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Dear platform practitioners of iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku, and the entire long video industry:
After carefully watching your speech at the 9th China Internet Audiovisual Conference a few days ago, I have some thoughts to share with you. I believe my opinion can represent a part of the ordinary audience (and the number is not very small), and can help you realize the real problems faced by the long video industry and how to solve them.
In the past two months, the long video industry has set off a large-scale and continuous copyright protection boom, and launched a complaint against the "second creation" behavior of medium and short video platforms such as Tiaoyin, Fasthand, B Station, Watermelon, etc. The platform and film and television producers generally believe that the secondary creation of video, such as slicing, mixed cutting and complaining, infringes copyright in a sense and affects the overall interests of the long video industry, so it needs to be limited or compensated. Many people have proposed that dithering, fast hand and station B should pay the video copyright owner; Others suggested that the so-called "copyright fingerprint mechanism" should be introduced, and the platform background would automatically review the copyright. No second innovation content without purchasing the copyright could be launched online.
Until three days ago, at the 9th China Online Audiovisual Conference, the head of a parent video platform (whose name is no longer specified) made some unpopular remarks, such as "the short video platform is feeding the users with pig food" and "where on earth did you see the American TV series" The Nightmare of East City ", The result has completely changed the public perception - ordinary users had a little support and sympathy for the copyright protection of long videos, but now this support and sympathy are disappearing and replaced by dissatisfaction and disgust. Of course, the vast majority of long video practitioners are innocent.
Let me elaborate on my personal opinion. We are actually discussing two issues:
First, has the secondary creation content of the medium and short video platform infringed the copyright of the long video platform and the author?
The answer to this question is obvious: very likely. In particular, some large segments of the original video are quoted, and only a few modifications have been made to the "segmentation and cutting" content, as well as the "complaining content" with too small modifications, which are likely to infringe the copyright and need to be limited or compensated to the copyright owner. In developed countries, medium and short video platforms often also conduct large-scale copyright acquisition for film and television companies. Some long video platforms purchased the copyright of Friends Reunion, but were transported and processed by the UP owner on the same day, which may also be wrong. However, I am not an expert in intellectual property law. The specific boundary between compliance and violation still needs professional judgment.
Second, is the secondary creation of short and medium video platforms the fundamental reason for the difficulties in the long video industry and the unprofitable long video platforms?
Normal people will get the answer: No. In fact, the secondary creation based on film and television content only accounts for a few percent of the duration of users of Tiaoyin, Fasthand, and Station B, and not all viewers love it; Even if these secondary innovations are completely eliminated, it is not enough to change the dilemma of the long video platform. It would be naive for us to classify Erchuang roughly as "piracy" and then think that "piracy" has harmed the long video industry.
(It's easy to blame piracy, but it's not smart) Dear managers of the long video platform, do you really think that as long as the second innovation is eliminated, the life of long video will be easier? Do you really not realize the fundamental problem of this industry? Or do you realize that you are just embarrassed to say that the owner of Erchuang UP is a soft persimmon, so you can pinch it anyway?
In the past two years, while the rise of Tiaoyin, B station and WeChat video number, the long video platform is not only losing money, but also declining its user base. In recent quarters, the total number of users of the three Aiyouteng companies has not increased, and I estimate that the total number of paying users will probably not increase; Their daily live subscribers may not be able to keep up with Diaoyin, and their total operating revenue is less than one-third of Diaoyin. Although Station B is not profitable, it has at least made user growth, and has become the content platform with the highest stickiness for Generation Z users. What about long videos? What users have you won and what content trends have you led? Have you created anything new in the past few years?
To be honest, the reason why Tiaoyin, Fasthand and Station B have not yet come to occupy the long video market is not because of the high barriers in the industry, nor because of the lack of money - they have no less money than you! Both Station B and Watermelon have tried to make their own long content, and they have also spent money on the copyright of long videos, which has not been fully developed, just because the business model of long videos is too poor to be occupied
Dithering, fast hand and station B win users' hearts because they take users more seriously and their content is more popular; Your long video platform cannot win users' hearts, because you never put users' needs first. Do you agree with my view?
Let's ask a popular twitter anchor and B station UP host randomly to see how they treat their fans and listen to their voices in various ways. We can also find a few operations of Tiaoyin, Fasthand and Station B to see how they study user preferences and adjust content according to user feedback. They are not omnipotent and often make mistakes, but they know one thing: users are the key factor in determining their success or failure, and they should do what users love to see. In the Internet era, this is a golden rule for games, graphics and video content.
