On the second-hand trading platform Xianyu, which has nothing to do with “music”, more and more musicians have settled in: there are college students studying in professional music schools, musicians who have been engaged in soundtrack work, and full-time “selling songs”. “The music lover… The production of a song package is as low as 220 yuan, and some have settled in for a year and a half and have a five-digit income, and one day they can receive a 6,000 yuan order.
Nowadays, many “gunners” who make songs on the Xianyu platform have begun to attract attention. Living in this hidden corner, they are struggling to move forward for their musical ideals.
Recently, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry released the 2022 Global Music Report. The report shows that China will be ranked 6th in the top ten music markets in 2022, surpassing South Korea. However, the music income of Chinese musicians is still at a low level. Previously, in the “2020 Chinese Musicians Report”, it was shown that 52% of the musicians had no music income, and 22% of the musicians had a monthly income of less than 2,000 yuan. Can these musicians who “sell songs” on Xianyu feed themselves in this way?
On March 22, the IFPI (International Association of the Phonographic Industry), an industry organization representing the global recorded music industry, released the “2022 Global Music Report”. The report shows that China will be ranked 6th in the top ten music markets in 2022, surpassing South Korea. Recorded music in China has grown from a million-dollar scale ten years ago to a current scale of $1.059 billion. It is the sixth largest music market in the world, with a growth rate of 30.4%, making it the fastest growing country in the top ten. The volume and potential should not be underestimated. Among them, streaming media is already in the top three positions in the world, second only to the United States and the United Kingdom.
There is a view that in the next decade, in the process of industrial maturity of the Chinese music market, it will be a matter of time before the Chinese music market surpasses the fifth-ranked France by virtue of its huge market volume.
However, according to the “2020 Chinese Musicians Report”, in 2020, the income of Chinese musicians from digital music platforms or short video live broadcast platforms will show an upward trend, but the current music income of musicians is still at a low level. The data shows that 52% of musicians have no music income, and 24% of musicians have music income that accounts for less than 5% of their total income.
The reporter found that compared with the “2019 Chinese Musicians Report” released in 2019, 47% of the musicians have a monthly income of less than 2,000 yuan, while the “2020 Chinese Musicians Report” shows that in 2020, only 22% of the musicians have a monthly income of less than 2,000 yuan. Yuan, compared with 2019, the income level of musicians has increased.
Musician Xianyu “sells songs”
The song “Gunman” does not retain copyright
As a result, on the second-hand trading platform Xianyu, which has nothing to do with “music”, more and more musicians have settled in and become song “gunners”. The reporter found that many music producers on the Xianyu platform attract song business with low price and fast speed, and some even claim that “399 yuan includes lyrics and music and does not retain copyright.”
Xianyu is not a professional song and song trading platform, nor does it set the threshold for professional certification. Therefore, it does not require complicated procedures to “sell songs” on Xianyu. The reporter observed that there are students who claim to be studying in professional colleges such as Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Berklee Conservatory of Music, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, etc. There are also relatively professional musicians named after studios, and there are also non-professionals who started writing lyrics because of their love for the music industry. .
Xianyu musician “Want to write songs today” is a student of a university in Sichuan. He officially entered in September last year and has been “selling songs” in Xianyu for more than half a year. “I think I can make some pocket money by using my strengths.” Although “selling songs” has not been around for a long time, “writing songs today” has been paying attention to this industry for some time. According to him, he was playing rap and earned 80 yuan for the first order.
On the platform of Xianyu, the production process of a song is clearly separated, and each process is also clearly marked. The price of filling and writing lyrics is between 50 yuan and 100 yuan, and the price of composing is about 200 yuan to 300 yuan. Because the arranger will be applied to various equipment, and there are certain thresholds for entry, the price is relatively more expensive, at 500 yuan. Between RMB and 1,500 yuan, including post-recording, mixing, mastering, etc., the overall price of a song ranges from a few hundred yuan to a thousand yuan.
The reporter learned that there are various identities of people who “buy songs” on Xianyu: there are students who want to complete their final homework; there are young people who are in love or breaking up and want to write to each other; there are artist agencies or MCN agencies; An intermediary agency that collects songs according to the proportion. “Most buyers on Xianyu use it to entertain themselves and fulfill their dreams. I remember receiving an order from a young cancer patient who made a song to encourage his patients, which is very inspirational.” Musician “Yifuqin of Xianyu” deep,” told reporters.
“No more nostalgia” authorship
Can Xianyu musicians “sell songs” to support themselves?
Through observation and interviews, the reporter found that in Xianyu, which has a stronger second-hand trading atmosphere, buyers who come to buy songs pay more attention to the price of the works. Musicians on Xianyu can only fight low prices for better business. In order to sell their works faster, some sellers have lowered their prices, but they will not guarantee the quality. Musicians who pursue quality are forced to be involved in this price war and can only lower their prices.
Can musicians rely on Xianyu’s income to support themselves? Xianyu musician “One to Qinshen” said that he graduated from Xinghai Conservatory of Music. In addition to Xianyu, he produced film soundtracks. The highest one-time income was 40,000 yuan, but he still sold songs on Xianyu. “There are about 30 orders a month, the entry price is 360 yuan per order, and the most expensive song charges 900 yuan.” In his opinion, the price of Xianyu is generally low.
The Xianyu musician, who is still a college student, “is going to write songs today” bluntly said that although this is a sideline, he firmly believes that it is easy to support himself by “selling songs by Xianyu”. “Sometimes I can take orders of 6,000 yuan a day, and I like freedom and ease, so as long as you are willing to do it, you can earn money.” The reporter learned that another musician has his own studio, Relatively more professional, in addition to writing lyrics, he can provide composing, arranging and post-recording mixing services. On average, he makes 10 to 15 songs for Xianyu buyers every month, and his income is about 10,000 yuan.
