TFBOYS's sky-high online concert can help the performance industry find a way to save itself in the post-epidemic era?
text | "Finance" intern Li Ying
edit | Yu Le
"Follow me in slow motion with my left hand and slow motion with my right hand and slow motion with my right hand..." At 7:30 p.m. on August 22, the seventh anniversary online concert of the boy group TFBOYS arrived as scheduled. The Empire Girls who bought tickets to "enter" (fans of the TFBOYS group) did not see the masterpiece "Youth Training Manual", but the scenes in the lyrics became reality. The highest ticket price of this online concert at
was 860 yuan, setting a record for paid online performances in China. , but the fans who have been waiting for months saw a recorded performance. Although viewers who purchased high-priced tickets can enjoy the VIP rights of "slow-motion replay" in various camera positions, this "concert" that completely lost its sense of live still disappointed many fans.
Under the influence of the epidemic, the performance industry fell into a full stagnation in the first half of the year, forcing performance companies to accelerate the layout of online business and further stimulated the public's demand for online entertainment. Most of the previous online performances were free, or priced at more than ten yuan or twenty yuan, while TFBOYS pushed the market to a new peak. Although the format of the recording was quite controversial, the performance was a huge commercial success. Half an hour after the concert of
, NetEase Cloud Music released a poster with more than one million tickets. According to official data, the highest number of people online at the concert reached 786,000 at the same time, breaking the world record for 750,000 paid online concerts set by South Korea's "BTS". Even if calculated at the lowest level of 30 yuan, the ticket revenue of TFBOYS's seventh anniversary online concert exceeded at least 30 million yuan.
online performance can become a new way out for the performance industry, and even eventually surpass offline performances? The 7th anniversary "Sunlight Travel" concert of the group of
three-level tickets, which is a combination of NetEase Cloud Music, the ticket will officially start on August 6. Although the previous statement about the charges for online concerts for the seventh anniversary have been circulating among fans, , when the three ticket prices of "30 yuan, 158 yuan, and 860 yuan" appeared in the ticketing link, most fans still couldn't help but complain, "Is this a robbery of money?" 
0 yuan is the minimum threshold. The Sunlight Travel Imagination Coupon worth 30 yuan has the viewing rights of "Blu-ray 1080p Live Broadcast", "Concert Replay", and the virtual rights of "Concert Avatar Pendant" and "7-Day Vinyl VIP". Li Yiting is Wang Yuan’s only fan (a fan of a member of the TFBOYS group). She struggled for several days to buy 30 yuan or 158 yuan, but in the end she chose the lowest level. "I personally don't understand the online charges. The 860 yuan ticket price surprised me because I only have the right to buy the tickets at the highest price. Only fans probably buy more than 158 yuan, but I think the ticket price is a little too high." After the
concert, Li 中文 中文 中文 中文 中文 中文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文 文
If fans want to watch a single-person direct shot, they need to purchase a second-level Sunlight Travel luxury coupon worth 158 yuan. The viewing rights of the luxury coupon include "Blu-ray 1080p live broadcast, all single-player cameras, and concert replay luxury version (including all single-player cameras)". The virtual rights have also been upgraded, including "concert avatar pendant, 14-day vinyl VIP and 177 notes (notes can be used to purchase gifts in the TFBOYS live broadcast room, 100 notes/1 yuan in the live broadcast room)".
Mei Ling is Wang Junkai's only fan. In order to see the single-person camera, she bought a mid-range ticket worth 158 yuan. But the final viewing experience is different from what she imagined. Although she can choose the camera position herself, the single-person camera position she calls cannot be enlarged, and most of the screen is still an ordinary broadcasting screen.On the right side of
is Wang Junkai single-cabinet
in the concert. The highest ticket price is 860 yuan. In addition to enjoying all rights in the first two levels, the time limit of vinyl VIP is extended to one year, and the number of musical notes is upgraded to 877. At the same time, the peripheral rights and privileges of limited gifts and theme blind boxes are enjoyed. After learning about the 860 yuan limited peripheral gift package, Li Mingyi couldn't resist the temptation and placed an order for 860 yuan. Before that, she bought a 158 yuan ticket. "Because our family only has this time a year to reunite (three people perform together), it is too humble and difficult as a fan of the group. As long as it can be reunite, I will definitely not miss it. 860 yuan is a bit expensive, but I have my own financial ability, so I bought it directly. I think it is worth it, this is my devotion to my idol."
