Digital collections are sought after, is it a "wind outlet" or a "virtual fire"
Editor's note
With only a dozen or tens of yuan, you can have a digital collection marked with a unique serial number.
The price is relatively cheap, the concept and form are novel, and it meets the consumption habits, social needs and value aesthetics of young people. Digital collections have begun to enter the public eye from the niche circle.
Behind the popularity of digital collections, what innovative value does this emerging business form deserve attention, and what hidden risks are hidden? How to further strengthen guidance and supervision?
This reporter conducted an in-depth investigation.
Right now, the "collection" thing is being changed by the Internet.
"The first batch of digital collections were all sold out as soon as they went online!" On the evening of April 16, Hong Zhangbo, a young artist born in the 90s, updated a message on his social media account, and his words were full of excitement.
On the afternoon of the same day, two digital collections created by him and issued in total of 60 copies were officially launched.
"In 1 minute, it was all sold out. I really felt everyone's great enthusiasm!"
In the eyes of insiders, Hong Zhangbo, who both graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, is a typical academic young artist.
Now, in addition to the "visible and palpable" oil paintings, his works also have a "visible and intangible" presentation form - digital collections.
Behind the story of Hong Zhangbo, a new trend is reflected: digital collections are becoming a cultural phenomenon that has swept the world, attracting players from all walks of life.
Relevant statistics show that in 2021, my country will sell a total of about 4.56 million digital collections, with a total issuance value of about 150 million yuan.
According to the calculation of the Toubao Research Institute, a research platform in the data field, the scale of my country's digital collection market will reach 30 billion yuan in 2026.
Why are digital collections popular?
What impact will it have on culture and consumption?
What opportunities and challenges are hidden behind the rapid growth?
A new collection experience, empowering cultural consumption
As early as the beginning of 2021, digital artist Beeple combined thousands of paintings he had previously created into a digital art work "Every Day: The First 5,000 Days" in a collage way, which finally sold for $69.34 million. shoot out.
This is also the first artwork auctioned by Christie's auction house in the form of NFT.
This incident has aroused the attention and curiosity of many people - what is NFT?
It is generally believed that NFT refers to a non-fungible token (Non-Fungible Token) based on blockchain technology, which can also be understood as a proof of ownership of digital assets using blockchain technology.
Different from the equivalent tokens such as Bitcoin, NFT has the characteristics of indivisible and irreplaceable.
Each NFT represents a unique digital material that acts as an electronic certification or certificate of ownership of virtual goods.
Simply put, NFT is like an ID card for digital assets. It can point to any content such as digital art, games, domain names, tickets, etc., making it a digital asset that can be permanently owned, preserved, and traced.
In China, NFTs are more well known in the form of digital collections.
Industry insiders generally believe that the technical principles of digital collections currently issued in China are basically the same as NFTs, but there are differences in distribution channels and transaction methods.
Most of the NFTs in overseas markets are based on the issuance and confirmation of public chains such as Ethereum, and are directly or indirectly linked to virtual currencies.
my country's regulatory authorities have been strictly prohibiting virtual currency trading speculation. In this context, the current digital collections in the domestic market are mainly issued by the consortium chains of various platforms, and most mainstream platforms prohibit the secondary trading of digital collections, weakening the financial attributes, reducing the risk of hype.
The reporter combed and found that since 2021, the new blue ocean of digital collections is attracting more entities to join, and the industry ecosystem has begun to emerge.
Leading Internet companies that master blockchain and other related technologies are becoming platform builders for digital collections.
In June 2021, Alipay and the Dunhuang Art Research Institute jointly released two payment code skins, "Dunhuang Feitian" and "Nine-colored Deer" on the Alipay applet of "Ant Chain Fan Granule"; in August of the same year, Tencent launched the The "Magic Core" application software released the "Sound "Thirteen Invitation" digital art collection in the first period of time; JD.com also followed and launched the Lingxi digital collection trading platform in December.
With the credit endorsement of leading Internet companies, most of the products released by these platforms were sold out as soon as they were launched.
As a cultural institution with important resources, museums have become one of the main IP parties for digital collections.
Many precious cultural relics hidden in museums are being known and collected by the public in a virtual way.
