Split Works Operations Director & co-founder Nathaniel Davis
A little interview about JUE | Music + Art and the business (and passion) of music promotion in China by Split Works co-founder and occasional Radar contributor Nathaniel Davis. Thanks to China Radio International for this one.
Listen to it here.
Here’s a little mix that Shanghai DJ collective Love Bang (aka DJs Heatwolves and Caution) put together on the occasion of JUE | Music + Art 2013. It contains tracks from almost all of the JUE 2013 artists, including but not limited to Grimes, Gang of Four, Frank Turner, AV Okubo, How To Dress Well, Cinema Soloriens, SLV and many more, interspersed with Shanghainese gems from the Super Ayi Cleaning Team.
The mix is loaded up onto the official JUE 2013 Morning Tears souvenir USB stick, which is 50 RMB with all proceeds going to official charity partner Morning Tears. The USB is 4 GB and also comes with JUE posters, MVs and lots o’ love from the whole festival team.
Peep at the track listing below and stream the whole thing from Soundcloud.
1. BAWANG Intro
2. Gang of Four – “Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time”
3. AV Okubo – “Old Game”
4. Frank Turner – “Four Simple Words”
5. Let’s Get Weird and 黑暗 with 排球女将
6. Cinema Soloriens – ??? ripped from YouTube
7. Zhongshan Park – “Wut R Treats?”
8. AM 444 – “Interloop 2″
9. Grimes – “Vanessa”
10. Downstate – “Mist”
11. Ital – “Dub Me for Tonight (Saviour’s Love Megamix)”
12. HONEY, 蜂蜜!
13. Grimes – “Genesis”
14. Super Ayi Cleaning Team – “Tigerwoman”
15. S L V (Downstate & Hamacide) – “Toi”
16. Acid Pony Club – “P.O.P – Scratch Boom”
17. Little Yellow Bird Gonna Help You Out
18. How To Dress Well – “Lover’s Start”
19. WUT DID YOU STEAL??
20. How To Dress Well – “You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’”
21. Kikuyu – “2 Appointments (Super Ayi 阿姨机器人 Vocal Remix)”
22. SHANGHAINESE SIGNOFF, 再见
There have been a couple of half decent articles on the Chinese music scene kicking around the wires recently. We thought we’d point you to a couple:
First up, Andrew Chin over at City Weekend does a retrospective of big international shows in China in advance of two in two days (Elton John on Friday in Shanghai and Jennifer Lopez in the same venue the following night).
From Wham, to John Denver, to the Rolling Stones to Sonic Youth to Linkin Park to the present day, the article features interviews from Adam Wilkes, Archie Hamilton, Steve Sybesma and John Cappo, it makes a nice trip down memory lane for nostalgia hunters, while demonstrating how far we’ve come.
You can read that one right over HERE.
Disclaimer, the one of the authors of this blog was interviewed for this article.
At a different end of the spectrum, Morgan Short of Smart Beijing and previously of Shanghai based band Boys Climbing Ropes baits Dan Shapiro of The Fever Machine into telling us what he really thinks about the music scene in China. Both of these brohammers have been here for over 5 years and have spent most of that time immersed in the music scene, so the interview is a good one for those of you interested in being in bands here. You can read that little gem HERE.
The final one for today looks in depth at the present and future of music access in China, pointing to the fact that more and more of the big players are introducing options for the consumers to actually pay for content. The model seems to be that streaming will continue to be free, while downloading would cost. The author makes some pretty broad claims without backing anything up. The Chinese consumer has never paid for content before – it’s going to take a pretty significant breakthrough in simplicity or usability to make it happen
Read this one HERE
Recently, we’ve been thinking that China’s emerging live music scene feels a little bubbly. From the sold out Maroon 5 show to the upcoming Blue // Elton John // Jennifer Lopez triple header, to mid range bands like the Fray, to DJ’s like Skrillex and Justice, to metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and Unearth, to smaller touring artists like Kikuyu, Jamie Woon and the Smith Street Band, to underground raves like Savage Skulls and Surkin, there has never been more or a wider variety of live music on show for Chinese fans.