"I spent 860 yuan to buy a lonely life." After the concert, Li Mingyi was a little lonely and was very dissatisfied with the recording. "But I don't regret it. After all, the three of them have a look, stage and their efforts this year are worth the price."
Two logics online and offline
ms compared to offline concerts that have existed for decades, online concerts are a new thing. Compared with the various visible costs and seat restrictions for offline concerts, the audience's expectations for ticket prices for online concerts are also very vague. TFBOYS's sky-high tickets have also aroused discussions on the pricing mechanism among all parties. "I think the pricing logic of TFBOYS this time is actually referenced from abroad. The ticket price of Japan and South Korea covering multiple cameras and VR and AR rights is about RMB 170, and the current 158 yuan may be the benchmark for this price." Fan Zhihui, head of the music industry vertical media "Music Preliminary", told the author.
In his opinion, the pricing of TFBOYS seventh anniversary online concert is more of an experimental nature. Of course, these prices did not come out of thin air, but were a bold attempt by the platform and company to weigh the cost and the market.
The person in charge of a performing arts company once revealed to the Beijing Morning Post that the pricing method of offline concerts is relatively clear. "The design ticket price of the performance company is very simple. 60% to 70% of the total box office is used to ensure the cost, 20% make money, and 10% give away tickets. The ticket price is calculated according to this formula." For offline concerts, approval, venue, security, appearance fees, etc. are all large cost expenses, and the sale of tickets and brand sponsorship are the two main sources of income. The revenue logic of
also makes sense online, but the cost is different. Reports on "Music Preliminary" show that the current costs of online concert production include venue fees, on-site equipment of "sound, photoelectricity," technical configuration, and staff's labor remuneration, but the security and publicity costs can be greatly reduced. After is transferred to the online market, as long as the technology allows, the number of viewers can theoretically be expanded infinitely, and the marginal cost can even be ignored. So overall, the cost of online performances is generally lower than that of offline performances.
is different from the pure offline performance fees. Online tickets include some virtual rights and peripheral gift packages. "For example, TFBOYS, its ticket price is in line with the peripheral rights, and the artist's peripheral products are not cheap. The 860 yuan ticket can be given limited gifts and NetEase Cloud membership rights. I calculated it and the price is actually good." From the perspective of practitioners, Fan Zhihui did not reject excessively high online ticket prices.
"The performance fees and venue costs of artists are all paid by the platform, so the platform has the right to convert the content into commercial rights and monetize it. Now it seems that the value of the platform is traffic and the other is members." The physical product
given by
860 yuan tickets is a reduction in costs, and on the other hand, an increase in revenue. Compared with offline performances, there is no limit on seats for online performances, and there is no upper limit on the number of tickets and revenue. Offline concerts can only accommodate tens of thousands of viewers at most, but after they are transferred to the online, the number of audiences at hundreds of thousands or even millions has made the market see more possibilities.
live samples of domestic paid online performances
In the view of Fan Zhihui, who has been deeply engaged in the music industry for many years, TFBOYS's seventh anniversary concert will have different meanings. This is a good sample to observe the domestic online performance market. It is a meaningful attempt for domestic paid online performances.
The shutdown of the offline performance market during the epidemic has led to the online layout of the entertainment industry, and it has further stimulated the public's demand for online entertainment. Major platforms have laid out the online performance market. With the multi-channel promotion of celebrity traffic and the platform, the online music performance market has developed rapidly. "Music Preliminary" has repeatedly mentioned that 2020 is the "first year of Chinese online music performances." Because at this special time node, China's online performances have completed qualitative changes from self-entertainment to platform-led, from niche to public, from free to paid.
If domestic online performances are still in their infancy, then Japan and South Korea have already done a lot of relatively mature work.
South Korean entertainment company SM launched the "Beyond live" online concert as early as April, with the ticket price of about 198 yuan. The first online performance of the Super M group attracted 75,000 people to watch it, bringing the company more than $2 million in revenue. A month later, Super Junior online concert came again, with more than 120,000 viewers paying to watch it, setting a record for online performances of SM's artists. On June 14, BTS' online concert set a record for the highest number of viewers of music concerts in the world that 750,000 people paid for viewing. Member and non-member ticket prices were 29,000 won (equivalent to RMB 168) and 39,000 won (equivalent to RMB 226) respectively, and paid income exceeded 120 million yuan.
