Xiami's Swan Song as Told by Members of China's Indie Music Scene

Yesterday, WeChat was rife with farewells to Xiami Music, the ground-breaking music player, backed by Alibaba, that has for 12 years acted as a gateway to a vast world of music for many adventurous sonic explorers. While the news first broke last month, most users kept a kernel of hope in their pockets or simply didn’t believe the end would ever truly come. That was until yesterday, when Xiami released an official statement saying they will stop offering music listening or download services on the platform from Feb 5 onwards, before ultimately closing up shop in March. And for those hoping to go on a downloading spree, as of yesterday, users had been barred from registering and buying memberships or tracks. 

Created in 2006, Xiami Music was acquired by Alibaba in January 2013 (four of its five founders had previously worked at the Hangzhou-based internet giant) which coincidentally was the year I joined. One of the things I vividly remember was how accessible the service was. Its easy-to-navigate interface coupled with a vast catalog of music from both Mainland China and abroad made it a prime place to go down the rabbit hole and discover new music. 

Local Beijing musician thruoutin summed up the appeal of Xiami perfectly: “Xiami acted as a bonding tool for music lovers and musicians to instantaneously share their favorite tracks. It was an unlimited resource of domestic music, usually unavailable to its Western counterparts. Like its predecessor Douban, it came with a way to connect socially with like-minded music aficionados. While there are many others like it today, its unique flash at the beginning of Chinese online streaming culture will make it a staple of its era.” 

Meanwhile, Beijing music connoisseur Joy wrote, "Xiami opened my doors and in many ways was an educator to me. Besides pop music, Xiami trained me to listen to heavy metal, world music, new wave, post-rock, jungle, jazz, and so much more."

While in recent years, the platform showed signs of rust, not acquiring music rights as quickly and thoroughly as their brethren Netease and QQ (who, on a side note, have sneakily started formatting their music files specifically for their apps over the past year) they remained firmly in fifth place among streaming services in China. Many stood by them, citing their savvy algorithms, finely-tuned playlists, and real-time DJ sets played in "virtual rooms" where digital fans can attend and leave comments. A.J. (Ai Jing) of Haze Sounds and Showstart wrote: “My circle of friends are wailing, Xiami’s algorithm was the best out there, and I was particular enamored with Xiami's Daily Push.” I for one, will miss how easy it was to network with domestic bands and musicians with the click of a button. I can’t tell you how many emerging Chinese bands I discovered using other domestic bands and labels as a launchpad. 

But alas, it wasn’t enough to save Xiami and under the guise of "business reshuffling," they have called it quits. 
All over WeChat one can see people sharing their Xiami stats – namely how many minutes of their lives they spent listening to music on the platform. For me — a meek 30,000 minutes (20 days give or take) as compared to other’s 200,000 minutes. Users are lamenting the tragic loss of their self-curated playlists, while DJs and curators are looking to go out with one last bang, as with Beijing electronic duo white+ who gave a special DJ set last night on the platform. 

So raise a glass to Xiami, one of the OG streaming services that redefined the landscape for music lovers of all ilk. As one Xiami user wrote: “Born loving music and died making music 生于爱音乐的人，死于搞音乐的人."

READ: It's Official: Xiami Music Calls It Quits

Images: white+, Will Griffith, Xiami