At the same time, China feels bubbly across most sectors, of which live music is just one. The global recession (meaning international brands have less money to invest and local companies are exporting less), the power handover for China’s favorite Party (meaning that business will be harder to do and overt and superfluous spending will be less), added to potential ticket buyer fatigue (the market always gets ahead of itself from time to time) all suggest to us that we might be in for a tougher 2013.
While thinking about these things, our minds were taken back to February 2008, when we predicted that a bubble was just about to burst. You can read this again HERE. Ironic then that 6 months later, 2 of the 3 companies being featured were no more.
The last thing we want is for this to happen. Our entire business is tied up in the continuation of this upward curve. We are, however, thinking twice about the number of shows we are planning for 2013.
Editor’s Note: Department of Shameless Self-Promotion, Population: Us. As many of the readers of the blog know, as Split Works we are co-producing Black Rabbit Music Festival.
After the smashing success of last year’s Black Rabbit Music Festival, event co-producers Taihe Live and Split Works are incredibly excited to formally announce that the festival will be returning for a second year. Happening in October in Shanghai, we can’t reveal the artists coming for Black Rabbit Music Festival 2012 just yet, but rest assured that they are even bigger than last year’s lineup of Ludacris, 30 Seconds to Mars, Hebe, PK 14, Yellowcard and more. We’ll leave it up to you to contemplate the possibilities.
In the meantime, re-live the magic with the official 2011 Black Rabbit Music Festival wrap video, and follow Black Rabbit on Facebook, Twitter, Douban and Weibo for all the latest updates, lineup announcements, ticketing, venue, prizes and much much more.
Music Matters has become Asia Matters and now includes a Digital and Gaming component. All 3 events will be held in the Ritz Carlton in Singapore across the course of next week.
Although the programme has diversified and perhaps feels a little overwhelming, and a move to Singapore in 2011 has definitely altered its focus towards South East Asia (and away from China), the organizers have taken a big step forward with the list of speakers and contributors at Music Matters the most heavyweight group ever to make the event. If you are interested in Music in Asia, this is definitely worth considering. From AEG Live’s global President John Meglen to Lady Gaga’s Manager Troy Carter, to high level executives from the worlds of sports, advertising and digital tech, there is something here for everyone.
There is the return of the sometimes anaemic Music Matters live with a showing of bands from SE Asia, Australia and Canada. White+ are China’s sole representatives, which is a shame, but understandable. It’s an expensive trip for most of China’s artists.
We’ll be there repping the worlds of festivals (JUE | Music + Art, Black Rabbit), bands (Split Works) and brands (Splatter) in China. If you’d like to meet up, reach out through the comments.
Archie Hamilton, a major contributor to this site (and MD of the Chinese concert promoter and festival owner Split Works) is proud and honored to be speaking at the inaugural Transition China conference, hosted by the Entrepreneur’s Organization. His chosen topic is the Anatomy of a Chinese Music festival, and he is in quite illustrious company, so if you can afford the ticket 
, come along.
[disclaimer: as Split Works, we are directly involved in the organization of the JUE | Music + Art Festival]
Friday night sees the start of the 4th annual JUE Festival. Founded in 2009 as an alternative to the influx of big outdoor festivals in China, JUE aims to unite the creative communities contributing so much to the “new” China.
in 2012, JUE takes in nearly 100 events over a 17 day period in Shanghai and Beijing. There are poetry slams, flea markets, photography exhibitions and music ranging from indie balladeers Death Cab For Cutie (this Friday 9th in Shanghai and Saturday 10th in Beijing) to sleazy underground partay Love Bang (directly after Death Cab in both cities), from the sharp cutting skillz of Rob Swift, to Chinese popstrells Qu Wanting and Summer Lei.
You can check out the full calendar HERE and see the preview video below. Get out and support your local arts…..
