Xiami (a major Chinese music streaming service) recently published a series of key stats that help us get a better picture of how the recorded music industry in China has developed over the last 5 or so years. It’s interesting to see how China’s market share has grown, shifting the axis of creative output away from the traditional centres of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
We will repurpose the graphics here, appending them with English translations. Original insights can be found on the Xiami website.
Graphic 1
The number of music releases (all formats) in China from 2009 – the first half of 2014 (unit = 000s).
Graphic 2
The share of EPs (releases with no more than 8 tracks) released in China from 2009 – 2013.
Graphic 3
The percentage of independently distributed albums (i.e. artists self-releasing music) in China from 2009 – the first half of 2014.
Graphic 4
A comparison of track streams on Xiami by language, with graphic 1 showing the share of Chinese (white) / English (light grey) / Japanese & Korean (dark grey) by year and graphic 2 showing each language’s gross share (CN 42%, EN 28%).
Graphic 5
A comparison of albums released by Chinese male vs. female singers from 2009 – the first half of 2014. Grey are male, white are female.
Top left:
Comparison of albums released
Bottom left:
Comparison of number of streams
Right:
The percentage of Taiwan Golden Melody Awards for best album between male / female prizewinners. (The first edition of the competition did not include this prize so that year has been excluded).
Graphic 6
1
A comparison of the number of albums released by Hong Kong (apex), Taiwan (centre) and Mainland China (bottom).
Left pyramid: During the 80s
Middle pyramid: During the 90s
Right pyramid: During the 00s
2
Another visual representation of the actual number (not percentage) of albums released by Hong Kong (bottom line), Taiwan (middle line) and Mainland China (top line) from 2010 – the first half of 2014.
Graphic 7
The number of platinum-selling albums released by Xiami from 2009 – 2013. A platinum album is counted as an album streamed more than 1 million times.
Albums:
2010
周杰伦《跨时代》：Jay Chou, The Era, 1.07million
2011
孙燕姿《是时候》：Stefanie Sun, Yanzi’s Time, 5.41 million
林宥嘉《美妙生活》：Yoga Lin, Wonderful Life, 3.74 million
陈奕迅《Stranger under my skin》： Eason Chan, Stanger Under My Skin, 3.5 million
2012
曲婉婷《Everything in the world》：Wanting Qu, Everything in the world, 7.39 million
林宥嘉《大小说家》：Yoga Lin, Fiction, 3.41 million
《春娇与志明》电影原声大碟：Love in The Buff soundtrack, 2.05 million
2013
苏打绿《秋故事》：Soda Green, Autumn Story, 20.07 million
宋冬野《安河桥北》：Donye.S, The North of Anhe Bridge, 17.11 million
杨宗纬《初爱》：Aska Yang, First Love, 11.46 million
Graphic 8
1. Number of tracks shared from Xiami per user from 2009-2013
2. Number of tracks streamed on Xiami per user from 2009-2013
Graphic 9:
1
Top 10 most streamed songs on Xiami from 2009 – June 30th 2014 (units = 10,000)
(left – right)
逃跑计划《夜空中最亮的星》：Escape Plan, The Brightest Star in the Night Sky
邓紫棋《泡沫》：The Gloria Tang, Bubble
群星《爸爸去哪儿》： Various Artists, Dad, where are we going
苏打绿《我好想你》： Soda green, I miss you
石进《夜的钢琴曲五》：Shijin, Melody of the Night 5
李行亮《愿得一人心》：Li Xingliang, Would Like to Have a Heart
陈奕迅&王菲《因为爱情》：Eason Chan&Faye Wong, Because of Love
王菲《致青春》：Faye Wong, So Young
张靓颖《终于等到你》：Jane Zhang, Finally I got you
杨宗纬&叶蓓《我们好像在哪见过》：Aska Yang & Ye Bei, Remember we met before you
2
Top 10 most streamed albums on Xiami from 2009 – June 30th 2014 (units = 10,000)
(left – right)
石进《夜的钢琴曲Demo集》：Shijin, Melody of the Night
逃跑计划《世界》：Escape Plan, The World
宋冬野《安河桥北》：Donye.S, The North of Anhe Bridge
苏打绿《秋：故事》：Soda Green, Autumn: Story
邓紫棋《Xposed》：The Gloria Tang, Xposed
曲婉婷《Everything in the world》：Wanting Qu, Everything in the world
陈奕迅《Stranger under my skin》： Eason Chan, Stanger Under My Skin
五月天《第二人生》：May Day, The Second Life
孙燕姿《克卜勒》：Stefanie Sun, Kepler
汪峰《信仰在风中飘扬》：Wang Feng, Belief Blowing in the Wind
