CHINA // INDUSTRY NEWS
// EDITOR’S NOTE
This newsletter has been growing in numbers lately. If you’re new here, you can read past editions on the Groove Dynasty blog, I put them online a few weeks after the emails go out. If you’re old here, forward this email to someone who might enjoy it. Thanks as always for reading.
// EVEN MORE NOTES ON LIVE MUSIC
I feel obligated to continue to give updates around live music in China, as it seems to be everyone’s main concern at the moment, and it’s difficult to assess the situation from overseas. The May Day holiday weekend which we discussed last month had a total of 23 music festivals in China, and an additional 8 that were cancelled or postponed, as reported by 音乐财经. Two trends they highlighted, first that while it sounds like a lot to me, this is actually a reduction in the number of festivals from previous years, and that festivals are moving from second and third tier cities back to major cities and hubs. Outside that weekend, Strawberry Festival has been in full effect with multiple dates and stages across the country, and the electronic music festivals (Creamfields, STORM, VAC) continue to see impressive lineups with no signs of slowing down. Bonus content here is an interview from Gig Life Pro with Ai Jing from Tai He Music Group giving some insight for people trying to get booked in China and an overview of the process, and tips for success.
音乐财经 WeChat // Observation of 23 music festivals during the May Day holiday
Gig Life Pro on YouTube // Localize It: Ai Jing Talks about Chinese Live Music Scene
// FOREIGN AND LOCAL TALENT CLASH ON TV SHOW ‘SINGER 2024’
Talent-based television shows have always been popular in China, and have been covered by this newsletter in different ways over the years. The Voice of China really started the trend in 2012, and had its own copycats and spinoffs. Other genre-based shows have graced the airwaves as well: 中国有嘻哈 (China Has Hip-Hop) and its spinoffs, 即刻电音 (Rave Now) for DJs, and 乐队的夏天 (Big Band) for indie rock bands are recent notable examples, and most of those are available as YouTube re-uploads if you search the Chinese. 我是歌手 aka (I Am A Singer, or rebranded to just 歌手 aka Singer) has been around since 2013, with several notable Chinese and international winners over the years, including Jessie J, Coco Lee, G.E.M., and others. This year they made the news again as fans mocked the fact that the winners of the premiere episode were two foreigners, beating out every single Chinese performer. A local newspaper called the show a “wakeup call for Chinese music industry”, recommending “a return to the fundamentals of music-making and a focus on genuine vocal talent”, implying that local artists focus too much on production and promotion rather than skill. While I can’t say those are problems exclusive to China, I do of course agree that the music industry is aided immensely by music education, which the country has never really taken seriously.
Global Times // ‘Singer 2024’ show a wakeup call for Chinese music industry
China Daily // ‘Singer 2024’ unfolds in Changsha with a diverse array of talent
// LOFTY PREDICTIONS FOR CHINA’S MUSIC INDUSTRY
MIDiA Research has put out a new report which I absolutely cannot afford to purchase; luckily they did a brief writeup on their blog, outlining the report’s subtitle ‘Rise of the Global South’. Included are some big predictions around China, namely that by 2031 it will be ranked 2nd in the world. Quoting their blog, “The US will remain the top subscription revenue market in 2031 due to high ARPU, but China will become second due to subscriber growth.” Love to see it.
Supporting these predictions is the world-leading growth in recorded music revenues as shown in the IFPI report this year, covered in this newsletter, and the recent report from Tencent Music showing an additional 39% growth in subscription revenue year-over-year.
MIDiA // MIDiA Research 2024-2031 global music forecasts | Rise of the Global South
Music Ally // Tencent Music has more than 113.5m people paying for music
// INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES INVESTING IN CHINESE MUSIC
Two stories here that show promise for the local industry, companies investing in Chinese music. First is management company ATC cooperating with Modern Sky to bring the company to the UK. Modern Sky is an absolutely massive company in China, are often billed as ‘China’s biggest indie label’, but they do a lot more than release music, as they manage music festivals, merch, and marketing. Press release in Music Week reads, “The arrangement aims to expand the global presence of the Modern Sky brand and its talent and events portfolio outside China, with the initial emphasis being on the UK market.”
In the same vein, Universal Music is no stranger to investment in China, as they have, alongside other majors, launched local imprints and doubled down on promoting artists on this side. Now engaged in a global distribution deal for the company behind TFBOYS, they are betting big on Chinese pop artists gaining recognition abroad.
Music Week // ATC Group agrees cooperation pact with China’s Modern Sky
Digital Music News // UMG Inks Deal With TF Entertainment, ‘Elevating Chinese Pop Music’
SPOTLIGHT // CHINESE MUSIC
This section highlights local Chinese artists, DJs, and labels.
// CUI JIAN – ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ON THE NEW LONG MARCH
Alright so I’m kind of a nerd, I’m in a music-related book club, as nerds do. This month we read ‘Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll’. The book covers rock’s early days in China, and how it went from a blatantly foreign music to one that fans and artists can comfortably call their own, decade by decade via stories of individual artists, their various states of being banned and not banned, and how they rose to fame. The highlight here is an artist called Cui Jian, who many recognize as China’s first rock’n’roll star. His debut album is not on Spotify, I’m linking his second release from 1989 which is worth a listen and provides context on the period in which it was released and a lot of artists to come after.