Picture from Canva drawable
Since November last year, the news that Xiami Music will be shut down in January 2021 has appeared on the Internet. Although there has been no official response, the resentment towards Xiami on the Internet has begun to ferment. Recently, Xiami Music officially released a farewell letter, stating that Xiami Music Player business will officially cease service on February 5, 2021.
After the news of the shutdown was confirmed, users' unwillingness towards Xiami Music reached its peak, and they began to cherish Xiami in their own way. Whether it’s Weibo, Zhihu’s hot search, Moments of friends tweets, screenshots, and even Douban, there is a discussion topic of "My Memories with Xiami", which has been viewed more than a million times.
Why do we cherish the memory of shrimp
The reason why people cherish lost things is because these things leave good or regrettable memories in their hearts, and it is these memories that accentuate their feelings for such things. The shutdown of Xiami can arouse so much nostalgia among users, naturally because Xiami has left some memories worthy of nostalgia to different users in its system through some of its own advantages.
The first is to leave good memories for the musicians. Since its inception, Xiami has respected the musicians on the platform, which makes the musicians who have grown up on the Xiami platform very satisfied. For example, Wang Lifu, the lead singer of the shaman band, once stated on Weibo that “you will still receive royalties and detailed reports every month, and the platform does not receive a commission. The amount of withholding tax will be clear to you.”
In addition to these performances that value the work of musicians, Xiami is also one of the earliest platforms in China to support musicians. For example, Xiami’s light-seeking project has unearthed outstanding musicians such as Cheng Bi, Qiu Bi, Jin Minqi, Whale Circus, etc., and these musicians are developing well now.
The second is to leave good memories for users. For some users, Xiami can provide them with a purer music experience. Whether it’s every playlist compiled with care, every music style classified in detail, or even a recommendation system that is different from other platforms, users have a better experience.
In fact, in addition to Xiami's own reasons, users will have expectations for such "small and beautiful" platforms. In the contempt chain, "small and beautiful" platforms such as Xiami are often at the top of the contempt chain. Some users will feel superior because they use a different platform from the public, and do not want to lose such a platform that can highlight their taste. .
But just looking at the reasons for shrimp, it is not difficult to see that the focus of shrimp has always been on music.
Dried dried shrimps by music
However, for online music platforms, although music is the core, various practitioners have launched a lot of open and secret struggles over music copyright in recent years, but the next stage of the online music war is not all music. This also made Xia Mi, who focused on music, missed the opportunity to rank among the top.
On the one hand, music copyright resources are naturally the top priority of online music platforms. For users of "mixed tracks" in multiple music apps, if a certain platform has more resources, they will be more inclined to choose which one. Therefore, a war on copyright has not stopped since the first shot.
However, when QQ Music was the first to fight for copyright, Xiami, which did not have strong financial support, could hardly persist in this "burning money for copyright" war, so the grayed-out songs in Xiami’s playlist were also included. As songs increase, users are losing one by one.
The development of multiple subsidiary functions is another focus of online music platforms. Sufficient music copyright guarantees users' experience in music, and the development of ancillary functions guarantees users' needs for use outside of music, such as social networking, audiobooks, long and short videos, and so on.
For Xiami, the atmosphere of the music community on the platform is good, but other functions are not eye-catching. For example, the videos on the Xiami platform are only promotions of some singers or MV, Live, etc., but the video content on the NetEase cloud music platform is very diverse, ranging from duration to content, from music to life.
But whether it is the grabbing of music copyright or the development of ancillary functions, the platform needs to provide substantial financial support. However, external blood transfusion is not a long-term solution. Finding a more mature business model is the most fundamental focus of online music platforms, and Xiami’s main problem is here.
Just as QQ Music realizes the closed-loop utilization of the value of music content through the national K song, it can make blood for itself to ensure other expenditures, but Xiami does not have a formed business model to ensure other large demand for funds, which also makes Xiami The ending to closure has become a necessity.
Online music, rob musicians
The closure of Xiami has become a necessity, but in the sentimental farewell letter, Xiami also revealed the next development.
In the farewell letter, Xiami stated that on March 5, 2021, except for the maintenance of the authorized service of the music platform musician on the web site (the original "new digital music scene" business), other operations will cease. In other words, after Xiami shut down the C-side business, Yinluo, the B-side business that supports musicians, has to take the baton.
In addition to Xiami, other online music platforms have also started to give musicians. For example, in addition to investing in copyright companies on the B side, TME also launched a number of plans to support musicians; NetEase Cloud Music also has a stone plan to support independent musicians and provide corresponding full-scale services.
It is not difficult to see that after doing business with C-side users for a long time, online music platforms have focused their attention on the B-side fields such as musicians. This is mainly due to several reasons.
First of all, the rise of independent music in recent years has released certain new opportunities. In the past two years, "Summer of the Band" brought the band culture to the center of the stage, and also gave these independent music bands and artists a certain amount of exposure. By attracting independent musicians, it helps the platform attract more users and increase retention.
Second, the platform content library can be further enriched. By supporting independent musicians to create and helping them produce good works, they are also constantly enriching their own content library and providing users on the platform with more music choices. And after some musicians get the benefits, it will attract more musicians to participate in it, forming a cycle.
Finally, the entire industry chain can be seized from the source. Online music is not just pure music. It needs to open up the entire industry chain around music and make online music an industry, so as to ensure that platform development is not rootless water. And by supporting independent musicians and starting from the source of copyright, it will also lay a solid foundation for future exploration in many aspects.
In this way, Yinluo, who has turned to the B-side business, seems to be a new life after Xiami shut down.
The Internet does not need to be "small and beautiful"
But no matter what kind of achievements Yinluo will have in the future, the shrimps of today are already gone, and in the remembrance, it is not difficult to see that these ideal, "small and beautiful" platforms are not suitable for survival in the Internet. .
Internet thinking is thinking above traffic, and traffic is the foundation of everything. Although it does not mean that success can be guaranteed with huge traffic, it is definitely difficult to succeed without traffic. Regardless of whether it is an incremental market or a stock market, whether it is public domain traffic or private domain traffic, these concepts are proposed to explain the era of high traffic.
And these "small and beautiful" platforms, they serve a very small number of people. Although these people have clear consumer intentions, it is difficult for such a small user base to create a large market and let the platform Space for development is limited. The declining shrimp is the best example of this situation, as is Douban, who is struggling to guard the spiritual island.
However, Zhihu, who is struggling to find a commercial road, and the B station that has broken the circle successfully stood on the opposite side of Xiami and Douban. It was once a typical "small and beautiful", but now it is inevitable to go out of the ordinary and cater to please. more people.
This change from "small and beautiful" to "big and complete" is not a disgraceful thing, but a change that a platform has to make in order to adapt to this era. In the era of traffic supremacy, it is not advisable to focus on "small and beautiful" and use love to generate electricity, and idealism is outdated.
Text/Liu Kuang public number, ID: liukuang110