Mapping China: Music - Trends & Partners: Partners for Pop Artists, Bands and DJs

Partners for Pop Artists

Foreign pop stars that are considering adding China to an Asian tour would typically start talking to a number of Western companies that have set up operations in China, including “Stadium Concert Promotors” such as Livenation and AEG, and “Music Companies” such as Universal, Sony, Warner and Avex. These will most likely get major Chinese venues operators (taking care of permits), concert producers and ticketing companies (Damai, Yongle, and Juooo) on board.

Before making commitments it is advisable to assess your popularity in China. For instance Celine Dion and Aerosmith were cancelled due to disappointing ticket sales and others have performed in half empty venues. The section “Charts & Awards” describes what data to sample, in addition to which artists can test the water by monitoring reactions to initial promotional campaigns. Pop singers and music companies that have a more modest appeal in China can read the next section, which focuses on tours of clubs.

“New Media” companies can provide powerful promotional campaigns. China’s three internet giants are collectively known as BAT and consist of Baidu (Baidu Music and iQiyi), Alibaba (Alibaba Music and Youku/Tudou), and Tencent (QQ music, Tencent Video and Wechat). Other online services that include “Music Streaming”, such as Kuwo / Kugou, Duomi, Netease and Taiwan’s KK Box are also resourceful partners, often engaged in a variety of music-related activities. Tencent, Tudou (affiliated with Alibaba) and Netease are developing paid “Live Streaming” services for concerts, but LeTV seems to have developed this furthest. With respect to licensing and “Copyrights” it’s probably also useful to talk to R2G, Outdustry or a law firm specialized in copyrights.

Press conferences are a standard element in Chinese promotional campaigns, for which “Written Media” need to be present (and paid). “Charts & Awards”, “Talent Shows” and “Variety and Comedy Shows” provide additional access to audiences of millions.

Partners for Bands

If you are a foreign band looking for a partner that can help you organize a tour in China, “Club Tour Promotors & Consultants” such as Split Works, Kaiguan, New Noise, China Music Dish, and Miro China are your first choice, because they speak English and have the necessary experience.

“Music companies” such as Modern Sky, Tree Music, Maybe Mars and Genjing Records also frequently organize national tours for the artists on their roster. The latter two are American-owned and speak English. Music companies are engaged in a broad range of activities, enabling the development of long-term, multi-faceted partnerships.

Modern Sky organizes Strawberry and other festivals, and other “PRC Festivals” such as Midi, JZ and Echo Park (by Split Works) are also good points of entry, as are Clockenflap Festival in Hong Kong, and Formoz and Spring Scream in Taiwan. You can also snowball through the network of “Venues”, which are listed in the section “Cities & Scenes” under the various cities.

In the digital world “Music Streaming” services such as Douban, Xiami and iNDIEVOX, and “Crowdfunding” websites such as Musikid have promoted tours. The major drawback is that their services are in Chinese, and I don’t know how well they communicate in English.

If you want to protect your copyrights online, you can find more information on R2G and Outdustry in the last subsection in “Copyrights” in the section “State Policy”.

Finally, “Showcase Festivals and Industry Meetings” such as Sound of the Xity and Dongdong (by Kaiguan) are the ideal location to meet these and other potential partners.

Partners for DJs

Although clubbing has been a part of Chinese nightlife for decades, most of these venues do not invest a lot in DJs, and as of writing there are no domestic celebrity DJs or EDM producers. However, inspired by EDM’s conquest of America, a number of pioneering clubs and promotors have invested heavily in promoting EDM in China in recent years. As a result, almost all top international DJs have played in China, often multiple times, albeit mostly in clubs and to smaller audiences than they are used to in Europe or North America.

Storm is China’s largest yearly EDM festival, and the organizing company A2Live sees it as its mission to promote EDM across China, about which more info in the section “Shanghai Pioneering New Trends” in “Festivals”. Midi, Strawberry and other pop rock festivals typically have a DJ stage, even in smaller installments across the nation. Among the organizing companies, Strawberry’s organizer Modern Sky (a “Music Company”) seems to have the most coherent plan for EDM. They collaborate with Art of Dance and Release, and to a lesser extent with Intro Festival (by DJ Weng Weng and associated with the venue Lantern). “Club Tour Promotors & Consultants” such as Split Works, Kaiguan, China Music Dish, and Miro China have also organized China tours of DJs and electronic acts. Split Works’ Jue (and Echo Park Festival) and Sinotronics’ BEME are “Indoor Festivals for Western Artists” that provide a platform for more edgy electronic sounds, as do a number of clubs. It goes too far to repeat all the clubs here, for more info please go to the “Venues” subsection of each major city discussed in the section “Cities & Scenes”.

There a number of Dutch organizations and promotors active in the Chinese EDM scene: Paul Neuteboom in Beijing (Art of Dance and Release, collaborations with Modern Sky), Tommy Hendriks in Shanghai (The Mansion) and Twan Roubroeks and Michiel Roosjen in Chengdu. If you are a Dutch DJ or EDM company it makes sense to at least seek their advice if you are considering entering the Chinese market.

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