Music + Art e-zine Shanghai 24/7, an English language website that has been covering Shanghai’s burgeoning arts scene for the last 2 years has decided to take on the raft of expat rags at their own game, morphing from online only to print as of this month of March. S24/7 has been doing a great job going a little deeper into the artists and musicians that make this city tick, and we wish them the best of luck in this new venture, named Pulp.
Read all about it here
Very insightful interview with Kaiser Kuo – Spring and Autumn guitarist, Baidu international spin doctor, Sinica Podcast host and China rawk elder statesman – in Smart Beijing. Josh Feola sat down with Kuo for a freewheeling discussion that covers everything from his musical history with Tang Dynasty to where the hipsters of Beijing lived in the late 1980s (there were none, unfortunately), to why he thinks Zuoxiao Zuzhou is a “poser.” Radar laoban Archie had the pleasure of being a guest on Kuo’s Sinica podcast in the summer of 2011, in which they had a spirited discussion about intellectual property, the value of musicianship and the perpetual Beijing-Shanghai rivalry.
For the entire interview, go here.
To listen to the Sinica podcast with Kaiser, Archie and Michael Pettis of Maybe Mars, click here.
Every fall, hordes of unwashed hipsters descend upon one of Beijing’s most venerable contemporary arts institutions for a weekend of beer- and whiskey-soaked revelry. Yes, we are talking about the one and only, Vice-curated Creators Project. They’ve just announced the preliminary schedule of the 2012 edition, and if we weren’t too busy scowling, judging, and keeping up appearances, we might be a little bit excited to see that James Murphy (the artist formally known as LCD Soundsystem) will be spinning a DJ set.
Joining him on the music side will be Real Estate, The Chromatics, CNdY, Duck Fight Goose and FM3. There will be art and design exhibits from Chris Milk, SuperUber, Vega Zaishi Wang, B6, Yang Yongliang and more. Intel and SocialPrint Studio will be manning a giant Instagram wall. Ever since setting up shop in Beijing prior to the first Creators Project in 2010, the Vice empire has steadily expanded its presence and radar on China youth, with Creators and music-discovery platform Noisey its two pillars. After a large injection of cash from new investors in early 2012, the Vice Media empire is poised to become a major player in the fight for attention from the young, hip Chinese consumer.
Last year, they spent squillions on Shakira for their December 31st gala show. This year, they are on it again.
Amongst the usual gaggle of Chinese stars, II Divo, Katy Perry, and a ‘female star who’s bigger than Katy Perry’ will all feature. Stage art will be provided by team members of Britain’s Got Talent. WTF is stage art and what kind of art will Britain’s Got Talent possibly come up with…?
Who’s excited?
November 15th saw the launch of another collaboration between Chinese record label Maybe Mars’ indie rock darlings Carsick Cars and provider of instant coffee to the masses, Nescafe.
Using the slogan “Be Bold,” Nescafe enlisted 5 celebrity spokespersons from across China to unveil their latest China campaign: “Be Bold.” At the press conference, held at Shanghai’s 1933, a former abbatoir-turned-cultural space in the historic Hongkou district, Nestlé China tapped Beijing band Carsick Cars to perform for the assembled crowds. Part of the new campaign, the band performed two songs before ceding the stage to the other stars of the campaign, including Chinese racecar driver, author, and heartthrob Han Han. Star of the TV campaign, Han Han was also the star of the afternoon, with the majority of media attendees flocking to him for interviews once the press conference was over.
Carsick Cars’ last prominent venture into the mainstream was at a Coca-Cola sponsored event nearly two years ago. This time, they seemed like an afterthought to the main event. Maybe they were part of the package deal with Michael Pettis, founder of their record label Maybe Mars, owner of iconic Beijing venue D-22 and another one of Nestle’s spokespersons. Although their music fits into the brand’s charge to “Be Bold,” the band’s performance seemed tacked-on to both the press conference and the campaign itself. Their music is not part of the commercial starring Han Han and the band itself is not among the celebrity spokespeople tapped by Nestlé.
One of the biggest bands to come out of China’s indie music scene, Carsick Cars has toured extensively in the US, Europe, and Australia. They have a massive following amongst those “within the scene” but have yet to see that critical and niche respect translate into sizable mainstream success. The band’s lukewarm showing at the Nestlé presser tells us that the perfect collaboration between this band and appropriate brand has yet to materialize.
On another note, is anyone else bored of Han Han? What is it with agencies inability to look beyond what everyone else is doing? HanHan is the Wang LeeHom of bloggers and Carsick Cars might be becoming the Wang LeeHom of indie bands…..
Iconic UK based music magazine Q is setting up shop in China. They’ve been working on the various business aspects since April of this year and are currently recruiting writers and looking at a September launch.
Print magazines are certainly in a growth phase in China (unlike the rest of the world) and we welcome anything that brings music news to the masses. However, music consumers generally exist in the 10 – 30 age range, and in this demographic particularly, people are moving away from long form writing: see the last 12 months in terms of Sina Weibo’s growth. Secondly, Q’s advertising (the key revenue driver) has historically been gig listings, artist/ label promotion and some few youth consumer brands. There has certainly been an upswing in competition here in the last 12 months – enough to keep a Q Magazine running? We hope so…
Q, welcome to China.
And so, after months of conjecture (and a definite confirmation about a month ago to the Radar), it looks like Myspace.cn is heading for the exit. According to Mobinode, the News Corp owned company is laying off 2/3′s of staff, including the CEO and COO. This isn’t limited to China though – the whole world is seeing Myspace shrinkage, after a horrendous and abortive “relaunch” in October 2010.
Did Myspace make any impact at all in China? Not in our experience. We never used it; we never encountered an artist that did. Since October, the site has been completely unusable here in China.
Apparently, News Corp is considering selling the faded giant to Yahoo.
Happy Christmas friends. We hope you got everything your hearts desire. We are posting lite, but thought this was kinda interesting
And so it is that Jiangsu TV is rolling out some serious big guns. Recognize these ladies (one real star, one fake)?
Archie Hamilton of China based promoter Split Works waxes lyrical on China’s emerging (and not always linear) music industry.
In the first interview, Archie speaks at the second TEDxShanghai. His topic:
Is the music industry a proxy for the wider global economy: can China’s leapfrog the developed world?
Watch for yourself and let us know if you agree or not.
For the backstory, check the post below or click HERE.
Before we put this one to bed, we thought we would draw your attention to the blogggers call to action that Ayi’s label Shlepp Records have been putting about. Surprisingly, the Radar didn’t get one. Credit to the label for trying to maximize their effect so far. It will be interesting to see where this one goes.
From: XX
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2010 3:03 AM
To: YY
Subject: The Chinese Madonna
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