Digital collections are in vogue, new favorite or bubble?

The tide of the digital age is raging, and the digital collection is coming one after another.

Recently, a reporter from China City Daily noticed this information on Sina Weibo of "TopHolder Top Collector" (the first platform in China to convert self-media content into digital collectibles): "'Top-Holder× Azzza' trend digital avatar collection was released... The second wave of snaps in the form of blind boxes opened 8,000 different 'Azzza' avatars..." As of press time, the reporter opened the snap page and saw that more than 180,000 people had made reservations to purchase the digital collection. "Unique", "limited edition", "liquidity", "art technology" and other stimulating introductory words attracted the attention of many netizens.

Looking at the relevant market in recent years, it can be said that "everything can be a digital collection". China City Daily reporter combed the data and found that in 2021, in order to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of its birth, FAW-Audi limited release of the 33rd anniversary digital commemorative collection "Parallel Illusion" based on the new Audi concept car sky-sphere, which was widely welcomed by car fans and collectors; from March 24 to 26, 2022, the global limited edition of the "〇 Universe • Qiangong Series" digital collection in The Qujiang Daming Palace National Heritage Park in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, landed on the Taobao Ali auction platform, and 30,000 copies of the collection were sold out in 9 minutes ......

What are the reasons why digital collections are out of the loop? Can its emergence further activate traditional culture? How should we face the future development space of digital collections?

Diversity of genres coexists with controversy

What is a digital collection? According to relevant industry insiders, digital collection refers to the use of blockchain technology, corresponding to the unique digital credentials generated by specific cultural works and artworks, on the basis of protecting their digital copyright, to achieve true and credible digital distribution, purchase, collection and use.

Zhang Tingyuan, president of Chengdu Zhidu Intellectual Property Research Institute and chief copyright expert of Sichuan Copyright Association, previously said in an interview with the media that the digital collection is the result of the digital operation of classic IP, and its digital copyright is the foundation and the content of the collection is the core. When consumers buy digital collections, it comes down to a "cultural confidence, content recognition, and a collection honor."

But while the digital collection is becoming more popular, it has also caused some controversy.

A few days ago, the China City Daily reporter interviewed some senior players and collectors in the field of culture and entertainment, who said that they still prefer the traditional collection method and do not consider digital collection for the time being; however, some young people still said that they are willing to try digital collections and experience the fun they bring.

Xu Nan (pseudonym) is a post-00 college student, who usually likes to play various computer and mobile phone games, and spends money to buy a lot of beautifully designed game character appearance skins. In his opinion, game character skins can also be understood as a kind of "digital collection". "In addition to studying, my friends and I like to immerse ourselves in the virtual game world. In addition, my acceptance of digital collections such as tide play and memes currently on the market is still quite high, because this is in line with the consumption habits and aesthetic needs of our young people. Xu Nan said.

However, Xu Nan is skeptical of the digital collection of music. In his view, daily listening to songs is a very life-like, casual thing, only use a mobile phone or a computer, you can enjoy the music journey, you do not have to engage in a collection gimmick. At the same time, he said that he has no shortage of music-loving friends around him, and they usually like to collect rather niche vinyl records. These friends believe that records that can be seen and touched are more textured, sound more atmospheric and substitutionary, which can be called music collections.

In the field of music digital collections, China City Daily reporter learned that in 2021, singer Hu Yanbin's classic work "Monk" 20th anniversary commemorative vinyl NFT (non-homogeneous tokens) was released on the QQ music platform, and 2001 limited digital vinyl records were quickly snatched up, which is the first batch of "TME digital collections" of Tencent Music, creating a precedent for the release of digital collections by mainstream music platforms in China.

In 2022, with another heavyweight in the digital collection, TME Digital Collection announced that it will join forces with Tengger to launch the 25th anniversary digital vinyl record of "Paradise", with a limited release of 8,000 copies.

For music digital collections, some experts have analyzed that they are not a replacement for physical record collections, but a supplement, a new way to play for music consumption, and at the same time create new revenue sources for musicians. Its value and significance are just like the "digital album" launched by QQ Music in 2014. "Digital collections do not lose value due to improper preservation; technical non-reproducibility ensures the scarcity of the number of digital collections, so that digital collections have a fidelity collection value." The expert said.

