Data from the IFPI, which represents the international music industry, shows
that online and mobile music split the revenue equally; iTunes took the lion's
share of online music downloads 86 per cent.
But can iTunes' success be reproduced on the mainland?
Digital music has far outstripped traditional media in sales on the mainland,
recording a volume of 3.6 billion yuan (US$450 million) last year.
The highest sales volume for CDs, on the other hand, was recorded in 2003,
totalling 2.7 billion yuan (US$337 million), said Liu Guoxiong, president of the
China Audio-Video Association in Beijing.
However almost 99 per cent of digital sales are mobile ring tone downloads.
A study by the consultancy ChinaLabs in Beijing shows the mainland has many
copyright-conscious people. More than 80 per cent of the respondents to the
survey said IPR protection was important, with 13.5 per cent rating it "very
important" and more than 60 per cent saying they're ready to pay for copyrighted
music.
"People want to enjoy music, but it's not enjoyment when you click one empty
link after another," said Ken Cheung, vice-president of New Media and Business
Development for Warner Music Asia Pacific in Hong Kong. "... I do believe people
are willing to pay for music downloads that are convenient, reliable and safe,"
he said.
But buying songs from the mainland's legal music websites is not that
convenient. In the ChinaLabs' study, people said the hassles of handling the
format and paying the charges were the top turnoff of copyright music websites,
followed by the high price.
To prevent unauthorized copying, legal music downloads are encrypted, often
with Microsoft's DRM (digital rights management) technology. Most people's MP3
players, however, do not support DRM, meaning customers can play the downloaded
music only on their computers.
"I admit this is an obstacle, but this is conquerable," Cheung said.
Huaqi, for example, is embedding its MP3 player with DRM
technology in a bid to imitate the synergy between iTunes and iPod. And soon the
MP3 player industry will wake up to the new trend, says Orca Digital Chief
Executive Officer Chen Ge.
