Changya APP Competitive Product Analysis Report

Traditional offline KTVs can no longer meet people’s needs for entertainment through singing, and more and more singing apps are appearing in the market. The author of this article has tried one of the singing apps - Changya . Let’s take a look at it.

1. Project Description

1. Competitive product analysis description

Analyze the online karaoke market and user groups, understand user needs, explore user pain points, and derive core product functions;

Analyze the competing products of online karaoke APPs, understand the basic functions of industry APPs through direct competitors, and understand the special functions of APPs through indirect competitors.

2. Product testing environment

3. Product Introduction

Changya is a product of Alibaba, a music community based on singing and playing, where ordinary people who don’t know how to play musical instruments can also create their own music.

Different from traditional karaoke software, Changya does not have complete songs, and the works are controlled within about 30 seconds. There is no original song accompaniment, and the accompaniment must be played by the user. There is no lyrics progress, and the key and rhythm can be controlled freely. There is no limit on the performance, and multiple people can play together. It has fun ways to play, such as singing, improvisational rap and making music segments.

Slogan: Sing a few lines and you will be happy.

2. Market

1. Industry background analysis

(1) Ecological Map of China’s Online Music Industry

Ecological Map of China's Online Music Industry

From the analysis chart, we can see that the market ecosystem of China's online music industry has basically become complete, and in the future, China's online music industry market will gradually tend to develop in a "small and beautiful" and refined manner.

(2) Analysis of the current status of online karaoke products

The scale of online karaoke users in China from 2018 to 2019

As can be seen from the figure, the scale of online karaoke users in my country has fluctuated and grown overall from 2018 to 2019, with a faster month-on-month growth rate in the first half of 2019. As of June 2019, the number of online karaoke users in my country reached 214 million, a year-on-year increase of 3.88%.

Favorite Karaoke Apps of Post-95s Online Karaoke Users in China in 2019

As can be seen from the figure, the favorite karaoke apps of China's post-95 online karaoke users in 2019 are mainly Changya, WeSing, Changba, Kuwo KTV, Tianlai KTV, Kmi and Yinyue, among which more than 80% of users prefer Changya and WeSing.

Summary: With the development of online music, online karaoke has become more and more popular; the birth of online karaoke apps coincided with the first year of the explosion of China's mobile Internet. This type of mobile phone application with a "social + entertainment" model was almost in a "boiling" state from 2012 to 2014.

Mobile Internet has realized equality, interactivity, participation and extensiveness in music dissemination, and has also made "grassroots culture" a social hot spot for some time to come.

my country's online karaoke market is basically saturated, and the user scale and core business are tending to be stable. Online karaoke platforms have explored commercial monetization based on platform user traffic and business connections, and have achieved upgrades and transformations from UGC (user-generated content) to PGC (professionally produced content).

Online karaoke products have gradually occupied the mainstream market, among which online karaoke PPs such as Changya, Kugou, and Changba have become the mainstream of online karaoke music social networking. In the future online karaoke APP model, these major APPs will inevitably be combined with each other to form a new online karaoke APP model.

2. Industry Macro Environment Analysis (PEST)

[P] Political environment:

Entering the legalization stage: Since January 2015, the state has focused on the management of music copyrights. The government has promulgated 8 management regulations, and the entire network has proactively removed more than 2.2 million unauthorized music works.

Interactive sharing is the trend: Online karaoke apps such as Changya have established authorization cooperation mechanisms, and the interconnection and sharing of copyrights are the future development trend.

【E】Economic environment:

Global: The era of digital music has arrived. According to data for the full year of 2015, the revenue of digital music has exceeded that of physical music. This is the first time that it has exceeded that of physical music.

According to statistics from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), digital music revenue accounted for 45% of the entire music industry in 2015, while physical music accounted for 39% of all revenue, and 14% came from concert revenue. Streaming revenue is growing rapidly.

Domestic: China's music industry has developed steadily, and the "Several Opinions on Vigorously Promoting the Development of my country's Music Industry" was recently issued. As the blueprint for the development of my country's music industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the opinion proposes that by the end of the period, the entire music industry will achieve an output value of 300 billion yuan.

【S】Social environment

Large user base: China's online music industry currently has 500 million users, with a penetration rate of over 70% among Internet users. Mobile online music users account for nearly 80% of mobile Internet users, reaching 400 million.

Consumption: In 2018, the payment rate of online karaoke users in China reached 12.9%, and the average value of a single paying user exceeded 140 yuan, an increase of 18% compared with the previous year.