It’s our 4th birthday. 4 years ago today, we wrote a somewhat snippy review of the first stadium show by a Western rock band in China. You can read again here Linkin Park at Hongkou Stadium in 2007. With age and maturity (!!) we understand better the difficulty of such a feat and also the significance of the show. It is only when such milestones are passed that they become standards from which we can move forward.
And while November marks four years of the Radar observing the huge growth and progress that has been made in China’s still nascent music scene, there are some other much more significant birthday celebrations this month and next that highlight the fact that China is beginning to see some experience added to the enthusiasm that has got us this far.
On Friday, we were down in Shanghai venerable old bomb Shelter celebrating 6 years of Uprooted Sunshine. China’s premiere roots and reggae outfit have been refuting the somewhat crazy notion that reggae belongs in China: the crowd at Vibronics, while still nominally expat had a more than healthy section of roots-loving Chinese fans. ChaCha, the main MC for Uprooted was performing a farewell show before heading off to Europe having been selected for this year’s Red Bull Academy. She will play at selected European festivals after the RBMA. This is all at Shelter, which of course is celebrating it’s 4th year in business at the end of the month. Lots of wonderful achievements wrapped into a tight little ball.
All the while, we’ve been following Carsick Cars as they seem to be raging through Australia on tour, and Hedgehog added to their US fanbase on their 3rd tour of the country in October. At the same time, we are over the moon to see Hanggai high up the bill on a mainstream Australian festival that we are planning to go to at Christmas.
Back to the birthdays for a second: our sister company Split Works is celebrating 5 years in the promotions business in China. a few hundred shows all over China and SE Asia, the JUE Festival, the Black Rabbit Festival, Wooozy and lots more. There will be 5 shows in 5 days for 5 years, featuring artists old and new: Trippple Nippples, the Iron Mic 2011 MC competition, Chad Valley, X is Y, Jay.Soul, Hamacide and Eat Alien Brain, a trancecore outfit from Chengdu….
Shameless self promotion aside, it is for definite exciting times for China’s underground music scene. Lots of festivals, lots of live houses, a few new labels: welcome to a brave new world of Chinese Music!
A recent article written by a Canadian publication profiles and chats to some bands that have toured China over the last few years. Some interesting take outs:
“If the band’s at a certain level and expects a certain degree of professionalism, production and predictability, then I think the Chinese market can introduce some variables that might not work,” says Henwood. “But if the band is looking for life experiences and willing to roll with the punches then I certainly would recommend they go.” (Piers Henwood manages Tegan and Sara as well as being the guitarist in Jets Overhead)
“I don’t think there’s a reliable market for the music that we play in China,” says Alex Cooper, singer and guitarist for Parlovr, who played last year’s Transmit tour. “At this point it’s kind of hard to tap into anything there financially.”
“The great thing about China is once something gets going it just rolls like a wave. All of a sudden there’s this explosive energy,” he says. “If you don’t have your relationships in place and you don’t have your network and you don’t understand how to operate on the ground there, you’re going to have to move really fast. If you’re not connected to it, you might miss it.”
Versteeg sees it a bit differently. “You can’t really be in this business to make money,” he says. “What’s the difference between making no money in China or no money here?”
[disclaimer: our sister company Split Works co-produces TransmitCHINA and also toured all of the artists mentioned above]
Our comments:
It seems that everyone in this article is right to a degree. There is little in the way of established infrastructure, there isn’t a reliable market for Western music (or really music at all) in China, but there is a need to get yourself positioned, because if and when this place does “get it” growth will be exponential, like in every other industry here.
Changes in the last 5 years point inexorably towards this – the explosion of live venues, festivals and bands to play points towards an increasingly febrile and vibrant undercurrent flowing through China’s cities. Of course, the main impediment to real growth are reliable income streams outside of touring which is a conundrum not exclusive to China. Big companies are hard at work trying to solve this: witness the mainstream acceptance of paid streaming service Xiami, the recent establishment of an ad supported service from search behemoth Baidu and the impending arrival of Spotify. The future isn’t yet rosy, but dawn does appear to be breaking on the horizon…..
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