The cultural and creative digital collection "Fuhao Owl Zun" released by the Henan Museum, priced at 19.9 yuan, limited to 10,000 copies, was sold out in one second; Hubei Provincial Museum issued 10,000 copies of the treasure of the town hall "Goujian Sword, King of Yue". 60,000 copies of digital cultural and creative works based on cultural relics such as the Sun Bird and the Golden Mask were also sold out within 50 seconds.
Since digital collections come with their own “flow,” this craze has inevitably spread to the consumer goods space as well.
Sports brand Anta has released several Winter Olympics commemorative digital collections around the theme of ice and snow; Guochao makeup brand Mao Geping has launched Guofeng digital collections "Phoenix Totem" and "Double Phoenix Fan", which can be presented as gifts after purchasing the corresponding products.
The relevant person in charge of Intime Department Store said that the novel and fashionable concept of digital collections, new digital experience and cool display methods are natural and effective ways for consumer brands to connect with the younger generation. At the spiritual and experience level, the brand value is conveyed at a deeper level.
What is the innovation value of accelerating digital collections that "break the circle"
In the past, collectibles could be a painting, a stamp, or a bottle of famous wine, etc. They usually have a certain practical value.
Now, most of digital collections only exist on the Internet, so many people are wondering, what is the value of digital collections?
In interviews, many art workers said that digital collections have updated the way people view and collect artworks, making art more accessible to the public through technology.
"Affected by the epidemic, traditional offline exhibitions are subject to various restrictions, while digital art can break the boundaries of time and space and quickly establish connections between audiences, artworks, and artists." Hong Zhangbo introduced that many institutions are currently serving individual artists. Works "on the chain" provide cooperation and services.
"Personally, the creation of digital collections has allowed me to make a bold breakthrough in my artistic style, and it has also allowed my work to be seen and loved by more people."
"Digital collections also provide a possibility to redistribute the right to speak in art." Zhao Longkai, director of the Center for Business and Art Research at Peking University, said that in the past, the right to speak in art evaluation was mainly in the hands of large galleries. For artists, only It is difficult to promote one's own work into a work of art by the power of an individual.
With digital collections, artists have the possibility to have some right to speak to a certain extent.
Many art workers also talked about the positive significance of digital collections for copyright protection in interviews.
They believe that digital collections are equivalent to providing an "identity card" for artistic creation, which will help solve the embarrassing problem of "popular works but unknown authors" on the Internet.
In addition, the "on-chain" works will be subject to all-round supervision, which can avoid the problem of plagiarism to a certain extent, and will help promote the healthy development of the cultural industry in the long run.
For target users, digital collections often represent a circle of identity.
On some platforms, the digital collections collected by users will be displayed in a prominent position on the personal homepage. Some players said that this is actually a kind of "identity mark".
Zhou Lei, a post-00 player, is currently active on multiple digital collection platforms.
He painted a "user portrait" for people who are keen to buy digital collections: "Some people are out of curiosity, because most digital collections are currently issued at very cheap prices, many people participate in the snap-up with the mentality of 'early adopters'; Some people are for socializing and making friends with common hobbies; others are because they like certain IPs." Zhou Lei said that for the "Generation Z" consumer group, they prefer consumption and consumption in the digital world. Social sharing, and the pursuit of unique personality expression and aesthetic experience, digital collections just meet their consumer preferences.
"Each era has its aesthetic preferences." Zhao Longkai believes that collectors' preferences for digital collections in the Internet era are not just a new trend on social media.
This is about how the new generation of art collectors and art lovers build their own art world, value system and aesthetic concept.
For traditional industries, digital collections provide new development ideas and opportunities.
Due to its own "offline" genes and scenes, once traditional industries collide with digital collections, there will often be wonderful chemical reactions.
In December 2021, a digital collection platform cooperated with Huayuan Village, Zhongtou Town, Jia County, Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, to launch a series of "Digital Villagers" collections.
The rights and interests of "digital villagers" include free accommodation for one night in a shareholding homestay every year, and priority to obtain the lease or management rights of relevant operating assets.
Thanks to this new gameplay, the "Digital Villagers" series of collections were sold out as soon as they were launched, and the sales revenue reached 300,000 yuan.
According to the platform, the net income will be invested in the rural construction of Huayuan Village.
