As the Chinese music scene starts getting real legs, brands are taking a look beyond the heady world of pop, and working with real musicians. It is a sign of the progress that has been made in recent years that the smart money is moving away from brand hoes like Wang Lee Hom and Shin, and moving towards less commercial musicians with longer shelf lives.
According to Media, Pepsi has decided to set up its own record label as an offshoot of the Voice of a New Generation reality TV show/ Battle of the Bands.
The new label, Q Music, will represent the winners/ second place/ all bands, who we suppose will enjoy some semblance of fame and fortune at the end of the campaign.
This is in keeping with the traditional music model here in China – find singer -> get them on TV -> singer gets famous -> singer gets lots of endorsements -> label cleans up
but in reverse, where reality TV makes the star, as has been the recent trend. This is Pepsi seeking to maximise their investment in the campaign, by tying these young bands to 360 deals and benefitting in perpetuity from their moment in the spotlight.
Does it help bands generally? Will Q Music’s A&R department look beyond TV talent shows? Are a carbonated drinks brand the best people to be guiding these young bands? Are the bands entering these deals with their eyes wide open? We sorta doubt it, but we are happy to be proved wrong.
UPDATE: We got the link wrong. It works now! Sorry…
We’re BACK. Sorry about the spotty updates, but we’ve been taking things easy and it’s been great. However, we are now back in the saddle, so expect things to drift back to normal over the coming weeks.
Anyway, we’ve talked variously about the high profile and controversial Voice of a New Generation, sponsored by Pepsi. If you are interested, then we’ve just come across an official-ish English language blog. You can read about the cola-tastic competition
Budweiser, the world’s biggest beer, has come up with the stunningly original idea of sponsoring a series of concerts featuring some of the most over-used celebrities in music today. There will be a series of 9 “Emperor” concerts, according to AD AGE CHINA featuring the likes of (you guessed it) David Tao, Cheng Chen-Yue and Eason Chan.
Helen Feng is one of the more influential people in China’s music scene. She combines educating (she is a DJ at one of Beijing premier radio stations) with expressing (she fronts two Beijing bands – Ziyo and rising stars Pet Conspiracy) with helping, giving her time and expertise to anyone with their heart in pushing forward the music scene in China.
She was recently involved in the Voice of a New Generation that we have featured on this blog a bit recently. This is what she had to say about it:
Good friend Andy Best has some first hand feedback from the Chinese interweb on his excellent blog regarding Pepsi’s ambitious Battle of the Bands competition. We announced Voice of a New Generation last month and you can find the original post here.
For the last 3 years, Hennessy has been touring the globe with its Hennessy Artistry entertainment showpiece. Promising the (cliched?) alcohol/ experiential “unique atmosphere, entertainment and Hennessy cocktails”, the rest of the world has seen a fair share of interesting artists and collaborations.
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