Will the online novels be adapted to the radio drama, will it become the next content?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Internet Entertainment Watch” (ID: wldygc2016), the author Ming Yuefan.
3 months, 50, 54%.
This set of numbers summarizes the copyright development of the online novels in Jinjiang Literature City in the past three months.
According to the information in the Jinjiang Literature City Station, from June to August 2019, the site signed a total of 91 online novel copyright development agreements, of which 50 were copyright development projects, accounting for more than 54%.
Rough calculations, To date, about 16 works per month in Jinjiang Literature City have reached a contract for cooperation in the development of radio dramas (50÷3≈16.7).
According to the 2018 IP data of Jinjiang Literature City, the annual inventory data was compiled. In the whole year of 2018, there were 92 works signed by Jinjiang Literature City. About 7 works each month reached the signing cooperation of radio drama development (92÷12≈7.7).
As the highest success rate network literature IP output platform in China, the copyright development data of Jinjiang Literature City has important reference significance for the market. In one year, the number of works signed in the station’s radio dramas increased from 7 to 16 in a single month. From this, it can be felt that compared with the few people in previous years, radio dramas are becoming the mainstream form of online novel copyright development. Received market attention.
The difference between a radio drama and asound book
The current mainstream audio platforms,
Basically have broadcast
Content channels such as dramas, audio books, storytelling, and cross talk.
In the classification, some platforms equate radio dramas with multiplayer novels and are classified into audiobook channels. However, in the strict sense, there are subtle differences between radio dramas and audiobooks. The two are not the same concept.
The audiobook is about equal to the simplified version of the radio drama, usually broadcast by one person, and has low requirements for music accompaniment and sound effects. In general, there are more audiobooks adaptedfrom popular books, each episode lasts about 20 minutes.
Compared with audio books, the production process of radio dramas is more complicated. It not only needs to express the story through different forms such as sound effects, seiyuu, and dialogue, but also has higher requirements for the construction of later scenes. Professional directors, screenwriters, and voice actors are required to participate. among them. Sometimes, in order to smooth the logic of the story, it is necessary to make major changes to the original. The audiobook production process broadcast by one person is relatively simple, mainly based on whitening, and the late effect is not obvious, and there is almost no change to the original.
Why choose a radio show?
Retaining the imagination and better protecting the original is the first reason why most people choose radio dramas.
“A radio drama is like a novel. The characters are the most perfect in the imagination, and the animation and the real person are very shattered.”
A lot of animations and TV dramas adapted from online novels have a big difference between the world view and the characters’ settings, and they often face the controversy of “destroyed original works” after broadcasting, which affects the works to some extent. Word of mouth and market performance. Compared with animation and film and television dramas, the radio drama relies on sound to restore the author’s written world. While satisfying the original powder’s expectation of the original, it also made a certain degree of blanking, indirectly protecting the characters and stories in the original powder imagination. Naturally, you will get a lot of fans.
Secondly, compared with other forms of copyright adaptation works, radio dramas have the advantage of reviewing, and can tolerate a larger scale of expression to a certain extent, which is more attractive to the original powder.
In the adaptation of cartoons or animated films, considering that the audience for animation is relatively young, the content must be clear, and there should be no blood, violence or any content that is not conducive to the healthy growth of young people’s body and mind; the supervision pressure of TV dramas and movies is not used. It is said that because the audience is large, the content must be healthy and positive, and no “radical” expression of the ball is allowed. The content review of the network drama has been relatively loose, but after the “network platform with the standard” guidance is issued, The auditing standards for online dramas have been further improved, and large-scale expressions have been strictly prohibited.
The current regulatory pressure has gradually shifted to audio programming. In June this year, several mainstream audio platformsIt is a signal that Taiwan is interviewed for content violations, but it cannot be denied. In comparison, audio programs such as radio dramas are not the focus of rectification for the time being, and thus disguised as a refuge for sensitive subjects.
In the three different forms of online dramas, cartoons, and radio dramas adapted from the novel “The Magical Dao”, the scale of the radio drama is the largest. In the original book, the two male protagonists kissed, shared bathing, and shared the same bed in the drama, and were all hidden in the network dramas and cartoons. Only the radio dramas retained these bridges, and thus received the praise of the original powder.