Therefore, I often ask myself curiously: Is long video really a part of the Internet industry? Why do long video practitioners, from the platform side to the content side, care so little about the user's perception, but indulge in their own world and engage in some self deception? Self deception may bring the red carpet and champagne waterfall, but it cannot bring real traffic, real reputation, or make the long video platform break even.
A few days ago, I saw a third-party statistical data: when watching domestic movies and TV plays, the vast majority of audiences are accustomed to "jumping to watch" or playing at double speed, or even the whole play at double speed. It's funny that the person in charge of a long video platform took this as an achievement and thought it reflected the universality and vitality of long video. I can't complain - isn't it a failure to see a super drama that you spent hundreds of millions of dollars to produce or purchase, and was watched by people all the time?
Who will watch Avengers, Speed and Passion and Harry Potter at double speed? Who will watch Game of Power, House of Cards and Big Bang Theory at double speed? Even if it is the domestic high-quality dramas 20 or 30 years ago, such as "Iron Teeth and Copper Teeth Ji Xiaolan", "Yongzheng Dynasty" and "Huanzhu Gege", I will never watch them again! You made the "Super Drama" stinky and long, hoping to occupy the user's time and maintain the popularity of the title; Have you really considered the actual feelings of users?
Do you really think that users like your "IP drama" and "head content"? To tell you the truth, for most users, the real top content now is -- Li Ziqi, Li Xueqin, Luo Xiang, Half Buddha Immortal, Director Ao, Li Jiaqi, Weiya, Simba, Luo Yonghao and He Xuehao. If you don't believe it, you can interview dozens of people randomly on the street and ask them whether they prefer the content of these people or the "head dramas" you created.
(We must understand the problem before we can solve it) In respect of respecting and satisfying users, even domestic films, which are often criticized, have done countless times better than domestic dramas. After all, the audience needs to pay directly for the film, and a little poor attendance will lead to the loss of money; The drama is a B2B2C business. The chain from the end user to the upstream is very long, and the water inside is very deep. Sadly, the long video platform relies most on dramas. I thought that the practical and vigorous style of the Internet industry would promote the development of the drama industry in a better direction; Unexpectedly, the current long video industry combines the worst aspects of the Internet and drama industry, but it has made no progress.
Do you really think that if you stack up big stars, big IPs and hot topics with a good schedule, you can create a "header"? With your intelligence, you should have realized that this kind of gambling is unreliable. In that case, why do you still do this? Is it because of the heavy KPI pressure? Is it because of the endless rent-seeking mechanism? Or is it because the personnel (especially the management) change too quickly, which makes it impossible to form a clear strategy?
I have never seen an Internet segment industry, with 1 billion MAUs (overlapping users have been removed) and 400 million to 500 million DAUs, accounting for 10-15% of the overall duration of the Internet. It has gone through more than 10 years of development, but is still half alive and suffering huge losses. Moreover, in every link of this subdivided industrial chain, from the platform side, the issuer to the producer, everyone is half dead. Maybe you are used to blaming others - blame the immature audience, the strict regulatory standards, and the capital's eagerness for quick success... But all others know that you (the platform side) are the biggest problem.
Let's go back to the beginning of this article. Did the second creation of short and medium video platforms such as Tiaoyin, Fasthand, Station B, watermelon infringe the interests of the long video platform? I believe that there may be some violations, and the specific situation will be decided by the competent department. However, even if these problems are eliminated, even if the second innovation of film and television is completely eliminated from the Chinese Internet, can you solve the problem of your long video platform? Can you miraculously get rid of the state of huge losses, with your fists shaking and your feet kicking at station B, and achieve profits?
Even if we think about it with our heels, we know it's impossible. The real solution, you have always understood: understand the needs of users, take the heart of users, and strive to do what users really like. Don't you all want to be China's Netflix? If your content reaches half the level of Netflix, users may have already voted with their feet.
I have bought members of iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku for only one month each time, just for a few of my personal favorite content. However, I bought the member of Station B in 2023. I urgently hope that iQIYI or Tencent Video can also give me reason to buy members in 2023. Can you come up with something worth doing?
Not only me, but also 1 billion users are waiting. Waiting for you to realize the real problem, waiting for you to take action.
thank you.
(Statement: This article only represents the author's view, not Sina.com's position.)