As the entertainment functions and application development of online karaoke platforms become increasingly diversified, social circles are further formed. On the one hand, users strengthen their position in the platform's social circle by opening memberships, while at the same time further exploring and trying the rich value-added services and functions provided by the platform. Their willingness to pay is also gradually increasing.

It is expected that by the end of 2019, the payment rate of online karaoke users will exceed 15%, and the ARPPU value will reach 161.5 yuan.

Figure: User payment rate and paid ARPPU value of China's online karaoke industry from 2014 to 2019

【T】Technical environment

The pursuit of high performance of mobile networks has driven the continuous evolution of mobile communication technology.

5G, the fifth generation of mobile communication technology, has achieved faster, lower latency, and more stable information transmission. It can better support large-traffic consumer applications of the mobile Internet, especially the revolutionary improvement of the efficiency of video content transmission, allowing it to be better integrated into various forms of entertainment.

Online karaoke users are also interested in trying video content consumption while using the app.

Figure: The pursuit of high performance in mobile networks drives the continuous evolution of mobile communication technology

Intelligent algorithms improve the accuracy of content recommendations, and intelligent tuning further lowers the threshold for singing.

In recent years, the application of smart technology in online karaoke platforms has become increasingly prominent.

On the one hand, by further upgrading the voice recognition system, the platform will be able to support the "one-click tuning" function for most songs, automatically optimize the user's singing works, reduce the difficulty and threshold of online karaoke, and potentially enable more users to "switch from listening to singing."

On the other hand, with the help of artificial intelligence, deep machine learning and big data analysis, the system will be able to automatically push high-quality content to different user circles more accurately, thereby effectively improving user stickiness.

Finally, with the continuous improvement of virtual reality technology and the deepening reform of 5G communication technology, in the future users will be able to watch immersive MVs while singing or listening to songs, or obtain a more extreme music entertainment experience through linkage with hardware devices.

Figure: Expectations of Chinese online karaoke users for intelligent and innovative functions in 2019

Summary: In terms of the political environment, the supervision of music copyright has been strengthened to promote the formalization of copyright; in terms of technology, it is mainly reflected in the continuous development of 5G and virtual display technology.

China has introduced eight bills to organize its music copyright market since 2015, making paying for music a habit, which has also led to digital music revenue gradually exceeding 45%.

The four major environments of politics, society, economy and business are all performing well, and the current and future development environment of the online music industry will remain high-quality.

3. Business Model

(1) VIP membership service

You can enjoy membership privileges by becoming a VIP member. After becoming a member, you can enjoy many rights and interests that ordinary users cannot enjoy.

For example: After becoming a member of Changya, you can enjoy member privileges such as customized reverberation, personalized avatar frame, private message privileges, room privileges, etc.; after becoming a member of Changba, you can enjoy member privileges such as gift purchase discounts, eye-catching red text reminders, song pinning, etc.

(2) Develop offline

It mainly sells supporting products online and provides offline services. Its main sources of income are the profit difference from the sales of supporting products on the online platform and the service commission from the offline after-sales service platform.

For example: Tencent is aiming to create an unmanned karaoke bar, which is a store consisting of "singing machine + vending machine + amusement machine", to provide users with a comprehensive cross-border entertainment experience such as music, games, light meals, and social interaction. Customers can pay and experience the entire process by themselves.

(3) Giving gifts

When users hear a song they like, they can recharge coins to exchange for gifts to give to the singer.

For example: Kugou, the K coin account is the wallet of the APP. Active users purchase K coins through online payment and exchange them for flowers and other gifts to express their support for the people they like.

(4) Course sales

Low prices are used to lure users into buying singing lessons, and words like limited-time flash sales are used to stimulate users’ desire to buy.

For example: Changya sets up pop-ups on my interface to offer limited-time flash sales of singing courses to promote user consumption.

3. User Analysis

1. User tags and behaviors

Conclusion: Most of them are born in the 1990s, among which those born in the 2000s account for 83%. The popularity of short video apps such as Tik Tok has made users in this age group like to use fragmented time to watch short videos, and they are familiar with the BGM of short videos.

"Interactive participation" is an innate characteristic of Generation Z. In the opinion of Li Yang, person in charge of the Changya APP, users' demand for listening to music has been met, but there is still opportunity for singing with a social nature. Moreover, as young users grow up, the demand for "general creation" of music has not been met like short video production. Therefore, there is still a lot of room for development for the Changya APP.