In March of this year, a consumer brand announced that it plans to release three digital collections of bubble guns, which will be launched at music festivals, where players can use this digital collection to interact.
According to the relevant person in charge, this digital collection is designed in the shape of an Internet celebrity toy that young people love, and it also conforms to the fashionable and cool style of the music festival. It will enrich the IP value of the brand. A new attempt at fusion of elements.
For the platform, digital collections are far more than a new type of cultural and creative product, but also one of the paths for technology companies to deploy and explore the metaverse.
The reporter combed and found that my country has not yet formed a large-scale and influential blockchain public chain, but the head Internet platform with a large number of users, IP, and technical resources has produced several alliance chains, including Alibaba's Ant Chain, Tencent Zhixin Chain, Baidu Super Chain, Station B High Energy Chain, JD Zhizhen Chain, etc.
Taking Tencent Zhixin Chain as an example, Tencent relies on this chain to integrate its resources in the field of entertainment. Currently, there are digital collections from platforms such as Magic Core, QQ Music, Qidian Reading, and Xiaohongshu, all of which are provided by Zhixin Chain. On deposit certificate.
Industry insiders said that blockchain technology is considered to be an important infrastructure for the future Metaverse, and digital collections are one of the ways to implement blockchain technology. The release of a digital collection trading platform will help companies find blockchain technology. suitable application scenarios.
The report "Blockchain Technology Activates Digital Cultural Heritage" released by the Central University of Finance and Economics summarizes the significance of China's digital collections in several aspects: first, compliance and controllability, creating a new type of identifiable and traceable cultural consumption; second, The company has sufficient technical support for independent research and development, and the relevant blockchain-authorized invention patents rank among the top in the world; the third is the advantage of user scale; the fourth is win-win cooperation, which makes the protection, inheritance and dissemination of traditional culture more efficient; the fifth is energy consumption Very low, low carbon and environmentally friendly.
Heat and controversy coexist, and there are worries in the "fire" of industry development
Some people ridiculed digital collections like this: "If you can sell them, you will be NFT, but if you can't sell them, you will be JPG (ordinary picture format)." They think that its popularity is a "false fire"; of art and trendy toys, the future prospects are promising.
These points of view show the current situation of the coexistence of popularity and controversy in digital collections.
The quality of the content varies, and the value of the work is difficult to measure.
Many players said that the current development of digital collections is still in the early stage of exploration, and some digital collections have problems such as homogenization of design, shoddy content, single application scenarios, and low artistic value.
"It is actually difficult to judge the specific value of a digital collection, because the cost of production, dissemination and circulation of digital collections is relatively low, and it is difficult to guarantee its absolute scarcity." Zhou Lei introduced that there are currently three main forms of digital collections. One is It is the mapping of real works in the digital world. Some digital collections are "copying" the artist's paintings and calligraphy on the Internet; the second is the original works in the digital world, mostly trendy art; the third is the works of interaction between reality and virtuality. Many co-branded and equity digital collections fall into this category.
"I personally prefer the third, because it is relatively 'useful'. If I want to buy the first two works, I only consider the works of artists or IPs that have a certain influence."
Private transactions occur frequently, and it is difficult to guarantee the safety of funds.
Recently, WeChat has banned a number of public accounts of digital collection platforms suspected of illegal speculation or secondary transactions.
The reporter learned that although most mainstream platforms currently prohibit secondary resale and only have the function of gifting, many people still see opportunities for hype.
Group chats and second-hand trading platforms are becoming a gray area for digital collection transactions.
In addition, the risk of the platform "running away" still exists.
According to a number of industry insiders, the current domestic chain types are mainly private chains and consortium chains, and their authority is in the hands of one platform.
This means that once the company goes bankrupt or the platform shuts down, the digital collections on the "chain" will be at risk of being lost.
The tendency towards financialization still exists.
Some experts said that digital collections, as an innovative application of blockchain technology, show a certain innovative value in enriching the digital economic model and promoting the development of the cultural and creative industries, but there are also hidden risks such as speculation and illegal financial activities.
In April of this year, the China Internet Finance Association, China Banking Association and China Securities Association jointly issued the "Proposal on Preventing NFT-related Financial Risks", which clearly calls for resolutely curbing the tendency of NFT financial securitization and strictly preventing the risks of illegal financial activities. These include not weakening the non-homogeneous characteristics of NFTs by dividing ownership or batch creation, and carrying out token issuance financing in disguised form.
