NetEase Cloud Music Continues to See Growth for International Artists on its Platform

For years, Chinese listeners have shown an overwhelming preference for local music, while their choice of international music extended mainly to Korean and Japanese performers. In recent years, there has been a huge change in their music consumption, catalyzed by NCM with its employment of smart algorithms and user-generated playlists -- this same audience is now consuming more varied international music (hereon defined as non-Korean/non-Japanese). Currently, more than 30% of all activity on NCM including streams, comments, playlisting, and favorites involves international music.

International artists have slowly begun to use local social media platforms such as Weibo and NetEase Fan Connect to engage their mainland fans. With more than 400 million registered users, NetEase Cloud Music offers artists one of the strongest platforms in China to reach their fans directly.

One such early adopter was R3hab, who is enjoying great success in connecting with his fans on NCM. His follower base has increased to over 280,000, from 8,000 a year ago. He is also the most active international artist on NetEase Fan Connect, posting once every two days on average for the past year, with each post receiving hundreds of comments and likes from fans.

Moreover, his effort in replying to comments, in Chinese at times, has endeared him to many fans, who now call him by his Chinese nickname "san ge" or Third Brother, which is a play on his stage name

Currently ranked 18^th on DJ Mag's Top 100 list, R3hab's popularity in China surged over the past year, following not only NCM's effort to promote his music, but also his earnest utilization of the NCM platform to engage fans to inform them about his new releases, playlists, and tours as well as to post images and videos. This has led to sold-out shows all over China, and even fans flocking to the airport to await his arrival.

R3hab observed, "NetEase Cloud Music has millions of fans who love dance music, and being able to connect with them directly has been great, not only when I'm touring or have a new release, but also just keeping in touch with them constantly. Hearing their feedback keeps it real."    

Other dance artists such as Steve Aoki, KSHMR, and Armin van Buuren have also been reaching out to their fans directly through the NetEase music social network.

Beyond being the largest platform for dance music in China, NCM also cultivates the development of other music genres including trap, rock, Chinese folk, soundtracks, and of course, pop.

Nashville-based pop artist Galen Crew is another performer who has had a dramatic entry into China, attracting tens of millions of streams and more than 40,000 fan comments on NCM for his dreamy song, Sleepyhead, a fan favorite. He successfully followed this up with sold-out shows in multiple Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Tianjin, and frequently interacts with fans on NetEase Fan Connect.

Galen stated, "The feedback I can get directly from fans in China is amazing; they write of how my music has moved them. Being able to connect personally with the Chinese audience through NetEase has been wonderful. I'm looking forward to sharing more of my music with them this year in collaboration with NetEase."

Addressing the growing interest of international artists to reach out to their fans, Mathew Daniel, VP, International at NetEase Cloud Music elaborated, "With more international artists and labels choosing to work with us, we are striving to make it easier for them to interact with their fans. We have developed an English interface ­­­-- currently in limited beta version -- and we are also launching international music charts for both fans and artists to better track the performance of songs in the market."

SOURCE NetEase Cloud Music