CHINA // INDUSTRY NEWS
// GROOVE DYNASTY FEATURED IN GIGLIFEPRO AGENCY SPOTLIGHT
Okay, forgive us a bit of self-congratulation off the top here. GigLifePro is a music consultancy company which features an awesome database of people who work in the music industry in Asia. Their most recent Agency Spotlight segment features GD, covering some notes on what’s happening in China and other goodies. The pullquote from CEO Kyle Bagley:
“Groove Dynasty’s vision is simple: we want to help foreign artists, DJs, and record labels enter the music market in China and navigate the digital landscape. Our team is crucial to this mission; we are not a translation service or a copy-and-paste company, and we don’t automate anything. We work hard to represent our clients in the best way possible and rely on their music, personal story, and unique style to help them reach their Chinese fans and grow their fanbase.”
GigLifePro // Agency Spotlight: Groove Dynasty
// NETEASE CLOUD MUSIC IS GOING PUBLIC (IN HONG KONG)
NetEase Cloud Music, the only real rival to Tencent Music Entertainment, which IPO’d in 2018 on the NYSE, is now going public via a Hong Kong listing. TME’s offering brought with it some money for the company and a lot of international press since. Unfortunately I doubt the HK listing will do the same, but says a lot for the Chinese industry as a whole to see these companies digging in for the long haul.
For the first time, they were forced to disclose that they have 180M monthly active users, far short of the 800M registered users they traditionally report, and TME’s 800M which is spread across many platforms. From my view, I still see more engagement on NetEase than Tencent, so take these numbers as you will.
PR Newswire // NetEase Launches Hong Kong Initial Public Offering
Bloomberg // NetEase’s Music App Files for $1 Billion Hong Kong IPO
// WARNER DOUBLES DOWN ON LABELS IN ASIA
Last month we reported on their EDM label Whet Records, this month we’ll cover their hip-hop label Juuice, which is expanding from China into Taiwan and Hong Kong, with the signing of Bohan Phoenix. Bohan is an all-around awesome guy, strong advocate for hip-hop in China, and a great artist. Chinese hip-hop has gotten a lot of international coverage ever since the Higher Brothers entered the scene a few years back, and is now largely propped up by cheesy TV gameshows which showcase local talent.
Warner // Warner Music Expands Hip-Hop Imprint Juuice Across Greater China
Variety // Warner Music China Signs Rapper Bohan Phoenix, Expands JUUICE Hip-Hop Imprint
Spotify // Bohan Phoenix
// CHINESE CONCERTS ARE FULL STEAM AHEAD…
…if you can get in. Yes, the borders are still closed, but the clubs are definitely not. Live Nation Electronic Asia seems to have a clever way around the visa rules, announcing a tour for Mike Williams following up from Maurice West and Dash Berlin earlier this year. Also, Chinese band Re-TROS has broken the record for concert attendance since Covid with a 10k large show at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai.
Bandwagon Asia // 10,000 Attend Re-TROS Gig, Biggest Rock Concert in China Since COVID-19 Hit
// LOTS OF PEOPLE USE DOUYIN
Unless this is your first newsletter or view of anything China-tech related, you’ll recognize the headline as quite sarcastic. But there’s been a recent government report about the number of users to platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou which is turning some heads. The figures: 989M people use the internet, 873M of them watch short videos. Hat tip to Music Ally for the great breakdown on this one.
Fun Fact: Douyin also just built a web-based version for those of us who don’t like being accosted by videos on their phone, though it’s mostly aimed at taking a bite out of Bilibili’s long-form game.
Music Ally // China now has 873m people watching short-form videos
TechCrunch // TikTok’s Chinese nemesis Kuaishou hits 1 billion monthly users worldwide
TechNode // Douyin web version looks like other video platforms
SPOTLIGHT // CHINESE MUSIC
This section highlights local Chinese artists, DJs, and labels.
// CHINESE BOUNCE MUSIC
“Bounce” is a genre of electronic music that has taken the club scene in China by storm. It’s considered by many, for better or for worse, to be the epitome of dance music for Chinese fans. It’s loud, repetitive, fast, and does. not. stop. It’s frequently featured in Douyin (TikTok) videos and often trolled by fans who are into house and techno, or generally want to turn their noses at those who enjoy it, like the Chinese Bounce Mafia who just won DJ Mag’s best Chinese electronic group (ironically), or the club in Taipei who banned the genre as a whole. The selections below are not Chinese artists, but showcase what you might here from a DJ spinning the genre.
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