New AI, digital technologies empower Chinese music industry

The 2024 Global Audio Summit officially kicked off in Shanghai on March 28. As an international event focusing on the development and transformation of the audio industry, the theme of this year's conference is "Audio, @Future." The discussions cover hot topics and trends in the music and audio industry, including AIGC (AI-Generated Content) application, smart headphones and wearables, 3D audio, sound and music technologies.

In recent times, with the rapid development of AI technology, the integration of audio technology, audio content and hardware terminals into everyday life has deepened significantly. The result is a more immersive and customized audio environment that better serves the diverse needs and preferences of users worldwide.

At a sub-session on the 3D audio and music industry, Tencent Music, Huawei, Honor, Guoguang Electronics and Danish speaker brand Vifa talked in detail about how new technologies are evolving and being used in newer and up-to-date ways.

Yan Zhenhai, director of QQ Music, said at the forum that they have developed a high-quality panoramic sound technology that will break through the traditional limitations of sound by using AI. "This innovation allows music to achieve a three-dimensional sound effect, creating a more immersive listening experience. It will bring new trends into the Chinese music industry – in both content creation and technology application."

Chinese streaming-music giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) just released its financial results for Q4 and year-end 2023, which shows significant achievements in enhancing the quality and efficiency of the company's music content ecosystem, underpinned by its dual-engine content-and-platform strategy and deeper insights into users and content. As music subscription revenues and online music services exhibited exceptional performance throughout the year, the company had net adds of 18.2 million music paid users recorded in 2023, up from 12.3 million in 2022.

Its use of AIGC has enhanced user experience and fostered music creation for artists. By integrating Large Language Models into music streaming and creation, TME has made music discovery and production increasingly intelligent and personalized, while its introduction of Venus' AI composition tool has helped to support artists' music creation through their original text prompts and rhythm clips.

In China, the music industry is set to integrate more deeply with technology, as all players, both major and minor, look to improve the overall quality of the industry chain.

In December 2023, seven departments in China, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration, the National Intellectual Property Administration, and China Media Group, jointly issued the "Guidelines on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of the Audio-Visual Electronics Industry." These guidelines provide advice on continuously promoting the high-quality development of the audio-visual electronics industry, and building a full industry-chain cooperation.