Ever since the emergence of domestic Internet giants forming gangs and encircling territories on the borderless Internet in the name of ecology, the domestic Internet environment seems to have regressed by 20 years, and is even worse than it was 20 years ago: At that time, if we wanted to listen to music, we could directly download an entire disc online. But now if we want to listen to an album in its entirety, we are likely to have to sign up for membership on several music platforms at the same time, and even sign up for a network disk super membership if necessary.

However, a piece of news about the cooperation and interoperability between Alibaba and Tencent some time ago has brought a slight change to the phenomenon of "divided power" in the domestic Internet: According to the content circulated online, in the future Alibaba will cooperate with Taobao and Tencent. Maozhong has introduced WeChat payment, and Tencent will allow users to share Alibaba’s e-commerce news, or allow WeChat users to use mini programs to access Alibaba’s business. If the news is true, this will be the most far-reaching cooperation project between Tencent and Alibaba. From the perspective of the Internet market, such cooperation will forever change the domestic Internet landscape.

But unfortunately, as of August 5, neither party in the rumor has responded positively to the rumor. Even in the public reply of Alibaba CEO some time ago, he only mentioned that "we will follow the government's requirements and work with other platforms to face the future and meet each other halfway." He did not directly respond to the news of Alibaba's "Tong Goose".

The lack of official response does not mean that there will not be more news on the Internet. Another screenshot circulating on the Internet reveals more details of the cooperation between the two parties from another angle: The screenshot is certified as NetEase Cloud Music Project Manager, a user named Dai Zhuo left a message saying that Taobao’s 88VIP members will join QQ members. At the same time, according to the 88VIP membership rights mentioned in the accompanying picture, the rights and interests of QQ Music Green Diamond Annual Card will be launched in September.

Considering that domestic Internet companies often release "good news" before and after Double 11, coupled with the identity of "NetEase Cloud Music Product Manager" and the decent 88VIP member rights table, it is related to some time ago In the Internet rectification activities, the department has listed the blocking of website addresses and interference with the operation of other companies as the focus of rectification. 88VIP and QQ Music are likely to cooperate in September as rumored, which is obviously a good thing for consumers.

But what does this mean for both parties?

Alibaba Music missed the opportunity

We first saw that Alibaba provided "opposite" music membership rights in 88VIP. From another perspective, it is no different. Yu has thrown in the towel on the battlefield of domestic streaming music services. As users, the reason why we download this type of music player software is to listen to music. In the domestic music market, whoever holds more and more popular music copyrights will gain more users and have the right to speak in the industry.

In July 2015, the "Notice on Ordering Online Music Service Providers to Stop Unauthorized Dissemination of Music Works" issued by relevant departments officially kicked off the "copyright hegemony". From NetEase to Tencent, almost all streaming media software is waving the banner of copyright and "removing" friends' tracks from the shelves. In order to ensure that users of Xiami Music and Tiantian Dongting still have songs to listen to, Alibaba Music has also cooperated with domestic and foreign record companies such as Universal, Sony, and Warner to expand its "arsenal."

It may be that Gao Xiaosong, the CEO of Alibaba Music at the time, believed that "copyright cannot save Alibaba." At that time, Alibaba Music did not invest all its energy in the copyright market. Instead, it wanted to start from the source of music - musicians, and provide Alibaba with Make a real impact on your music career. So one year after the copyright war started, Alibaba Music integrated resources from Tiantian Dongting and Xiami Music and grandly launched a new music product-Alibaba Planet.

But the problem is that Ali Planet has made drastic changes to the functions of Tiantian Dongting. In addition to removing a large number of songs from the shelves, it has also changed the product center from music playback to musician interaction, which has changed Ali Music users’ understanding of Ali. The "last concern" of the music product was written off, which directly prompted Tiantian Dongting's old users to switch to other music platforms. This is also the inevitable result of Alibaba Planet's "disrespect for old users".