People born in the 1990s and 2000s are becoming the main consumer force. Their concepts of music consumption and ways of appreciating music are completely different from those born in the 1980s and 1970s. In the era of the post-80s and post-90s, the Internet had just emerged, and most of the purposes were to accumulate user traffic for free use by the public. Copyright issues were not as perfect as they are today, which is why there were a lot of piracy, which was used to make profits.

The cost of piracy is low and the product is sold at a low price, which results in the genuine product being unable to be sold at all. Piracy also leads to many problems, such as poor quality, unknown sources, and even pornographic content, which disrupts marketing.

Nowadays, the laws are becoming more and more perfect, eliminating piracy and supporting genuine products. Nowadays, pirated goods basically no longer exist, whether on the Internet or in the market. This has also cleaned up the Internet and the market, which is very necessary for the development of the information age.

2. User groups and scenarios

Age distribution of users of major mobile karaoke apps in China in the second half of 2019

As can be seen from the figure, mobile karaoke apps such as Kugou and Changba, which were developed for people born in the 1970s and 1980s, are unlikely to attract the attention of people born after 1995. However, the new short video music platform Changya Danchang is more attractive to young users, with users under the age of 25 accounting for more than 80%.

Changya user observation portrait

As can be seen from the figure, the ratio of male and female users is 25% and 75% respectively. In terms of user age, users born after 2000 account for 83%, and the average usage time of users is 20 minutes.

Conclusion: Through the above chart analysis, we can get the characteristics of Changya users:

3. List of user needs and pain points

(1) Optimization of teaching singing function

Due to display limitations, users who want to learn are unable to do so, and users who purchase tutorials rarely use the teaching singing function, indicating that the entry point is not obvious and is easily overlooked, and the learning process is boring, resulting in a low interest in learning.

Optimization suggestions: The singing teaching function is made explicit to optimize the user experience. After completing the course, users can choose whether to complete the learning and check in, and the checked-in works will be synchronized to personal dynamics.

(2) Low user activity

Generally, users rarely spend too much time on the Changya APP. They usually want to sing a certain part, enter the APP to record and publish it. The whole duration usually does not exceed 20 minutes.

Optimization suggestions: Set up some daily tasks, get rewards for completing the tasks, and attract users to go online.

(3) Low level of implementation and poor interactivity

User surveys have found that it is difficult to grab a chance to sing using the one-touch singing function, and when interacting with strangers, they feel that they cannot sing well and are embarrassed to grab a chance.

Optimization suggestions: A new game mode "You Sing, I Guess" has been added to the karaoke room, which has similar rules to "You Draw, I Guess". Users sing songs and the guesser types the song title in the chat box. The combination of music and games can more easily attract user participation and increase user interaction enthusiasm.

4. Product Analysis

1. Strategic level analysis

Description: Kugou is a social karaoke platform that combines online karaoke + live singing + music short videos + multiple interactive venues. Changya’s main mode of “playing and singing by oneself” is relatively novel, playing and singing song excerpts. The main function of Yinyue is to make friends and interact with others, and to get to know new friends through singing.

Recommended (to cater to future markets) strategic level:

(1) Strengthen the layout of short videos and live broadcasts

Introduce various music topics in major popular short video products, and at the same time officially launch officially certified popular music and hot reviews to increase public awareness and product popularity; take music as the theme, provide topics, extend related short videos, live broadcasts and music topic discussion podcast content from the music theme, and form mutual connections.

(2) Strengthen version iteration and update to optimize user experience

We will iteratively optimize areas where the product experience is insufficient, such as background killing on the iOS side.

(3) Providing high-quality paid content services

While actively guiding users to pay, we should also pay attention to user qualifications and the quality of paid content. Especially in the development stage of the payment model, we should pay more attention to user experience and not rush things.

(4) Increase the number of copyrights

Actively obtain copyright support and cooperation from non-directly competing companies, and at the same time reach partial copyright sharing cooperation with directly competing companies as much as possible. At the same time, we will strengthen support for original musicians on the platform, continue to develop original songs on the platform and enhance copyright.

2. Structural layer analysis

(1) Structure diagram

Summary: The business closed loop of the Kugou APP is "singing + live broadcast + short video + interaction". It has relatively complete functions and can meet the basic needs of users. However, its page design is relatively chaotic and the interactive experience is poor.

