Mapping China: Music - Contracts, Permits & Visa: Flexible Contracts

Because China is not governed by rule of law, personal connections (guanxi) are much more important than any written contract can ever be.

• Negotiate over contracts and sign them, but treat them as a documentation of what is essentially a verbal arrangement. Be prepared that it will be expensive and time consuming to defend contracts in any Chinese court.
• Make sure that a substantial part (if not all) of the performance fees are paid before the event.
• Chinese partners are usually highly approachable and welcoming, but the time between a verbal yes (especially by someone lower in a company) and an actual down payment might be long, sometimes infinitely so.
• It is wise to keep regular taps on progress. At least have someone telephone a venue or local promotor one or two weeks before the show to make sure everything is going according to schedule, including promotion, ticket sales, equipment rental, airport pick-ups and so on.
• Performing in China requires a good amount of flexibility and patience. For instance, it is common for local venues to assume that a different series or brand of a piece of equipment is ‘more or less’ the same and should do fine. Although keeping taps helps, foreign artists need to be prepared that not all of their demands might be met, even if they were explicitly mentioned in a contract. It is always wise to do a thorough sound check. However, on the day of performance it is usually counter-effective to threaten cancelling a show. In most cases it is best to work with local partners, who sometimes are able to realize quite amazing work-arounds in short amounts of time. Whatever happens, be prepared to give it your all in performance, and evaluate the partnership after you leave the country.

Force Majeure and Delays

Events of national importance, such as Olympics, military parades, and Party Congresses have direct impact on indoor and outdoor events hundreds of kilometers away, and also unforeseen events (SARS, Shanghai stampede) can cause concerts all over China to be delayed or cancelled. The local cultural bureau, public security and the fire safety department can shut down any event at any moment without any explanation, despite permits that may have been given off previously. Because organizers can’t publicly blame official organizations, they use euphemisms such as “because of force majeure” or “because of issues with the venue”.

Mismatch in Planning Cycles

Chinese music companies are used to last minute changes, and this makes them reluctant to plan far ahead. Chinese festival organizers might talk to international artists at an early stage, but by the time they are ready to sign contracts and make payments, international artists sometimes have lost patience and filled their schedules.

Chinese music companies are aware, and blame the permit system. Promotors are not allowed to publicize events until they have a permit in hand. They cannot apply for a permit until all bands are confirmed and all relevant material is collected. As a result, line-ups of festivals are often announced only a few weeks before the event, and ticket sales usually starts only one month before the festival.

If you are serious about coming to China consider blocking out a period in your agenda. Work with local partners, remind them frequently, but also remain patient, even when they don’t respond to emails immediately (within reasonable boundaries). Meanwhile prepare all documents, because once there is a go-ahead, suddenly there is a lot of stress to get everything arranged in a short amount of time.

Incidentally this mismatch of planning cycles also reduces the promotional value of international headliners, and increases the risks of contracting expensive groups in case of force majeure. Hence festivals often opt for lesser gods (embassy sponsored groups) to still create a sense of cosmopolitanism.

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