As an "ecological platform" rather than a "streaming media platform", the inability to retain users means that it cannot assume the responsibility of "distribution" and naturally cannot attract creators. Without creators as the core, Alibaba Planet will naturally not be able to provide "gravity" to attract users. Although Gao Xiaosong single-handedly established Alibaba Planet with advanced ideas, in the end Alibaba Music still needs to spend a lot of money to purchase music copyrights like other "outdated" streaming software.

A gesture of goodwill from 88VIP

Unfortunately, it is too late. Several other "participants" in the music "copyright war" are busy "ecologically counterattack" at Alibaba Music. At this time, they have taken advantage of the opportunity, and the market share that originally belonged to Alibaba's music department has been taken by competitors such as QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music. Alibaba Music, which chose the wrong skill points, lost its ability to compete with brands such as Tencent and NetEase from the beginning.

The addition of QQ Music membership rights to 88VIP is, to put it bluntly, a manifestation of Alibaba’s music business’s “willingness to be at a disadvantage”. Although brands such as Kuwo and Kugou have the ability to compete with NetEase Cloud in terms of copyright after adding copyright in the later period, compared with QQ Music, Alibaba's investment in the music industry is obviously not enough. NetEase Cloud Music decided to take the music social route many years ago and found and realized its unique user value on another track.

Since you can’t compete head-on, why not cooperate with your opponents and turn their opponents’ advantages into your own competitiveness? If 88VIP really provides QQ Music annual membership card, it means that the 88VIP ecosystem will cover both NetEase Cloud and QQ Music, the two major competitors, which can significantly increase the gold content of Taobao 88VIP.

Tencent opening the city gate

From Tencent’s perspective, letting QQ Music enter 88VIP is actually a win-win deal. In the short term, allowing 88 members' rights to cover QQ Music will have a certain impact on QQ Music's membership business. After all, compared with the annual fee of 188 yuan, 88VIP of 88 yuan is obviously more cost-effective.

But from a long-term perspective, 88VIP can bring more active users to QQ Music. More active users mean that QQ Music can go further in value-added services other than membership fees. , digital album sales that require additional payment are one of the "long-term returns" of QQ Music.

As for "Taobao and Tmall introducing WeChat payment", it is a rare opportunity for Tencent. Although WeChat has long occupied a dominant position in the domestic Internet, in terms of e-commerce and online payment, the current WeChat or Tencent system cannot compete with the Alibaba system, which started as an e-commerce company. Under this premise, WeChat and Taobao opened up relevant restrictions to each other, which is a rare victory for both parties.

The ability of WeChat Pay to be connected to Taobao means that the WeChat Pay system can be separated from the WeChat ecosystem and appear independently as a payment tool on other platforms, which is particularly important for the overseas layout of WeChat Pay. If Alibaba’s e-commerce links can be freely distributed on the WeChat platform, this will also completely change the e-commerce landscape in the domestic sinking market.

But it is also important to note that if external links are distributed within the WeChat ecosystem, it will inevitably affect the existing WeChat public account system and also weaken Tencent’s voice in the e-commerce field.

Considering that WeChat will become Tencent's future entrance, the form of cooperation between WeChat and Taobao is likely to be discussed, and even "stopping transactions" is expected.

Openness is the only way

In fact, under the requirements and supervision of relevant departments, Internet companies becoming open is the only way for enterprises in the future. For Internet giants like Tencent and Alibaba, opening up has never been a particularly difficult thing. How to maintain their market share while opening up, or obtain more benefits from the open Internet environment. This is the fundamental reason why major Internet companies hesitate on the road to openness.

Despite this, from a user perspective, I always hope that Internet brands can accelerate their opening process, which will not only bring a larger market to the brand, but also bring a better experience to users. . The addition of 88VIP’s membership benefits to QQ Music is an example of “win-win-win”. I hope that in the future development of China’s Internet, there will be more and more such “openness”.