Liu Jin of Taihe Music Group: Consolidate the "content moat" and open the curtain of "music IP" support

2017 was the happiest year for independent musicians. Happiness, on the one hand, refers to the increase in the income of independent musicians; on the other hand, because content is becoming increasingly important.

Original title: Taihe Music Group Liu Jin: Opening the "Music IP" support curtain, good works are not a problem

"2017 is the happiest year for independent musicians, and they are in the process of happiness. If an independent musician makes good music, he/she will eventually get some form of reward. As for the emergence of good works, as long as there is a good incubation mechanism and service platform to undertake them, it is only a matter of time." Recently, Liu Jin, general manager of the Baidu Musicians Division of Taihe Music Group, accepted an exclusive interview with reporters to reveal how Taihe Music consolidated the "content moat" and opened the curtain of "music IP" support.

Liu Jin, general manager of the Baidu Musicians Division of Taihe Music Group,

independent musicians are beginning to be in a "state of competition."

The cliché in the music industry is the prevalence of piracy. However, while Internet technology brings piracy trouble to the music industry, it also provides various possibilities for realizing value for more music forms and musicians 'feelings.

Whether it is the T-list, the "Companion Project" and "Save the River Map" lyrics campaign launched by Baidu musicians under Taihe Music this year, or the Shrimp Light Searching Project that launched the second round of offensive on May 3 this year, etc., various digital music platforms are moving towards the incubation of original content, and the direct manifestation is the strong support given to independent musicians with funds and resources.

Liu Jin, general manager of the Baidu Musicians Division of Taihe Music Group, said,"2017 was the happiest year for independent musicians. Happiness, on the one hand, refers to the increase in the income of independent musicians; on the other hand, because content becomes increasingly important, independent musicians are beginning to be in a state of 'being competited'."

The support forms of various platforms are also false and real. In contrast, the T-List owned by Taihe Music Group invests real money and resources to support original music. The Keyman Band, Mo Xizi Shi, Zhang Yifan, Fan Yitang, Liu Minghui... these popular singer-songwriters in the independent music industry today have all truly entered the music industry and the public's vision through the selection of the T chart.

Baidu musicians, a subsidiary of Taihe Music Group, launched the "Companion Program"

."The T-list is not only a cash list, but also an incubator for original music. It integrates horizontally and vertically with Taihe Music Group's rich product matrix resources to conduct a new experiment to reconnect singers, songwriters, etc. with musical dreams and explore a new equation of 'music IP Shaping'."

There are many ways to play here.

The first is the audition model. For example, Baidu musicians, a subsidiary of Taihe Music Group, have just announced the winners of the "Companion Project"-Abbey Road Studios recording track. The winners will go to Abbey Road Studios in London, UK to record a single, which will be produced by internationally renowned producers. After the single is recorded, it will be produced by Taihe Music and distributed digitally globally.

The second is the customization model. On March 4 this year, Hetu, the "Great God of Ancient Style", posted a message on Weibo: I have the skills to kill dragons! It means that you can compose and sing yourself, but you don't have good lyrics to assist you. Soon, Baidu musicians launched the "Saving Hetu Plan". In just two weeks, more than 5000 original lyrics were collected. Hetu finally selected his favorite work "No Love" and successfully solved the "word shortage crisis".

The third is the star-making model. For example, the popular female voice Yuan Xiaozheng recently released the new song "Ruhong" MV with the strong support of Taihe Music, creating a new music world that perfectly integrates classical and popular, colorful visuals and complex emotions. The lyrics and lyrics of the new song "Ruhong" are from the eighth issue of the original music cash chart of Taihe Music.

Incubating music IP with the Innovation Works model

may be the best era in terms of the transformation of the music industry.

"Young users born in the 1990s and 2000s are gradually entering the field of music consumption. Young people's preferences are diversified, and vertical and focused consumption is becoming more and more obvious." Liu Jin said that the current market situation is that China music users would rather search and download songs that publicize their personality independently than passively accept music products recommended by the platform. In this orderly and disorderly music consumption trend, the usage rate of music libraries on digital music platforms is about 15%. All musicians and small and medium-sized labels are at a moment of re-seeking value recognition. "Liu Jin said," The mission of the Baidu Musicians Division of Taihe Music Group is to rebuild the bridge between original music, original musicians and the market, and provide corresponding services to musicians. Simply put, it is 'make up for whatever is missing.' "

This sounds simple to say, but it actually covers a wide range of aspects. First of all, there must be a large number and rich type of copyright libraries across the board, and then you must have the ability to help musicians make 3-5 years of IP development plans. Therefore, a variety of services and support, including copyright operations, record production, video shooting, performances, vinyl and other peripheral planning, are actually aimed at promoting "new song works" into "well-known content" and music IP tools.

In the field of music big IP, famous music labels such as Taihe Wheat Field, Sea Die Music, Dashi Copyright, and Hezuo Volume under Taihe Music Group have discovered and cultivated a large number of artists, accumulating and owning many Chinese music classics. Among the recently announced shortlist for the 28th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards in 2017, Haidie Music service artists, related creators and important co-distribution partners have won 17 shortlist awards, making them a big winner. In the first half of this year, Xue Zhiqian released four hit new songs "Noble","Animal World","Ambiguity" and "I'm Afraid", all of which were written by Taihe.

After building this powerful content library and large music IP group, Taihe Music will also use the endogenous growth of this layout to open up new ways and lead a new trend in music consumption and production. "For example, invest in 'campus Internet celebrity excavator'-don't use music, and delve into the campus music market." Liu Jin said that from this perspective, Baidu Musicians is a young and advanced music platform. This platform connects with musicians, entrepreneurial teams and studios scattered all over the market and interested in creating music brands, just like the incubation model of Innovation Works, the platform party leads the investment, production, management and distribution of every single and album to form an industrial system. The core content is independently responsible for the main creators, and then mass production of high-quality original music content is realized. "

Taihe Music Group is deeply investing in the campus music market's strategic investment in" No Music "

. As a comprehensive service platform for original musicians, Baidu Musicians have currently launched functions such as song uploading, user interactive reviews, and Live House performance ticketing, and at the same time integrated The T-list business previously affiliated with the Harmony Volume Group. Around mid-July this year, Baidu Musicians Platform will also launch crowdfunding functions, and will also add sections for copyright management and distribution of musicians in the future.

Q&A

reporter: Tencent Music has invested heavily in winning Universal Music copyright. Does it mean that the copyright battlefield still follows the trend of "the highest bidder wins"? After the giants monopolize large copyright at sky-high prices in the competition, other players are unable to fight or unable to continue to stick to it?

Liu Jin: This is not the end of the copyright battle. Among copyright agencies, the exclusive agency contract usually lasts for two to three years. As young users represented by the post-90s and post-00s flock to the music consumption field, content diversification and differentiation have become the demand of more young people. So from this perspective, I think this market is still full of variables. With this opportunity, everyone can focus more on their own strengths and use their own resource advantages to cultivate deeply. For Taihe Music Group, we have always been laying out the entire industry chain and continue to invest and exert efforts in all directions.

Reporter: So, how do you examine China's music industry?

Liu Jin: With the deep penetration of the Internet, the Chinese music scene is being "decentralized", and the boundary between independent music and mainstream music is becoming increasingly blurred. Faced with such a rapidly changing and rapidly iterating industry, we have to think about what kind of works can win reputation. Looking at it now, it's a bit difficult for a song to become popular all over the country.

Reporter: How is the product architecture of Baidu Musicians progressing?

Liu Jin: At present, the completion rate of Baidu musicians is less than 50%. It has launched interactive, appreciation, ticketing and other functional sections. Crowdfunding functions will also be launched around mid-July. In the future, it will also increase the management and distribution of musicians 'copyright and free services. Make more comprehensive services such as vinyl records and joint offices.

We hope to standardize the service sector to a certain extent, rather than the current Case By Case format. For example, in terms of copyright operations, musicians can see in detail what platforms their songs are distributed on, and can check them themselves and select regions. Because Taihe Music has established a distribution system for more than 100 high-quality music audio-visual platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and KKBOX in more than 180 countries and regions around the world. Offline, we have reached a cooperation with P2, and the two parties have jointly created THouse Mass Creative Space. In the future, we will provide musicians and music studios with professional-grade recording studios, rehearsal studios, and small Live House and other standard facilities.

Reporter: On the basis of standardization, there will also be some value-added services, such as the "Companion Program"?

Liu Jin: Yes, we think that for musicians, the most difficult thing in the creative process may not be the practice of their ideals, but the companionship and move forward together. Companion star means companionship. The recording track of Abbey Road Studios in Abbey Road is just the beginning of the "Companion Star Project", and we will soon launch the "Companion Star Project"'s "Made in Vinyl" original album collection plan. This event will hold a 20-day collection of works by musicians and produce 500 free vinyl records for the outstanding works finally collected. The audio master tape of the work will be sent to MA S T E R D I S K, a well-known audio processing multimedia company in New York, USA, which cooperates with the strategic partner of the event,"Hey Yo Music", for post-processing. At the same time, the crowdfunding function of Baidu Musicians Platform will be launched in conjunction with the event to crowdfunding sales of vinyl works that are finally "released" by "vinyl manufacturing". Musicians can not only gain benefits from their own works, but also receive exclusive online promotion resources provided by Baidu Musicians Platform.

Reporter: Is the launch of the "vinyl manufacturing" campaign also related to the resurgence of global vinyl?

Liu Jin: Yes. Vinyl records are an important way to preserve music and a classic carrier for recording music. Many international musicians record their works on vinyl. In recent years, many singers, such as Jacky Cheung, Deng Ziqi, Li Jian, etc., have chosen to suppress vinyl so that their works can have another interpretation! For many music lovers, vinyl has also become an important way to collect music and pay tribute to masters. Having the opportunity to produce your own music works in the world's top audio companies is believed to be a very legendary thing for all musicians. Founded in 1973, M A S T E R D I S K has post-processed or carved front-page master versions of vinyl records by famous singers or groups such as David D B o wi e, The Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, Bob Dylan and the Beatles.

Editor: jessica