Music Client KuGou Hits 50 Mln Active Users
Tencent Tech, 4/27/10
Xie Zhenyu, president of KuGou, says the Guangzhou-based music software company has approximately 50 mln active users in China at present, with concurrent online user counts of 25 mln, and more than 1 mln new users every day. Xie revealed that KuGou's target users fall between the ages of 15 and 29.
Xie said KuGou works with more than 500 Chinese record labels, with partnerships mainly taking the form of rights-for-promotion arrangements, under which record companies authorize KuGou to offer their songs in exchange for help with promotions. KuGou's profits rely mainly upon a traditional advertising model: KuGou places ads in its client-side software, and shares revenue with record companies. Some record companies will bolster their promotions by paying KuGou to promote their tracks, but this service accounts for a very small part of the company's revenues.
Xie revealed that KuGou is preparing to release a "social" music-sharing feature this year to increase user retention, and will offer new value-added services (such as "ordering" and "gifting" songs for friends) through user interaction. He said that the "socialization" of music in China has proceeded too slowly, at a pace far behind that seen overseas.
Xie also said that client-side software is outpacing online music websites: while there were a number of music sites in China several years ago, traffic to the sites has been steadily declining as music clients become the mainstream. While userbases for these clients number in the tens of millions, very few websites can even hit the million mark. Xie said he believes most users prefer to download dedicated client applications.
Keywords: PCU segmentation online advertising business model Xie Zhenyu Internet software KuGou online music active users
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