□ reporter Of this newspaper, Yin Kun
On the morning of October 28, the Parallel Forum on Audio Content Industry, jointly sponsored by China Press and Publication Research Institute and Chinese Online Digital Publishing Group Co., Ltd., was held at the 11th China Digital Publishing Expo. The theme of the forum is "New Scenarios of Consumption and New Trends of Content". The participants discussed the topics of content innovation, technological innovation and model innovation in the audio content industry.
Original into the blue ocean of the audio industry
Relevant data show that in 2020, the global audiobook market size increased by 25% year-on-year, with revenue exceeding 4 billion pounds, equivalent to more than 36 billion yuan. Among them, China's audiobook market size reached 8.21 billion yuan, and it is expected to surpass the United States to become the world's largest audiobook market in 2022.
Chen Qiang, vice president of Dragonfly FM, used "audio first" to describe the next development direction of the audio content industry, and the trend of audio original programs favored by users has been presented in the United States. He said that in the past few years, the market penetration rate of the audio industry has been about 40%, which is still a big gap with the penetration rate of the video and graphics industries. As a "beneficiary", after obtaining content sources from online literature, book publishing, and video programs, the audio content industry expects more original audio content to help increase the penetration rate of the audio market and truly form a "circle-breaking" effect.
Focusing on the innovative direction of audio content, Chen Qiang said that from the perspective of the innovation of the anchor model, from the research and development end to the product end, the anchor and his personal brand are fully content construction, traffic support and industry operation, and the virtuous circle of the achievement platform is achieved through the achievement of the anchor. From the perspective of content form, variety shows are the larger traffic entrances of video platforms, and audio variety shows are still very few, and audio variety shows are expected to further highlight the value of traffic. In terms of content categories, commentaries rank among the top in audio platform traffic, but the content supply is much smaller than the amount of market listening. As a result, the market demand for new storytelling by newcomers will continue to increase, and pan-information podcasts will be welcomed by young listeners.
Focusing on how to tell original stories with good voices, Zhang Chao, co-founder of Beijing Magic Culture Media Co., Ltd., combined with the exploration of adapting "Beiyang Night Travel" from an original story to a radio drama, said that radio dramas are not only new stories that can exist independently from the original story, but also can reasonably exist in the original system to achieve the effect of "1+1>2". Attaching importance to the innovation of radio dramas at the adaptation level is the key to telling a good story with sound, which is embodied in reflecting the sense of reality, using sound advantages to strengthen character shaping, and boldly innovating characters and story lines through the differences in sound forms.
Technology-aided product innovation
With the development of 5G and AI technology, its application in the field of audio reading is also becoming more and more mature. The forum showed the early use of TTS (from text to speech) technology to rigid mechanized voice reading and the current use of AI anchors vivid and smooth reading, the gap between the two made the participants sigh.
Talking about the impact of new technologies on the audio content industry, Chen Jun, assistant president of Anhui Science and Technology Publishing House and general manager of the Elderly Listening Book Division, pointed out from three aspects that from the perspective of content production, 5G, cloud computing, AI and other technologies empower cultural ecology, reduce recording costs, and improve recording efficiency. From the perspective of content distribution, technology helps recommend personalized content for different user groups to achieve accurate popularization and accurate dissemination. From the perspective of terminal scene experience, technology enriches the display form of traditional culture and improves the user experience.
So, will the development of voice technology replace live streamers? Zhao Lin, associate professor of the School of Broadcast Hosting Arts of the Communication University of China, said that AI will not replace the anchor, but can liberate the anchor from low-level repetitive work, so that there is more energy to innovate and create high-quality products. "AI can replace human intelligence, but it can never replace human intelligence and emotion." Zhao Lin said that for example, the anchor carries an emotional tone and breathing sound during the performance process, and the expressions and actions that help emotional expression cannot be simulated and reproduced by AI. She also stressed the importance of professional training for anchors and exploring the establishment of industry standards.
Subdivide IP to create high-quality products
The business model of the audio content industry is gradually maturing, and the copyright split is more refined. "For example, in the early days, the film and television industry authorized only film and television adaptation rights, and with the continuous development of the industry, it is currently split into network drama copyright and big film copyright." Chen Qiang said that at present, the audio content industry only has the authorization of audio adaptation rights, with the development of audio books, radio dramas, reviews and other different audio products, I believe that the future IP licensing strategy will continue to be subdivided, so as to meet the listening preferences of different groups of people.
In recent years, Chinese Online has continued to make efforts in IP development. According to Chen Fang, deputy general manager of the online audio division of Chinese, the online audio resources Chinese have exceeded 400,000 hours. In the field of audio reading, anchors have become an important part of interpreting high-quality IP. To this end, Chinese online from the direction of anchor support, training, incubation, monetization, etc., explore the establishment of audio industry anchor standards and ecology, through incubation and support of high-quality anchors, relying on Chinese online IP resources, customized audio content products, and network-wide operation.
"With the gradual enhancement of the linkage effect between audio reading and online literature, film and television, traditional publishing and other fields, the value of empowering the development of other content industries will be further highlighted." Zhang Yijun, first vice president of the China Audio-Visual and Digital Publishing Association, said that in terms of product innovation, it is necessary to focus on product and service innovation, create new scenes and new experiences of audio reading, such as mobilizing users' other senses on the basis of listening, and providing a new immersive experience to meet diversified reading needs. In addition, while producing and creating technical service content, we should also pay attention to innovative applications in quality management and author services, and improve the production and management level of audio reading products.