China Listener

Publication Identity

China Listener is a site that cares about Chinese audio platforms, auditory culture, and Chinese audio business. Here, the Ximalaya app serves as a starting point to explore deeper into the current state of digital media: how audio is organised? How is value generated? How does the platform change the listening of audio? Here, we don’t create a fan page, nor is it just a recommendation website. We’ll take you on a journey in the ocean of platform culture, digital audio, and how “listening” changes in life.

Value Proposition

In daily life, audio does make people feel “private”: maybe on the train, maybe while studying, or maybe before you go to bed… You can enjoy listening anytime, anywhere. This is a very natural and simple action. You can open an app, tap the play button, and listen. Actually, the platform has already carried out a “covert operation” behind this action: it “quietly” categorises the content; Quietly push some titles to the front and also quietly advance paid content. This unintentionally changes what you notice, trust, and what else you want to spend money on.

Creator Identity

I’m Chuyi, a student of Melbourne University. I’m very interested in digital media culture and China’s Internet industry. I create this site to show you how audio platforms are quietly changing people’s media habits. The latest article focuses on the Ximalaya platform, but we’ll also continue to pay attention to more audio apps in China and the digital culture inside.