Migu marries culture, digital for teens

Migu Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Mobile Communications Corp, is targeting Chinese teenagers with digital content in the form of products covering various fields like anime, comics and (video) games, or the ACG genre.

In addition, it has novel and music products in digital format, too. As the largest licensed digital content aggregator in China, Migu boasts a portfolio comprising more than 17 million songs, 4.3 million videos, 1,200-plus live-streaming events, over 30,000 games and 470,000 anime works.

Migu believes the number of teenaged ACG fans in China is rising rapidly, presenting new business opportunities.

One of its popular products is a virtual girls' group called Lin & Xi.

In November 2017, Lin and Xi performed with several well-known Chinese singers and actors on stage, at the Xiamen Jiageng Theater in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province.

Off stage, thousands of fans waved glow sticks and lightsabers, and screamed and cheered for their idols, both real and virtual.

At the concert, holographic technology enabled the pop music e-duo of Lin and Xi to interact with real-life idols and audiences, transcending the line that separates the 2-D world and the 3-D world.

Migu said the immersive experience of a holographic concert would help ACG fans to completely escape reality.

Liu Xin, chairman of Migu, said the company is dedicated to producing more high-quality digital content and services to boost the integration of culture and technology and to better serve consumers.

"Up till now, Migu has around 7,000 business partners. Our products include films, games, books and pictures and we have more than 500 million users," Liu said.

As youngsters born in 1995 and later constitute a key consumer group, their fervent love for ACG culture brings new opportunities for the entertainment market, he said.

Migu has achieved 23 billion yuan ($3.54 billion) added value in related ACG industries over the past years, according to company data.

Dai Hezhong, executive president of Chinese All Digital Publishing Group Co Ltd, said as public consumption upgrades, the Chinese entertainment industry is experiencing explosive growth.

"In fact, as the younger generation grows up and becomes the main force of consumption, ACG is likely to become a key part of the popular culture with great market potential in the future," he said.

Migu plans to invest 10 billion yuan and employ resources valued at 20 billion yuan this year to support more than 10,000 studios and cover more fields beyond ACG, like novels and music.

In November 2017, the company set up its ACG headquarters in Xiamen to better promote intellectual property development as well as advance China's Internet Plus strategy.

The company said ACG headquarters would help fully integrate China Mobile and Migu's resources in areas such as movies, animation, games, music and literature, besides facilitating collaborations with potential partners in the industry.

Fan Chenwei contributed to this story.