The Impacts of Coronavirus on the Chinese and Global Music Industry. Part 2

We have been living the “corona-life” for quite some time now and it seems that things are not going to go back to normal any time soon. In some European countries, live events have been possible with a limited audience and extensive precautions. U.S.-based artists are in a particularly difficult situation where they can’t perform in the U.S. and are not allowed to travel to most European countries [1].

Live events held online are now booming, for example Tomorrowland - Europe’s biggest dance music festival - sold over one million tickets with their online virtual festival featuring Katy Perry, Martin Garrix and David Guetta, among others [2]. Still, for most artists, online is not as good as real life with a real live audience.

Millions of dollars from Chinese streaming services

In China, music streaming services are more popular than ever. Just as an example, Tencent Music's paying subscribers surged by 50.4% in 2020 to 42.7 million and online subscription revenues have seen a staggering 70% in growth to 1.21 billion yuan [3]. Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore made $1.2 Million in just three days from Chinese streaming giant Netease Music [4].

The future of the music business

The good news is that a vaccine is being developed and we are all hoping that next year the live gig sector will be fully operational again and musicians around the world can get back to performing in front of a live audience. Now it’s a great time to focus on building digital reach and your fan base so you are in a better position when the world opens back up again.

Distribute your music to Chinese music services and protect your copyrights by using Musicinfo distribution. Promote and build your fanbase with our promotion services. We will support you in these difficult times by offering a 50% discount with the code SCHOOL50. The offer is valid until 13th of September 2020.

Sources

|1] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/16/arts/europe-is-reopening-american-musicians-are-missing-out/

[2] https://www.dw.com/en/how-music-festivals-are-surviving-coronavirus-cancellations/a-54374343

[3] https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/tencent-music-strikes-right-note-for-investors-20200708-p55a3m

[4] https://musically.com/2020/07/27/taylor-swift-folklore-made-1-2m-in-three-days-from-one-chinese-dsp/