The rise of music short videos, will the next Kuaishou be born?

As early as 2014, an app called musical.ly was launched in the United States and topped the U.S. App Store and Google Play charts in 2015. In terms of time, this short video gameplay with unique labels such as music and 15 seconds broke out in China about two years later. At the same time, it also means that after domestic short videos matured, their imagination in vertical content has been expanded.

Music short videos are popular, and the reason is not surprising

At least for now, the field of music short videos has accumulated many players, including products introduced from abroad, as well as products created by a group of domestic entrepreneurial teams such as Naitang. As UGC content becomes increasingly diverse and the Internet environment begins to move beyond the limitations of text and images, the emergence of new content such as music short videos does not seem surprising. They have shown their inevitability of becoming popular on at least three levels.

1. Successful cases abroad and their replicability

If we say that the mobile Internet atmosphere abroad is better than that in China, many people may not agree. However, we have to admit that the cultural diversity and openness abroad are still incomparable to that in China. In the PC era, there were many traces of copying foreign products in the domestic Internet. Even today, there are still many examples of learning from excellent foreign products.

musical.ly is a product that has become popular in the United States. It is loved and recommended by many young Americans and has topped the charts of major app rankings many times. In China, the emergence of milk candy is closely related to the phenomenal explosion of similar products in the United States. Coincidentally, the earliest creativity of the once popular Xiaokaxiu also came from the German product Dubsmash. The "lip- syncing " elements of Dubsmash can still be seen in the current music short video gameplay.

The reason may not be difficult to understand. China's Internet industry still has a strong "centralized" feature. Both the media and users tend to focus on a certain industry or even a certain product. This is especially evident in those short-lived image products. Therefore, it is a smart move to learn from excellent foreign products. If the products can be localized well, there is still a possibility of becoming the next hit.

2. Post-95s are a gold mine waiting to be tapped

According to the "39th Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet " released by CNNIC, netizens aged 10-29 account for as high as 50.5%. In particular, the new generation of Internet users born after 1995 have become a new force in the domestic Internet. The market size and business opportunities surrounding the post-95 generation have long passed the stage of empty talk.

Taking short video platforms as an example, 70% of users on Meipai are those born after 1995, and more than half of users on Miaopai are those born after 1995. User research on those born after 1995 has long been done by many Internet companies. According to public data, the average time spent on videos by users born after 1995 is at least 5 minutes higher than that of users not born after 1995. Users also have some obvious characteristics, such as self-centrism, entertainment-first attitude, collective loneliness, and a desire for stories. Thus, a main theme has gradually formed: making products that post-95s like, cultivating the loyalty of this group of people, and tapping the value of young users. This is the business logic of almost all emerging Internet applications.

The rise of music short videos undoubtedly meets the personalized needs and entertainment-first spirit of the post-95 generation. In particular, music, a relatively unique content carrier, has lowered the threshold for cultivating user loyalty among post-95 generations. Perhaps this feature is not obvious enough in products such as Kuaishou , but in recently released products such as Naitang, we can already see the obvious post-95 product style.

3. Mature cultural resources of pan-entertainment

As an emerging social carrier, music short videos have obvious "social routines" in their operations , such as attracting celebrity resources in the early stages and leveraging the celebrity traffic advantages to promote products. Naitang even invited Yu Haoming to help out at the press conference and serve as the official music scout consultant. But the difference is that these products do not direct traffic to celebrity users, but instead focus on supporting and paying attention to expert users within the product. This is probably the operational experience accumulated from many pitfalls in the pan-entertainment field. For example, Weishi , which was previously abandoned by Tencent, also focused on celebrity resources but ignored the value of expert users.

Another relatively mature thing is the increasing diversification of the Internet. For example, what is mentioned most often now is the scene, rather than the platform and entrance, which provides a good environment for the expansion of scenes such as music, film and television. Taking music short videos as an example, if the popular gameplay is followed, it is difficult to create high-quality content within a 15-second duration, but it is a different story in the context of music. Some people may think that this is still a palace for "a minority", but the huge base of Internet users in China and the distinct individuality of the post-95 generation are reasons why music short videos are worth looking forward to.

In addition, the improvement of the domestic Internet business environment is also a major inducement. Two years ago, many products still insisted on traffic thinking, using traffic for advertising or other forms of guidance, but today, user rewards, fan economy , and cooperative launch of smart hardware will become the mainstream sources of profit. I believe that in the near future, music short video applications such as Naitang will also be beneficiaries.

The biggest competitor is still Kuaishou

When it comes to short videos, Kuaishou is destined to be an obstacle that cannot be overcome. It also uses tools as a point of entry, also constantly enriches its social attributes, and also operates in a decentralized manner. The development trajectory of Kuaishou has many similarities with Naitang and others. It is foreseeable that when music short videos threaten Kuaishou’s market share or even compete for certain loyal users, Kuaishou’s counterattack is understandable. But is it possible for this type of product to reverse the trend of Kuaishou? The answer seems to be optimistic.

1. Kuaishou is based on daily life, while Naitang is more about entertainment. For a long time, it has been a cooperative competition rather than a competition.

In the eyes of many people, Kuaishou users are concentrated in third- and fourth-tier cities, and even have a vulgar impression. The reason is that Kuaishou is not limited to entertainment but tends to be about life, and even users don’t like to edit and beautify short videos. In contrast, Naitang and other products are purely entertainment products, targeting young users in first- and second-tier cities that Kuaishou has failed to cover. If we look at it from the perspective of "cultural deficit", the "high-level culture" represented by 15-second short videos seems to have the potential to dilute Kuaishou's users in the future. Of course, it is not ruled out that Kuaishou will continue to enter the field of music short videos in order to expand its position, but the timing of entry at that time may not be so optimistic. In short, one is a lifestyle product and the other is an entertainment application. The different positioning leaves a huge living space for emerging products such as milk candy.

2. The cost of content production determines who is the winner. This is the survival rule of the short video industry.

UGC content has promoted short videos, but is now becoming a value depression that PGC content is trying to reap. When the product becomes large enough, the common problem it faces is that the cost of producing content is also constantly increasing. Only top users who are capable of producing high-quality content are qualified to be recommended and thus have "hundreds of thousands of fans." The result is that ordinary users are easily overwhelmed, and PGC is the biggest beneficiary, and PGC's "voting with their feet" also determines the future of the product. It is worth noting that how to lower the threshold for content production while ensuring the playability of the platform is the attitude that the winner should have. In terms of length and content richness, the content production threshold for music short video applications is significantly lower than that of traditional short videos. Naitang and others also provide a large number of music materials and tools, information flow intelligent recommendations and other personalized services. A competition on content production costs has just begun.

From text and pictures to short videos, the content on the Internet is constantly updated and iterated, forming intricate combinations. With the younger Internet users and the advent of the era of personalization, the short video industry, which has large amounts of information, strong visibility, low participation threshold and strong money-making ability, has become a new trend in the content field. The next "Kuaishou" will also emerge in the niche content such as music short videos.

Conclusion

Following short videos, videos that combine short videos and music have become the new trend. It is undeniable that this is a positive signal for the content industry. The industry needs more diverse content formats and more innovators to promote the progress of the industry. From musical.ly to Kuaishou to Naitang, we have seen more and more pioneers.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

The author of this article @ Alter compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting! Site Map