South Korea's paid online performance has ushered in its highlight moment at the beginning, while Japan, which started earlier, has a stronger sense of payment. The fan economy led by Johnniez is a consensus among Japanese idol circles. It seems normal to spend money on fans clubs (fan clubs) and pay for JR (similar to trainees) live concerts to attract fans in Japan. "It is famous for burning money in the Japanese circle, so I think it's normal for online concerts to charge for fees. If your idol performs for you, it's okay for you to spend some money." Feng Nian, who has been in the Japanese circle for many years, has seen several online concerts, with each show ranging from 100 yuan to 300 yuan. Although
has certain similarities with Japan and South Korea in pricing logic, TFBOYS's concert undoubtedly took the form of "bundled sales of tickets and rights to raise ticket prices" a big step forward. Fan Zhihui believes that the binding of rights and paid performances is a benign driving factor. "The platform should make these rights more transparent and direct, and can also have linkage rights with other platforms. Put these rights into the performances so that the audience can feel that these rights can be worth the ticket price."
Through the paid practice of this TFBOYS seventh anniversary online concert and the feedback from the fan group, how should idols do paid online performances and how much can they do, at least there can be a relatively reasonable reference.
There are more possibilities
As a business model, the best initial object for paid online performances is fans, and there is no better choice.
"First of all, stimulate the willingness of this group of people to make this thing visible. It is feasible to let everyone see this thing, and then someone will continue to invest later." Fan Zhihui highly recognizes the importance of the high-viscosity group in the small circle for the launch of a business model. This head effect can drive the operation of the entire "flywheel". The willingness of
people to pay is proportional to the sense of value brought by the consumer object. The pictures and experiences conveyed through the square screen do not have the sense of liveness and immersion of offline performances. "The scene is more atmosphere and interactive. When you are excited, you can shout and wave the lights and light sticks. You can't do this alone at home. You just watch the stage online, and you don't feel much." Hou Xiaowen didn't have a good experience of TFBOYS' free online live broadcast in previous years.
Not all performances have enough "deathful fans" to pay for it.Even within the fan group, some people will give up paying due to experience issues. Therefore, if you want to have a long-term paid online performance, you must not always rely on the "crut" of the fan economy.
iMedia Consulting data shows that in the first half of 2020, the number of users who watch online music performances in China has exceeded 80 million. This 80 million audience is a potential paid group, and the market is actually huge enough. And according to the current situation and development situation, some online performances have deviated from the simple replica of the original offline performances, and have gradually spawned "online customized" performance products, which are more in line with the logic of online communication and presentation in terms of content and presentation.
Although the recording of TFBOYS's seventh anniversary concert seemed a bit insincere, judging from the content of the final performance, NetEase Cloud Music obviously took some effort. The opening show "Noah's Ark" uses MR (mixed reality) technology to present a fantasy and cool visual show. With the support of technologies such as MR, OVERLAY (coverage) and AR (augmented reality), the entire performance brought the audience a rich visual experience that was completely different from offline concerts. As Fan Zhihui said: "If you watch such paid online performances in the future and do not pay for idols, but for this product, then you will reach a very successful stage."
"In the long run, charging for online performances is a trend and is inevitable, otherwise the entire entertainment industry will not be able to move down." A senior industry insider who has been in the industry for more than 20 years highly recognizes the trend of paid industry. "But the problem is that online performances must be made beautiful, professional and beautiful, so that everyone will take it for granted when paying. If the online presentation is bad, then this method is to some extent to quench thirst."
"Wang Junkai Weiba" also expressed a certain affirmation of paid content: "Paid viewing content is part of the development of the entertainment industry. As long as you abide by market trading rules, pricing and charging, and planning and performances are exciting enough, there must be reasonableness." Although the payment habits of domestic audiences are still in the stage of cultivating, it has become a consensus among more and more people.
"Young people will become more and more tolerant. Paying fees to watch dramas and listen to music online is just like when we were young, we saved money to buy tapes and CDs. It is actually the same thing. The era of communication is different. In the past, we could spend more than 100 yuan to buy an imported CD, so why can't they spend more than 800 yuan to watch a live broadcast?"
(At the request of the interviewee, Li Yiting, Mei Ling, Feng Nian, and Hou Xiaowen are all pseudonyms)
