In recent years, there are fewer and fewer young people in KTVs. Meituan App consumption data confirms this trend. In the first half of 2021, the number of users in the 18-21-year age group in mass-traded KTV nationwide decreased by 13.4% year-on-year, and the consumption also decreased by 15.4% year-on-year. In sharp contrast to
, the elderly who are "rich and leisure" have become the main consumer group of KTVs. According to Meituan App data, in the first half of this year, the number of mass-traded KTV users in the 60-70-year-old age group nationwide grew by 29.6% compared with the same period in 2019, and the order volume growth rate was 24.1%. The elderly people in the 70-80 age group were even more enthusiastic about singing, and the year-on-year growth rate of mass-traded KTV orders and users was as high as about 100%.
From the most popular "top-the-scenes" entertainment project among young people to the sunset industry where only the elderly support, what has KTV experienced? The thirty years of
KTV: From being popular all over the country to being neglected
KTV has only been in more than 30 years since it rose to decline in China.
In the 1980s, young people sang "Kara forever OK", making karaoke the most fashionable way of socializing at that time. In 1988, the first karaoke hall in mainland China opened in Guangzhou, and the golden age of karaoke set sail. In 1995, mass-traded KTV Qiangui was opened to the mainland and became popular. More fashionable decoration, better audio equipment and better service captured the hearts of more young people. Massive KTV has developed rapidly since then and was very popular in that era of lack of entertainment activities.
However, as the post-70s and post-80s enter middle age, KTV has also begun to decline. In February 2020, the Beijing KTV King and more than 200 employees terminated their labor contracts and caused heated discussions, and everyone began to notice the recession of the KTV industry. The recently released "General Report on the Development of China's Music Industry" shows that as of March this year, there were only 64,000 domestic KTV companies, less than half of them seven years ago. As related topics become the hot search on Weibo , KTV "cold" has become an indisputable fact.
Success and failure are young people
As a trendy thing, the rise of KTV is inseparable from the strong support of young people. At that time, going to KTV was a "double-faced" entertainment activity. Whether it was a gathering of friends or a birthday, KTV was the first choice for young people. Even people who didn't like to sing would frequently go to KTV due to social activities. "How to make a name for themselves in KTV" is a topic that many young people are concerned about.
However, as the post-70s and post-80s no longer have the energy and time to sing, the 90s and 00s who have grown up have not joined the KTV army, and the consumption of KTVs among the post-60s has become more frequent.
According to relevant reports, among the KTV consumer groups, young people born in the 1990s often have higher consumption levels, accounting for 40% of the people who consume more than 500 yuan, but they do not belong to the high-frequency consumer group. Among the high-frequency consumers of KTV, nearly 70% are born in the 1960s. Unfortunately, this group has limited consumption, with only 9% of consumers above 500 yuan. Therefore, as the main force of entertainment consumption, the "exit" of young people can be said to be a "heavy hammer" to the KTV industry.
There are many emerging entertainment methods. KTV faces huge challenges
Why don’t young people go to KTV? From the speeches of netizens, we found that keywords such as "no songs to sing", "embarrassing", and "low sense of participation" appear very frequently.
KTV is a collective entertainment method, but today, with such developed social networks, young people no longer need to socialize through KTV. They can contact anytime, anywhere, and what they need is more personalized, more involved, and more experienced entertainment activities.
If you don’t go to KTV, young people have found new ways of entertainment, and secret rooms and scripts have become their new favorites. Here, everyone has a sense of participation, and the stimulating experience has become a social conversation spot for young people. According to Meituan App consumption data, in the first half of 2021, compared with the decline in consumption of mass-market KTVs, the number of orders and number of users sold in secret rooms and scripts nationwide showed a steady growth trend.
Smartphones have greatly enriched the entertainment life of young people, and the emergence of online karaoke software is a strong rival of traditional mass-traded KTVs. After all, people’s singing needs have not disappeared. Online karaoke software can make people sing a song at home, and offline KTV is not only expensive, but also more troublesome.
At the same time, for people who don’t like to sing, going to KTV is a torture, and for people who love to sing, singing in KTV is not fun, and it is very common for everyone to lower their heads to play with their mobile phones. At present, on different vertical tracks, offline entertainment activities are becoming more and more abundant. Young people who want to drink can go to bars, friends can go to board games with stronger sense of participation, and cinemas are a good place for couples to date. In contrast, KTV is naturally neglected by young people.
In addition, rent and music copyright fees also put KTV under tremendous pressure. With the increasing rent of shops and the comprehensive standardization of copyright fees, the cost expenditure of the KTV industry, which covers a large area and has a large demand for music libraries, continues to rise, which is something that the elderly karaoke group with their own wine cannot cover.
song sings "Don't mention the past again", and the golden age of KTV seems to be gone forever in reality. As entertainment consumption options continue to increase, how to retain the hearts of young people is a question that the KTV industry needs to think carefully. Will you still go to KTV?
