Today (April 23) is the 27th “world reading day”. Have you read?
On April 23, China audio visual and Digital Publishing Association released the 2021 China Digital Reading Report (hereinafter referred to as the report). The report shows that the number of digital reading users in China reached 506 million in 2021, with a year-on-year increase of 2.43%, and the growth rate slowed down. The growing number of users drives the development of the market. In 2021, the overall revenue of the digital reading market reached 41.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.23%; Among them, the mass reading market is 30.25 billion yuan, the audio reading market is 8.55 billion yuan, and the professional reading market is 2.77 billion yuan.
The reporter of the daily economic news noted that the development of the Internet has also changed the way users read. 96.81% of users prefer electronic reading and 29.5% of users will choose audio reading. From the perspective of reading time, e-reading has entered the stage of deep reading, while audio reading shows the characteristics of fragmentation.
In terms of user scale, the number of digital reading users in 2021 was 506 million, of which post-95 users accounted for more than 70%. So what kind of reading preference does “generation Z” as an Internet aborigine show?
The bilibilibili reading ecology report released on the same day shows that in the past year, the total number of reading videos in station B exceeded 5.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 118%; About 90.6 million people watch reading videos at station B, of which 743000 watch at least one reading video at station B every day, with a year-on-year increase of 779%. Video reading has become a new wave.
digital reading market has exceeded 40 billion, with more than 70% of users after 95, more than half of users are willing to pay for electronic reading
According to China digital reading report in 2021, the overall scale of digital reading industry in 2021 reached 41.57 billion yuan, with an increase rate of 18.23%; Among them, the mass reading market is 30.25 billion yuan, the audio reading market is 8.55 billion yuan, and the professional reading market is 2.77 billion yuan. By the end of 2021, the number of works on the shelves was about 344686 million, with a year-on-year increase of 11.06%, including about 320462 million online literary works, accounting for 92.97%, about 1.8054 million e-books and about 617000 other worksP align = “center” overall scale and growth rate of China’s digital reading industry p align = “center” picture source: China digital reading report 2021
In terms of revenue structure, subscription revenue was 21.907 billion yuan, accounting for 52.7%; Advertising revenue was 10.683 billion yuan, accounting for 25.7%; Copyright revenue was 6.568 billion yuan, accounting for 15.8%; Other revenue was 2.412 billion yuan. Compared with 2020, subscription revenue, advertising revenue and copyright revenue increased by 1.27 billion yuan, 3.337 billion yuan and 2.383 billion yuan respectively, and their contribution rates to the scale growth of the whole digital reading market reached 18.17%, 47.73% and 34.1% respectively.
It can be seen that subscription revenue is still the main source of revenue in China’s digital reading market, but the growth momentum of advertising revenue and copyright revenue is very rapid.
Behind the prosperity of digital reading market is the continuous growth of user scale. The report shows that the number of digital reading users in China reached 506 million in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 2.43%. Among them, users aged 19-25 account for the most, reaching 44.63%; Followed by users under the age of 18, accounting for 27.25%. Based on this calculation, digital reading users account for more than 70% after 95, and “generation Z” has become the main force of digital reading in ChinaP align = “center” Image Source: 2021 China Digital Reading Report
The rapid development of the Internet has also changed the way users read. Up to 96.81% of users prefer to use e-reading, and 29.5% of users will choose audio reading. E-reading has become the most widely used reading form. In 2021, the per capita e-reading volume was 11.58 and the audio reading volume was 7.08.
In terms of reading duration, the proportion of audio reading is higher than that of electronic reading in reading less than 30 minutes, reaching 37.76%, but in reading more than 2 hours, the proportion of electronic reading is much higher than that of audio reading, reaching 57.97%. This means that electronic reading has entered the stage of deep reading, while audio reading shows the characteristics of fragmentation.
With the increasingly standardized management of book copyright in China and the continuous improvement of users’ requirements for content quality, a good copyright payment market is gradually taking shape. In the survey, 92.17% of users have paid for digital reading, an increase compared with 89.95% of paying users in 2020. Digital reading users have formed the habit of paying.
In terms of specific reading types, more than 50% of users are willing to pay for e-book reading and online literature reading, while only 20.17% of users are willing to pay for audio reading, which is lower than the proportion of users who are unwilling to pay for audio reading. Compared with audio reading, users are more willing to pay for e-book reading and online literature readingP align= “center” users’ willingness to pay p align= “center” picture source: China digital reading report 2021
nearly 100 million people watch reading videos, “video reading” has become a new trend after 00
In the Internet era, digital reading has become a significant trend. From reading to screen reading, the reading methods are becoming increasingly rich. Many content creators are keen to lead users to read by recommending books, book reviews and famous sentences. The wave of “video reading” has been set off on the video platform.
“BiliBili reading ecology report” shows that the content of reading category has increased rapidly in station B. in the past year, the total number of reading videos has exceeded 5.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 118%; About 90.6 million people watched reading videos at station B, of which 743000 watched at least one reading video at station B every day, a year-on-year increase of 779%P align = “center” Image Source: bilibilibili reading ecology Report
Specifically, people of different ages have different preferences on reading videos. According to the data, users aged 18-24 prefer reading videos of growth, psychology and love, while users aged 25-30 prefer martial arts, fantasy and business. Users over 31 tend to think about reading videos, and they prefer videos of history, politics and ancient literature.
In addition to age preference, under the influence of Sinology fever, the content of classical literature began to be widely favored by young people, accounting for 72% of young people aged 18-30.
p align = “center” Image Source: bilibilibili reading ecology Report
The report shows that among the top 10 books most concerned by station B, 60% are classical literature, and the four famous works rank among the top six. Compared with fragmented reading, netizens prefer in-depth interpretation. Taking a dream of Red Mansions as an example, there is a set of interesting data: at station B, it takes 16 years to read all the book reviews of a dream of Red MansionsP align = “center” Image Source: bilibilibili reading ecology Report
In addition to the four famous works, Confucius has become the person with the most growth potential in station B. many up masters searched historical materials and excavated documents from the perspective of Confucius’ life and complete six arts, and found the “contrast” between Confucius and the public. In the middle of last year, videos about Confucius grew by 585%.
Lu Xun has also become the “top stream writer of station B” most concerned by users. Data statistics show that among the top popular writers in station B, the number of videos about Lu Xun firmly occupies the first place. Among them, the explanation of Lu Xun’s life and series of works is as long as 13 hours, with a playback volume of more than 36 million; Liu Cixin ranked second. Cao Xueqin, Wu Chengen and Mo Yan were also on the listP align = “center” Image Source: bilibilibili reading ecology Report
Video reading has also stimulated the creative desire of more content creators. Netizens have spontaneously formed a trend of writing poetry in the comment area. Netizens “make peace with poetry”, and the recovery of poetry has become a significant phenomenon of knowledge in station B. In the past year, the scale of “poet” in the comment area of station B has increased by 113%.