A series of legal risks require vigilance.
One is the risk of infringing copyright or selling infringing copies.
Recently, the Hangzhou Internet Court announced the judgment of an infringement case, which is also called the first domestic digital collection infringement case by the industry.
In this case, a platform released a digital collection of "Fat Tiger Vaccines" created by users of the platform, but the copyright of the cartoon image of "Fat Tiger" belongs to the plaintiff Qice Company. The court believes that a platform infringes and needs to compensate The plaintiff company's economic losses and reasonable expenses totaled 4,000 yuan.
Judge Yi Ran of Beijing Internet Court said that this case reflects a typical platform compliance risk in the distribution of digital collections, and the judgment clarifies the compliance obligations of digital collections platforms in terms of rights protection and infringement risk prevention.
In addition, there are personal information protection risks.
Digital collections need to rely on blockchain technology, which puts forward more new data compliance requirements for digital collection development companies.
Guangzhou Internet Court judge Lin Beizheng explained that before processing players' personal information, developers should follow the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Law and inform individuals of the purpose and method of processing truthfully, accurately and completely in conspicuous and easy-to-understand language. , the type and retention period of personal information, etc.
In addition, since the blockchain data is difficult to tamper with and cannot be deleted, once the player's identity or collection information is wrong, the enterprise needs to use reasonable technical methods to correct and delete it.
Growing pains, how to solve them
As one of the first application scenarios of the metaverse concept, digital collection is still an evolving and developing concept, and different players are constantly enriching its meaning.
The interviewed experts believe that when dealing with new technologies and new concepts, it is necessary to be inclusive but not connivable, to encourage innovation and to restrain them from going out of bounds.
Insist on being content and value oriented.
"Compared with traditional collections, digital collections have only changed in the form of media. Whether or not they have collection value still depends on their essence, that is, the value of beauty, social value and the value of the times." Zhao Longkai believes that artists should be based on the values of the times. Oriented and focused on his own creation, "This is the most fundamental guarantee for the healthy development of the digital collection industry."
For collectors, Zhao Longkai also put forward his own advice: "In addition to learning how to use new media to discover more art forms, we should study art history and care about the essence of art. At the same time, we must maintain long-term patience with this new industry. What kind of art will be born in this era, it needs to be promoted by this part of people who really like art."
Create more diverse application scenarios.
Trend artist Yuan Yining believes that the true meaning of digital collections is to provide the public with a new interactive experience of art and life.
"The collision between digital collections and real life may lead to more interesting events. In the future, digital art will develop side by side with traditional art, and rely on its own characteristics to show more possibilities."
It is also a trend for cultural and bloggers to create more abundant application scenarios for digital collections.
In April this year, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a symposium on the situation of digital collections. An important consensus was reached at the meeting, that is, cultural and cultural institutions should actively promote the opening and sharing of cultural relics information resources, but should not directly sell the original data of cultural relics as limited commodities.
"This puts forward higher requirements for us. We must continue to innovate, use information technology to show the value of cultural relics, and enhance young people's sense of identity and belonging to traditional culture." Song Hua, director of the Cultural and Creative Department of Henan Museum, said.
Establish an access system for digital collection trading platforms.
"Digital collections inevitably have certain financial attributes." Zhao Longkai believes that although the market itself has the ability to correct deviations in the long run, the healthy development of any new technology needs to be based on a safe market environment and a sound legal order. superior.
Yiran suggested that laws and regulations related to digital collections should be improved, and the essential attributes of related business activities should be clarified; relevant departments should formulate an access system for digital collections trading platforms, raise the administrative approval threshold for the construction of trading platforms, and review the blockchain algorithms of trading platforms. The data generated by the application and transaction shall be supervised and managed to prevent some criminals from conducting illegal and illegal operations through the digital collection trading platform and infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
For ordinary consumers, what should they do when faced with the "growing pains" of digital collections?
Zhihu's answerer, Huang Yanzhen, gave this answer: "It is biased to despise it as a trick and tout it as a future. A cautious and open mind is the best choice for embracing the future."
(Our reporter Fang Quyun)