Photo Credit: NetEase Cloud Music
Taylor Swift’s latest album Midnights continues to perform well in China. Here’s a peek at the latest numbers.
Following up on Digital Music News’ previous report of 250,000+ album sales for Midnights in China, we have some new numbers shared by NetEase Cloud Music. As of November 7, the album has sold 624,913. NetEase says almost 300,000 copies were sold on its platform at 35 RMB ($4.92) per copy. Midnights sold through 50,000 copies within 10 hours on NCM following its October 19 release in China.
Since its release in China, Midnights (3 am Edition) has surpassed the number of copies sold by Taylor’s previous two albums released in 2021 in the country. Her latest album sales are the highest among the recent digital album releases in China over the last month, too. Swift has over six million followers on NCM, which includes subscription-based content.
TechCrunch reported just a few days ago that QQ Music sold around 196,000 copies shortly after its release.
The higher-than-expected pricing for the album has made some Chinese music fans upset. “The price is just unreasonable,” one QQ user said in the comments section. “This is not a question of affordability, 35 yuan is cheap, the price of two cups of milk tea, but it is just unreasonable. From a dozen to 30 [yuan], if there is no restriction to increase the price indiscriminately, one day it can rise to 135 yuan($18.99).”
Oddly enough, that’s about what I remember paying for a TLC CD I bought back in the 90s. NetEase Cloud Music says its user base is more likely to feature fans of US, EU, and Japanese music from outside of China. NetEase Cloud Music has gained material market share in China vs. Tencent Music by offering 15%-20% discounts from the standard 8 RMB monthly price for its subscription price. For now, the battle between China’s music streaming services is heating up.