Shi Kaiwen: Spotify's Model would not Work in China

Shi Kaiwen is a 26-year-old young man. He studies classical piano since the age of four. He got into the Central Conservatory of Music at 16. He founded a music record company in 2005, Koocu in 2008, and Saylikes, a music site, in 2010. In 2012, he started a music streaming service called Jing.fm. Jing’s appearance caught our attention. Your correspondent started to pay attention to Shi through Jing. Not long ago, he officially quit Jing.fm. Huxiu then had an interview with this serial entrepreneur who is still just 26.

Our conversation took place before his new product, Blink (Kuai Kan), was released. The conversation lasted for three hours in a cafe below Shi’s new company at noon on a weekend. The impression Shi presented was a man who was energetic and enthusiastic, a conversationalist with a sort of frankness that keeps you staying to talk with him.

What is your perspective on mobile music?

Shi: Currently, there is no significant difference between music apps, except the UI. It is always a playlist or music on demand. I actually doubt that a music app can change the music industry, under the circumstances of the country. What matters is the content. People who produce good content don’t care much about the product. Some people hold that the product does not matter as long as there is good content.

I used to oppose this idea when I was a product manager. But now I don’t. Take Xiami for an example. Its traffic did drop a bit after it was forced to remove lots of music from its library. Only in-depth users stayed because of the product. For me, I would resort to other services if I cannot find the music I want on Xiami. Recently I have been listening to some movie soundtracks, like the movie Her. I could only find its soundtracks on Xiami. So I came back to it again.

In terms of my migration, my behaviour was determined by the content. So it is hard to tell whether the product or the content is the king. The content is increasingly playing a crucial role.

Is it a black-and-white issue?

Shi: So far, I think the content is the king. The product is not decisive. You might obtain a good reputation among high-level users with a good product. But still, users would leave if they can’t get what they want to hear or have. So the winner will be the one with more good content.

Music apps are different from video apps. None has had a clear profit model yet. There are also few ads. Spotify’s model would not work in China; at least not for now. A quarter of Spotify’s users pay monthly to use the service. How many users in China are paying for a service? According to the information I can access, the rate is one in thousands.

If you were still doing a music product, what idea would you have in terms of the model?

Shi: Honestly, I don’t really have any constructive idea. I am still exploring.

Give us an idea about your new project. Is it about socialising?

Shi: I haven’t decided that it will be a social product. But I have enormous enthusiasm for it. Luckily I have got some investors who trust me. And I still have a team of my own. So what I am doing is a “lean start-up”. We think while we research.

Are you also an angel investor?

Shi: Yes. I have invested in a few student-run projects. Not big ones, because I don’t have much money. 

Have you ever thought of becoming a full-time investor?

Shi: There were a couple of investors who invited me to do so. But that doesn’t suit my personality. I remember Yu Minhong once explained why he started his own business. He said he would definitely fail if he worked for someone. You can analyse your personality through your hobbies. He likes skiing and horse-riding only. He said, how could someone who likes adventurous sports sit in an office? That’s true for me too. I like horse-riding, too. I like climbing.

I like to smoke at home. Can you analyse for me what kind of work suits my hobby?

Shi: Interesting! Actually his words don’t offer realistic guidance. But that rang a bell to me.

Why did you not work in the music industry but start businesses in the tech industry?

Shi: When I was at university, all I dreamed to do was to become a music producer who is cooler than anybody. And I did set up a record company when I was still a student. Not particularly successful, though. I made some money but it’s not worth mentioning. My company was like an out-sourcing company, composing music for others every day. It was like an assembly line in a factory. It would compose any music for any one. What it produced was monotonous. It was a torture. I decided to change this industry. Why should I waste my talent in out-sourcing? I had so much good music in my hard disk at the time. So I wondered why there was no good platform for publishing them. It sounds ridiculous now. But that was what I thought.

Then I wanted to enter the internet industry. I wanted to set up a website.

If I were an investor, I would give you my money. You have brilliant ideas.

Shi: I will wait till the day you have the money.

Don’t worry about money. There are lots of rich men called tuhao. If one of them likes your project, you would get a few millions right away.

Shi: I never accept money from people like that.

Why?

Shi: They are the sort of people who want to enter the industry but know little, but still think this is a good industry. Most of them do not really have ideas. Their eyes are fixed on the yields.