Click here to subscribe.
CHINA // INDUSTRY NEWS
// KRIS WU VS. THE WORLD
Chinese pop star Kris Wu enjoyed brief success, then quite a bit of drama surrounding his release Antares, with reports he used bots to game the charts. Some props to Universal China, who was quick to back up their artist, causing Scooter Braun and others to reverse public comments. Apparently still under review from Nielsen, but Kris is already putting up jokes on Twitter about it.
I always find it interesting to hear public discussions about fake stats and bot usage in China. The country still has a long way to go in terms of transparency and clamping down on spam and fraud, but as more people take notice of what’s happening here, major players are beginning to clean up their act a bit, and focus on the value of genuine fan building and engagement instead of the optics of having big follower numbers.
Further Reading
Sixth Tone // Kris Wu’s Record Label Denies Bots Aided Album’s No. 1 Ranking
Billboard // Kris Wu’s iTunes-Topping Sales Are Under Review
// TENCENT MUSIC IPO POSTPONED
Tencent Music, or TME, the proud owners of music streaming platforms QQ Music, Kugou, and Kuwo, pushed back plans to list on the stock market in the US around a month ago with no news lately of it coming back. Locally in China, it has made little difference, QQ still boasts large numbers and takes in a considerable amount of money in subscriptions and licensing fees.
As many of Groove Dynasty’s clients are in the electronic music world, QQ is not the focus of a lot of our work. Chinese stars and pop music do much better on the platform, making rival NetEase a better place to connect with young fans looking for foreign music. But as the scene and platform grow, it’s becoming a more interesting place to be active.
Further Reading
The Motley Fool // Why Tencent Music Is Delaying Its IPO
Music Ally // Tencent Music IPO on hold amid market turbulence?
// CLEANING UP FOR THE CHINA IMPORT EXPO
China’s president Xi Jinping was in Shanghai recently for the China International Import Expo. It shouldn’t have made much of a difference to the music industry, except that the local government issued notices to make the dates a public holiday in an effort to clean up traffic and security pushing work days onto the weekend, and forced nearly every major club and live venue in the city to close the weekend before/after. Quite the annoyance to locals and anyone who had big shows scheduled, but things should be back to normal by next week.
FROM THE GROOVE DYNASTY BLOG
// HOW TO PREPARE FOR A CHINA TOUR – A MARKETING GUIDE FOR ARTISTS & DJS
From a marketing standpoint, trips to China can be a goldmine for artists and DJs, particularly if you are just starting out with social media or promotion in the country. Fans like to see their favorite artists not only coming to the country to do shows, but showing their interest in culture and local activities. Here’s a guide on how to make the most of your appearances in China.
Read the whole article on the Groove Dynasty Blog.
Click here to subscribe to the Groove Dynasty newsletter.
0 Comments