In addition, the way to receive information is simpler, and it is one of the reasons why radio dramas are popular because it can alleviate visual fatigue.
According to a report released by Ai Media Consulting in March this year, in 2018, online audio users in China increased by more than 20% to 425 million. 
Radio drama is a kind of online audio program. Compared with text content and video programs, radio dramas do not need to mobilize visual senses. Even if you close your eyes, you can consume a lot of information, which is more in line with the Internet age. User’s information receiving habits.
Especially nowadays, many online novels start with a million words. For the contemporary people who are used to fast-paced life, it is difficult to force themselves to calm down and finish reading.
Digesting the reading pressure onto the audio content not only makes it possible to read the full text, but also saves a lot of time, which is obviously a good choice.
Super RadioThe Future
Compared with the early years of the network dubbing community for the free production of love power generation, today’s radio drama production has entered a commercial stage for profit. According to the public data in the Jinjiang Literature City Station, the “Drama Patriarch” radio drama has a revenue of more than 10 million, and the “Broken Cloud” and “Music Reading” radio dramas have more than one million.
Compared with the TV series selling hundreds of millions of dollars, the income of the radio drama seems a bit shabby, but it should be considered that this is a relatively considerable income in exchange for lower cost investment, which is called a cost-effective investment.
The capital market has already turned its attention to the radio drama market, and has the heart to play a big ticket.
At last year’s 蜻蜓FM Autumn Content Ecology Conference, in addition to announcing the release of 100 quality radio dramas, the official also announced 10 super-broadcast drama distribution plans, and said that the super-radio dramas are listed as the platform’s nine content matrix. First, in the future, we will create three studios focusing on super radio dramas.
The super-radio drama in the eyes of the platform has at least four dimensions: Super IP+Superstar+Super Production+Super Promotion.
Super IP, which is a popular online novel that has been verified by traffic on famous websites. In the Jinjiang Literature City, 50 radio dramas were sold within three months, and the capital was in the super IP reserve for the development of super radio dramas.
Superstars, known as professional voice actors. Well-known CVs such as Jiang Guangtao, Qiao Shiyu, Bianjiang, Ajie and other TV drama dubbing circles have actively participated in the dubbing of many radio dramas and have achieved high recognition.
Super production, that is to create a professional studio, overall planning, production, publishing, distribution and other overall work, with a more professional production system to control the progress of the project.
Super advertised, that is, open online and offline channels to achieve full coverage of the benchmark movie.
In all fairness, “100 million yuan investment, 10 million production, film-level experience”, this is a good development of the commercial development of radio dramas in the future, but as far as the current situation is concerned, there are also many practical problems that need to be overcome.
In the exploration of profit model, several mainstream audio platforms currently generate revenue through single-set charging or single-fee charging. Generally, every Monday, the first three episodes can be listened to for free. In terms of specific pricing, there are significant differences in charging standards according to different evaluation systems of the platform.
The data has a large floating range regardless of the single set charge rate or the amount of play.
The “Magic Dao”, which is now pushed to the TOP 1 position of the Chinese radio drama, is the one with the highest charge and the highest volume in the single episode. On the one hand, this is related to the high level of production of the work itself. On the other hand, it also relies to a great extent on the heat of the original adaptation of the online drama “Chen Qing”.
In the production of consumer behavior, the user will have a mentality to treat the radio drama as a derivative of the TV series or the original, not for the desire of a radio drama itself. 
The first season of “Full-time master” like “The Fire Academy” (on) Radio dramas such as the third season of “Magic Dao” have chosen to go online when the original adaptation of the online drama is broadcast, and there is also the meaning of the increase in the amount of playback driven by the popularity of the online drama.
Super radio dramas want to prove their market value. First, they should be an independently operated product or commodity. Only by having their own irreplaceable absolute appeal can they gain a place in the fierce market competition. If you rely solely on the popularity of TV dramas, its market value cannot be truly recognized.
In the future, the market needs more radio dramas with independent competitiveness, rather than peripheral products of a TV series or derivatives of a super IP. When the investor shunned this logic, the blue ocean of the super-radio drama market really opened up.
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