Image Credit: Tencent

Tencent Music Data Research Institute, a music data research company under Tencent Music, has published a new report.

Published last week, 2021 Chinese Digital Music Annual White Paper details many of the key statistics around musicians and music streaming in China. Here are some of the highlights from the report:

  • “In 2021, the total number of new songs in Chinese will reach 1.145 million, a year-on-year increase of 53.1%.”
  • “In 2021, the total playback volume of new Chinese songs will increase by 9.3% over the previous year, and the playback share of new and old Chinese songs will expand to 24.3%.”
  • “This year, hundreds of new singers entered the “500 million club” with annual broadcast volume, accounting for more than 30% of the top singers.”
  • “The popularity of songs released by newcomers that year has increased for two consecutive years in the overall popularity of new songs, and the number will be close to 20% in 2021.”
  • “As of July 2021, on the Tencent Musician platform, the number of musicians with an average monthly income of more than 10,000 Yuan ($1,483) in the past year has doubled in one year.”
  • “Affected by the decline of music variety shows in 2021, the popularity of new Chinese songs such as rap has generally declined, but the overall popularity of new and old songs on the market has increased significantly.”

Find the full report here.

The majority of increases in the music industry in China is thanks to artists choosing to independent release their music online. Free music distributors like RouteNote help hundreds of thousands of artists stay in control of their music and keep their revenue. RouteNote are partnered with Tencent Music to help artists get their music on QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo with zero fees or recurring costs.