As for the lyricist Volcano, he has been stationed in Xianyu for nearly two years and has written hundreds of lyrics. “The income of one and a half years is around five figures, so it is difficult to support myself.” The reporter also learned that in addition to In addition to making songs, some music school graduates or students will sell online courses on music theory, and provide some beginners with advice on buying textbooks.
It is worth mentioning that the vast majority of Xianyu musicians contacted by the reporter hold an indifferent attitude towards the right of authorship. “I have created a total of about 3,000 songs in the past 12 years. In the early days, I valued more. Later, when I wrote more, I naturally “no longer attached” to the copyright, which means more to customers. Give it to customers.” Xianyu musician “Go to Qinshen” frankly. “We rarely sign our works, it’s really like ‘Gunman’,” a Xianyu musician told reporters.
This also means that even if the song eventually becomes a popular song on the Internet, it has nothing to do with the Xianyu musician who created the song, and can only get hundreds of thousands of yuan from the initial transaction.
Create with the same routine
Catering to the needs of buyers, many “divine comedies” are now questioned for plagiarism
In the communication with a number of Xianyu musicians, the reporter learned that some sellers who claim to quickly release songs on Xianyu are actually suspected of plagiarism. “Some businesses will ask buyers to provide a few songs they like, and then use this as a template to make them, and there will be a phenomenon of similar melodies. But if you copy all the things provided by the buyer, my definition is plagiarism. Similarly, You can integrate some things of the song into the ideas provided by the buyer, and I think it is OK.” Xianyu musician “Waiting for more songs” told reporters.
“In fact, scale repetition is a very common phenomenon in pop music. Many songwriters have no intention of plagiarizing and have never even heard a ‘plagiarized’ song.” Xianyu musician “Go to Qin Shen” frankly.
The reporter found that many of the previously popular “Douyin Divine Comedies” were also questioned about plagiarism. For example, “White Moonlight and Cinnabar Mole”, this song has been suspected by many netizens to plagiarize 13 songs such as the Japanese songs “Yuhizaka”, “Contentment”, “Magic of Love”, “Nuan Nuan” and “Swear by Hook Finger”. In addition, the previous fire “Lie People’s Sorrow” was also revealed to have plagiarized many songs such as “A Small Building Outside the Mountain Night Listening to the Rain”, “Smoke Sand in the Half City”, “On the Rain at Qingming Festival”, “Hongchen Inn”, “Fireworks Easy to Cold” and so on. melody. It took only half an hour for the UP host of Station B, “The Extraordinary Qi Yixiang”, to create one of TMEA’s top ten hot songs, “Treading Mountains and Rivers”, the same paragraph “Treading Yellow Sand”. He mentioned that the tune just uses the universal chord routine “4536251” and “4536256” to cycle; he did not consider logic when composing the lyrics, and used ancient words such as “wind sand, cliff, horse riding” to pile up. In the end, the number of views of this video exceeded 3 million!
Lu Shiwei, a famous music critic, said: “There are often routines to follow in music creation. Sometimes people often talk about plagiarism, but everyone is using the same routine. Strictly speaking, it cannot be attributed to plagiarism. It belongs to the category.” Tai Ran, a famous musician and lead singer of the band Ashura, also holds the same view, “Many songs on Douyin make you feel familiar. You feel very familiar. It’s not just a customer need, it’s a need for a lot of people.”
/ industry voice /
Musicians find their way to early survival
In response to the increasingly common phenomenon of “free fish selling songs”, the reporter interviewed many musicians, music critics and record companies. They all said that there is a market where there is demand. “Many customers on Xianyu are not very demanding, and with the lowering of the threshold for music production, many skilled and business-minded people will receive orders on Xianyu and other platforms to help others make songs, which is really understandable.” Xiaoyu (pseudonym), a senior planner of the record company, told reporters.
In an interview with reporters, the famous musician and lead singer of the Asura band said bluntly that as long as the musician’s ability can be grafted on, he thinks any platform is possible. “The threshold for music production is getting lower and lower. In the past, when we made a song, it cost at least tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands in the recording studio. Now many devices, including software, can be made at home, which I think is a good thing. Any industry They are all pyramid-shaped. What everyone sees more now is the artists and musicians at the top of the industry. In fact, there are more musicians at the bottom. Only when the chassis becomes larger and the base becomes more stable, the pyramid can building higher and higher.”
“Because of the cancellation of many performances due to the epidemic, not everyone can participate in variety shows. For musicians, there must be income. You say that live broadcasts are not suitable for everyone. There are also many restrictions on live broadcasts. So I think it’s understandable to provide such services through the method of ‘free fish selling songs’. Everyone finds some way out for themselves in the early stage, and I quite admire them.” Lu Shiwei, a famous music critic, told reporters. As for whether this method is helpful to the music itself, Lu Shiwei said, “It’s hard to say, what is important is the quality of the services they provide through this method? And we need to have enough works before we can do this. This service makes an overall judgment, and does not exclude very talented musicians.”
“For record companies and musicians, they will not let go of any channel where they can find good works, including ‘Xianyu’, which is now a popular platform in the music industry. Because its target audience is very concentrated, everyone is willing to find a needle in a haystack. Find something that you appreciate on this platform. Sometimes, there may be a sudden flash of inspiration, and a good song will emerge.” Lu Shiwei told reporters.Return to Sohu, see more