? After NetEase Cloud Music's attack, who should be most afraid? QQ Music? Or the fake singers above?

After NetEase Cloud Music attacked QQ Music, KuGou Music came to help its brother, while many netizens also divided into "the angry and frustrated faction", "the faction that switched sides", and "the faction that stood firm", leading to chaos throughout the region.

In the process of mutual verbal attacks, some users were confused by the fake singers on QQ Music, unable to distinguish between Li Kui and Li Gui; when they resolutely became members, they were often cheated again by QQ Music due to tactics such as member price discrimination and secondary charging.

Relying on its outstanding money-making ability, QQ Music can acquire more copyrights, forming a virtuous cycle for itself; however, NetEase Cloud Music's attack seems to avoid the main issues and focus on trivia, making it difficult to deliver a fatal blow to its competitor.

Against the backdrop of the chaotic battle among music apps, some users have already abandoned platforms and listen to music through local downloads; after all, music itself is not platform-dependent, as long as it's not a fake.

Platform and netizen chaos

NetEase Cloud Music has fired, with QQ Music as the target.

Recently, NetEase Cloud Music posted that QQ Music's DIY player feature was a follow-up "update" to its own, drawing inspiration from its music player DIY and "vinyl style creativity contest".

At the same time, NetEase Cloud Music also looked back and recounted QQ Music's imitation of its black vinyl playback interface, "Listen Together" feature, and Forbidden City player interface; it also quoted Lu Xun's famous lines to subtly criticize QQ Music's behavior.

The rivalry between peers often stems from blatant animosity. NetEase Cloud Music's shout-out did not elicit a response from QQ Music but instead attracted KuGou Music.

In response, KuGou Music posted: "Isn't it true that the DIY feature for customizing the player background was pioneered by me? I also held a DIY player contest. What kind of innovation is mine, then?"

The anticipated battle between the two kings turned into a three-way showdown among music apps with KuGou Music's entry, making the rivalry even more exciting.

KuGou Music, which was initially uninvolved, chose to join the fray prominently, seemingly because it and QQ Music both belong to Tencent Music Entertainment Group. It stepped in to help out of fear that its own side might suffer a disadvantage.

The rivalry among music apps not only excited netizens but also divided them into different factions, leading to heated debates in the comments section.

The first faction, called the "Angry and Frustrated Faction," sympathizes with NetEase Cloud Music's plight but hopes it can win through copyright strength.

Regarding this, some netizens said, "If you can get your copyrights in order, Red Mosquito Coil, I'll speak up for you." "Without copyrights, even the best-designed app is useless; instead of making a fuss here, you should focus more on buying copyrights."

The second faction, called the "Faction That Switched Sides," saw NetEase Cloud Music's vulnerability and immediately switched allegiances at the beginning of the battle.

For example, some netizens said, "I downloaded QQ Music and found many songs that I couldn't listen to on Cloud Music. QQ Music has them all, so I decided to stop NetEase Cloud Music's automatic deductions." "I used to be a NetEase Cloud Music user, but I couldn't listen to Jay Chou's songs, so I switched to QQ Music."

The third faction, called the "Faction That Stood Firm," despised QQ Music's imitation and vowed to seek justice for NetEase Cloud Music.

Some netizens said, "I stick with NetEase Cloud Music because of its aesthetic. Even though its copyright library isn't complete." "I'm on your side, NetEase Cloud Music. Boycott the plagiarizing QQ Music."

Fake singers, membership harvesting

NetEase Cloud Music's sudden attack may not change QQ Music's imitation nature, but long-time QQ Music users have been reminded of the fear instilled by fake singers.

Pan Ge discovered that many fake singers abound on QQ Music today, and users may think they're listening to Li Kui when it's actually Li Gui.

For example, after "The Landlord's Cats" gained fame, a singer named "The Landlord's Kitty Cats" appeared on QQ Music, with the only song "The Tender Connection with the Universe" also originally sung by "The Landlord's Cats".

On the other hand, the band Prism on QQ Music has nearly 200,000 fans; however, fake singers like Lingjing Band, Lengjing Band, and Jingzi Band also appear on QQ Music, with some covers even gaining more popularity than the originals.

Users are willing to listen to fake music often because they are not VIPs, but many encounter price discrimination on the path to becoming QQ Music members.

Netizen Mango said, "I've had QQ Music's Green Diamond membership for a long time and noticed that its automatic renewal price has sneakily increased, from 13 and 18 yuan per month in 2021 to 38 and finally 45 yuan in 2023."

"After I turned off automatic renewal, QQ Music first reduced the price to 9.9 yuan, then later, after a period of inactivity, it dropped to 6 yuan. The less attention you give it, the better the deal."

In addition to price discrimination against the same user, QQ Music also seems to engage in price discrimination among different users.

For example, netizen Xiaobu told Pan Ge, "My friend's QQ Music membership subscription page shows 6.88 and 28 yuan for continuous monthly subscriptions. Since I started using the app, I've never seen such prices, except for the initial 9.9 yuan."

Meanwhile, netizen Ashan also said, "My husband's QQ Music subscription has been renewed for a long time, while my account has never had a membership. After stopping the subscription this time, I found that his account renewal costs 10 yuan, while mine only costs 1 yuan."

Different membership prices for different users may allow QQ Music to accurately profit; it also has other tricks up its sleeve when it comes to collecting membership fees.

Regarding this, user Coco told Pan Ge, "After July this year, an independent membership is required for QQ Music's TV version. It's really unappealing."

On the other hand, another netizen said, "I wanted to listen to music on TV, so I recharged for QQ Music's Green Diamond membership, but it turns out it can't be used on TV. I have to spend an additional 18 yuan to buy a TV version membership."

The key is copyright

Although QQ Music's unconventional money-making tactics have been criticized repeatedly, the results seem positive.

This is because, relying on a steady stream of income, QQ Music has sufficient funds to purchase more music copyrights, attracting more users and achieving a virtuous cycle for itself.

At the same time, for works that it cannot acquire the copyright to, QQ Music uses fake products that are indistinguishable from the real thing to temporarily stabilize its user base, preventing them from quickly defecting.

Regarding this, some netizens said, "Using the money earned to buy copyrights and copying others in other areas is how QQ Music has been successful."

According to QuestMobile data, in September 2024, KuGou Music, QQ Music, and NetEase Cloud Music had monthly active users of 230 million, 195 million, and 145 million, respectively, ranking in the top three positions in the industry.

This shows that NetEase Cloud Music's aggressive move seems to stem from its precarious position. With the industry leaders allied, it's only a matter of time before the third-place player is marginalized.

A Tencent employee told Pan Ge, "It's probably because NetEase Cloud Music's market data is poor and its user base is declining. Our financial reports reflect a steady growth in user numbers."

However, NetEase Cloud Music seems to have chosen the wrong direction with this attack. For most users, a personalized player is just the icing on the cake; a well-stocked music library with adequate copyrights and an excellent recommendation mechanism are the keys to success for music apps.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of music apps not interoperating with each other's songs, some users have abandoned membership subscriptions and resorted to the most primitive method of local downloads to listen to good music anytime, anywhere.

After all, truly good music is never confined by platform prisons; those fake pirated songs will gradually be forgotten by people after losing platform protection.