Summary: The main business of Changya APP is "playing and singing by yourself", and other functions have not yet been fully developed. The page layout is reasonable, the interactive design is smooth, and the function jump path is clear and fast. Suitable for users who want to entertain themselves and do not have an urgent need to make friends.

Summary: The main function of Yinyue APP is making friends. Its other functions are relatively complete and can meet the basic needs of users. Users can meet new friends by entering random rooms, singing online, etc.

From the functional structure diagram, we can see the business distribution of Kugou, Changya and Yinyue.

Description: Kugou is mainly a social karaoke platform that combines online karaoke + live singing + music short videos + various interactive venues. Later, it began to focus on platform profitability and made profits through live streaming, member recharges, etc.

Changya’s main mode of “playing and singing by oneself” is relatively novel, playing and singing song excerpts. The main function of Yinyue is to make friends and interact with others, and to make new friends through multi-person calls and singing.

3. Product experience analysis

(1) Analysis of the one-button singing function

Describe the one-button singing function:

Advantages: One-piece singing is a special feature of Changya. Users can click the "Sing" button on the popular interface of the homepage to sing the song clip.

Disadvantage: It is easy to accidentally press this button when swiping up and down on popular recommendations.

Summary: The "Play and Sing" button can be appropriately reduced in size or moved to the left to prevent users from accidentally clicking it, which affects the user experience.

(2) Analysis of the room singing function

Describe the room singing function:

Advantages: The interface is very simple, without any extra buttons, and the button guidance is clear. The interface is simple and in line with user operating habits.

Disadvantages: There is a delay when pressing the button, and if you encounter a song you don’t know how to sing, the user’s sense of participation is not strong.

Summary: Set category labels for rooms so that users can select labels when selecting rooms; enhance user experience.

V. Conclusion

1. SWOT analysis

Advantages( S ):

As the first singing and playing software in China, Changya's innovative singing and playing gameplay, as well as unique harmony, ensemble, originality and other functions have accumulated a large number of like-minded young users who love playing music.

Moreover, the core business is quite different from other products and is not easily affected by other new products and new functions. At the same time, as a music innovation product under Alibaba Innovation Group, relying on Alibaba's ecological advantages and continuous cooperation with platforms such as Youku, it is also accelerating the rapid popularity of Changya Short Music's works. Adaptation and self-production is also one of the important reasons why users choose karaoke software.

The functional advantages of Changya also make it the K song product with the fastest growth rate of monthly active users. The karaoke functions are complete, the business system is mature, and it keeps up with current trends and hot spots.

Disadvantages ( w ):

Over-reliance on its social chain and lack of its own innovation and thinking in business functions. The disappearance of the mobile Internet demographic dividend is affecting all fields, and the music field is no exception.

The more cruel reality is that high copyright fees have also built a high wall. On the one hand, resources continue to gather at the top, and on the other hand, the cost of acquiring new users continues to rise.

Changya, after having passed the most difficult start-up stage, is lowering the threshold for music creation for those born after 1995 and 2000. If Changya wants to retain these young people who are about to become the main force of social consumption, it also needs to let them see the long-term value. But the image of Changya is now fixed in the public's mind, and it is difficult to innovate.

Opportunity ( O ):

There are more and more original works in Changya, and Changya is accelerating the establishment of relevant rules to protect original works.

In the latest upgrade of Changya, new functions have been added, such as making and sharing short music videos, and commenting and liking, further making users' social interaction smoother and more natural.

In the future, after Changya has a certain level of content creativity and more user engagement, it may learn from the short video platform’s method of charging rewards.

Threat ( T ):

• There is too little music and lack of copyright is still a major problem at this stage;
• The iOS side often kills the background process.

2. Summary

In 2019, the emergence of Changya is undoubtedly a dark horse in online karaoke APPs. Compared with the traditional karaoke model, Changya, as a representative of the new singing and playing platform, has a novel singing and playing mode, which captures song fragments to record songs, shortens the recording time, meets users' fragmented time entertainment, and is more attractive to post-95 users who pursue individuality.

But its success is not accidental, but stems from keen insight into the market and precise operational strategies.

Its achievements indicate the rise of voice social networking again, but how can it occupy a place in the era of national social networking where various types of social products are growing and declining, and firmly grasp the appetite of the public?

In addition to working hard to overcome technological barriers, we must also find ways to retain more users and high-quality content so that the public will choose to stay after the novelty wears off. Let us hope that Changya can live up to everyone’s expectations and give us a satisfactory answer.

Author: Fairy Riding a Donkey

Source: Fairy Riding a Donkey