Attracting the new generation of consumer groups to create and capital generation in sync

"Mirror of a Thousand Palaces: Mirror of Gold" "Thousand Palaces of Pei: A Retired Dragon", "Spirit of a Thousand Palaces: 〇634· Xuan Di · Great Desolation"... Xi'an Qujiang Daming Palace National Heritage Park "〇 Universe • Thousand Palace Series" digital collection once released, it will surprise the majority of netizens.

In this regard, a senior practitioner of the digital industry said: "For scenic spots, the release of digital collections is an organic integration of traditional culture, cultural relics and emerging digital technologies, which is of landmark significance in displaying and disseminating traditional culture; for creators, the open creative platform provides a new display space, so that they can achieve creative freedom while obtaining considerable economic benefits, which can be described as the best of both worlds." ”

Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation and Development Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with China City Daily that the rise of digital collections, on the one hand, is supported by new technologies represented by blockchain, which can provide a strong guarantee for the confirmation, trading and circulation of digital collections; on the other hand, it relies on the market demand side, that is, the performance of the new generation of "Z generation" people on the mainstream stage of consumption, and they prefer consumption and social sharing at the digital world and digital civilization level. And the pursuit of unique personality expression and aesthetic experience. Therefore, the digital collection just satisfies their consumption preferences. "However, the cost of creative production of digital collections, as well as circulation, dissemination, and circulation, is relatively low in the digital age. Therefore, in the massive market space, it is difficult to have the unique value of digital collections, and there may not be absolute scarcity. Chen Duan said.

Liu Dian, an associate researcher at the China Research Institute of Fudan University, told China City Daily that compared with the physical collection, the digital collection has undergone great changes at the financial level, that is, it has gradually changed from a centralized trading mechanism to a process of creation, asset generation and transaction network synchronization.

"For example, Van Gogh's paintings did not have such high artistic and economic value during the author's lifetime, but they have produced extremely high value to this day. At present, the content creation of digital collections and the generation and trading behavior of its asset allocation are often synchronized, which greatly shortens the cycle of generation and circulation of art market value, and the commercial value of digital collections not only exists in the collection itself, but also contains more commercial possibilities. Liu Dian said.

Digital collection investment needs to be cautious The market needs to be regulated

Video, audio, images, 3D models... Digital collections are becoming more and more diverse. However, the China City Daily reporter learned that the mainland digital collection market is still in the early stage of development and belongs to the state of spontaneous incubation.

"The investment risk of digital collections is still relatively large, and at this stage, most of them are consensus pricing, and this consensus depends on how many people recognize its value." This requires the influence of digital collection distribution entities and platforms to support it. The traffic effect and credibility of the release platform itself also depend on the number of fans at a certain stage. Chen Duan said.

At present, digital collections have problems such as unclear ownership, uneven content quality standards, and difficulties in protecting consumer rights and interests.

According to incomplete statistics, at present, WeChat public accounts involving digital collections, including ArtMeta Yuanyi, One Point And Counting, Yuanben Space, Zero Earth, iBox and Nuofang Body, have been banned. Most of the official accounts were prompted to be "complained by users and reviewed by the platform, there is no legal license or license, publishing, disseminating or engaging in related business activities, the account has been stopped"; some of the public accounts are banned on the grounds of suspected fraud.

In this regard, Tencent's WeChat team responded on March 30 that according to relevant national laws and regulations, in order to prevent the risk of speculation in virtual currency transactions, the WeChat public platform has standardized and rectified the public accounts and mini programs that speculate and sell digital collections for the second time.

Xu Niansha, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, suggested strengthening the copyright protection of digital collections, effectively supervising the distribution of digital collections, and establishing an access system for digital collection trading platforms.

"Because digital collections have certain similarities with traditional published publications and limited souvenirs, it is recommended that relevant departments formulate management measures for the distribution of digital collections, supervise and remove the distribution of digital collections that violate the rules and bad, and further cultivate and expand the mainstream ideological digital collection creation group in the digital environment, promote the positive growth of digital collection creation, and disseminate excellent Chinese cultural content." Xu Niansha said.

At the investment level, Chen Duan said that consumers can use digital collections as a short-term digital asset, but not as a long-term investment target. Because with the continuous expansion of the digital collection market in the future and the changes in the consumer population and fan population, the instability of the value of digital collections may become more obvious.

■ China City Daily reporter: Hu Anhua