Our friends over at Outdustry have enlisted the help of the Sina Music Editor and author of the much respected Dystopia blog, Pilos Chan, to comment on the live music situation here in China.
Chan discusses the steady progress in the years B.B. (before Bjork), and laments the reversal A.B. (ante Bjork). Largely an excellent article, particularly insightful is the observation:
…as for the new bands, even Kings of Leon or Fall Out Boys would struggle to fulfill a 3000 seats venue, and their cost cannot be covered by the ticket sales of that kind of venue alone…
While Mr. Chan offers a pretty comprehensive history of international artists in China to date, he shows a certain amount of naivity in some of his comments (understandable for someone operating outside the industry), namely
…finally see a light of hope. And the Kanye West and Kylie Minogue show, which Ge Hua Lai En organized, made the light even brighter…
These shows were officially disasters and were largely the reason that China West has ceased to exist and why Livenation will steer clear of China for the foreseeable future.
His comments about the “blooming” of festivals and subsequent wilting and the rest of the article fail to address the crux of the situation here at present. We would hazard a guess that 90% of the foreign artists and festivals with big international acts have lost money so far in China. The world recession has lessened both the attitude of risk of the big players (and the finance that was driving the investment) and the marketing budgets of the brands that were riding this new wave of contemporary culture in China. The music industry in China will now have to learn to stand on its own two feet – companies will have to adjust their strategies. International music is still here, but has morphed into a more cost effective and affordable format. The big boys will be back, when the market is ready for them!
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing…