through concerts such as Xicheng Boy, Mayday, , Leslie Cheung, and .
Jay Chou’s concert was launched by Tencent Music Entertainment Group , and Tencent Music also happens to be the copyright holder of Jay Chou’s online music playback. A drink endorsed by Jay Chou also shows a strong sense of existence as the sponsor.
"The platform monetizes the copyright it owns and lets the sponsor pay, and for the sponsor, this is a good opportunity for product promotion." In the view of music critic Liang Xiaohui, with the binding of a large platform, the audience naturally does not need to pay any more.
Although many singers have turned off the "gift" rewards during live broadcasts, some singers have accepted this model. In Luo Dayou's video account live broadcast room, barrage of fans giving him virtual gifts from time to time, and these gifts must be obtained by purchasing WeChat beans. Jay Chou’s online concert has opened up the traditional ability to sell peripheral products, and the online mall has everything from pillows, classic albums to newly launched limited-edition figures.
In addition, the online concert also effectively increased the number of playbacks of related online music. According to relevant data, after the online concert of Rene Liu, the overall playback of the songs on the same platform increased by 48.7% compared with the previous one; the second day of the online concert of Mayday, the overall playback of the songs increased by 167%, among which the number of playbacks of the song " Suddenly Miss You " increased by 275%. The popularity of Jay Chou's online concert even affected the trend of Tencent Music in the US stock .
"For example, in an era when physical records (tapes, CDs) are still very popular, no matter how famous singers are, when releasing new albums, playing songs and promoting fans, the radio and television stations that are promoted do not have to pay for them." Lu Shiwei said that judging from the current online singer status, almost all the traffic guarantees are guaranteed, and the broadcasting platform is strong enough, so it is not difficult to find sponsorship (name) providers. Under this premise, "free" may become the norm for a long time, which is definitely a benefit for fans.
On the other hand, Xiaohong, who has been in charge of publicity and planning in many popular variety shows in China, also told Upstream News reporters that this is somewhat similar to whether a popular variety show will continue to be filmed. "If the program has become popular and becomes a mature IP with traffic, then it will not worry about not being able to find sponsorship. With sponsorship, there is all the shooting funds and money earned, and it is not a problem to continue watching for free."
According to the " Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet ", as of December 2021, the number of users of live concerts in my country was 142 million, accounting for 13.8% of the total netizens. Faced with such a huge user base, various video platforms also hope to take advantage of this trend to create more popular products that are "out of the circle".
It is reported that the online concert investment plan of Video Account has been scheduled to the end of the year, and more superstars are expected to start singing in the future.
Upstream News Reporter Tang Hao
