60% Chinese willing to pay for online music

(ECNS) - Nearly 60 percent of Chinese users are willing pay to listen to music online with the sector on the right track amid copyright protection measures, People’s Daily reported.

According to a report released by market research and consulting company iResearch, the market size of Chinese digital music has maintained rapid growth, while Chinese Internet users are now ready to pay to listen to their favorite music, up to 60 percent by 2018.

By June this year the number of online music listeners in China reached 608 million, 32.29 million more than at the end of 2018, says a report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

For example, at a price of 3 yuan (42 U.S. cents), pop star Jay Chou’s new song “Won’t Cry” racked up 15 million yuan in sales 12 hours after its release.

As another sign of market growth, the music arm of Tencent saw its paid users increase by 33 percent year-on-year to 31 million in the second quarter.

iResearch said China’s online music users are 28.7 years old on average with those between 26-30 accounting for 38.7 percent of the market. Nearly half of those users paid 10 yuan a month to listen to music, still far behind South Korea and Singapore. 

As a watershed in copyright protection, in 2015 Chinese authorities demanded that digital streaming outlets take down unlicensed music. Data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry showed 96 percent of Chinese music consumers now listen to licensed music, far higher than the global average of 62 percent.