{"id":1124,"date":"2008-08-21T06:31:03","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T06:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spli-t.com\/splitworks\/?p=1124"},"modified":"2008-08-21T06:31:03","modified_gmt":"2008-08-21T06:31:03","slug":"split-works-is-featured-in-silkroads-article-on-chinas-music-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/news\/split-works-is-featured-in-silkroads-article-on-chinas-music-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Split Works is featured in SILKROAD's article on China's music scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

[:en]Click here for a pdf <\/a>version of the article<\/p>\n

Rock in Motion<\/strong><\/h1>\n

China\u2019s on a roll with a new generation of bands<\/h2>\n

The crowd chants \u201cZai lai yi ge\u201d (\u201cOne more\u201d) as Hua Dong and his band exit the stage after an energy-packed gig at Mao Livehouse, near Beijing\u2019s ancient Bell Tower. Hua is the vocalist of three-piece rock band Re-TROS, one of many exciting new acts on Beijing\u2019s burgeoning music scene.<\/p>\n

Rock has not always had an easy ride in China. As record companies push commercial pop, the rock movement has been largely an underground phenomenon \u2013 until now, as Chinese music fans seek out alternative forms of entertainment.<\/p>\n

Mainland China\u2019s rock scene was pioneered in the late 1980s, largely through the efforts of Cui Jian, often referred to as China\u2019s version of Bob Dylan or David Bowie.\u00a0 In the beginning the movement was characterised by anthemic ballads, but a harder edge started creeping in during the 1990s with bands such as Tang Dynasty and Black Panther.<\/p>\n

The new millennium heralded a more sophisticated rock-music scene. Today, Beijing is the nation\u2019s \u201crock capital\u201d. As new venues and bands spring up in the city, outfits such as Re-TROS, Carsick Cars, ZIYO, LonelyChina Day, Snapline, SUBS, The Gar, PK14, Hedgehog and Arrows Made of Desire are starting to make a name for themselves. There are more bands, venues, live shows, festivals \u2013 and hype.<\/p>\n

Matt Kagler, former publicist and A&R man at Sub Pop Records in Seattle, says it\u2019s an exciting time for China\u2019s rock industry. He arrived in Beijing seven years ago with his wife Heike and started Tag Team Records in 2005 with the idea of releasing Chinese rock into the United States market.\u00a0 \u201cThis all changed very quickly and we started releasing records into China as well,\u201d Kagler says. Tag Team has a number of quality bands on its books, such as Lonely China Day, Re-TROS and RandomK(e) and has also developed a stable of groups in the US.<\/p>\n

The West has started paying attention to China\u2019s music scene, helping to create interest in Mainland China, especially in Beijing. \u201cThe word yaogun [rock] is no longer a dirty word,\u201d says Canadian Jon Campbell. Based in Beijing since 2000, Campbell runs promotions company YGTwo Productions and has taken Chinese bands on tours abroad.\u00a0 While things are improving, no one is making big money.\u00a0 \u201cUntil rock can prove itself to be of economic value, nothing will change,\u201d says Campbell. Kagler says the bills are getting paid, but that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n

Piracy and lack of disposable income among rock\u2019s traditional market are inhibiting further growth. While young people from developed nations will readily spend money on CDs and digital downloads, Chinese youth are reluctant to do so, says Ed Peto, who runs Beijing-based promotion and music consultancy Red T Music. \u201cUniversity students, who make up the majority of the rock music fan base, are often under a lot of pressure to achieve from their family who, in some cases, have worked multiple jobs and pooled money together to enable their child to attend higher education,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The music industry\u2019s focus is switching to income generated from live performances. While Chinese rock is attracting a new wave of fans, interest in foreign groups is rising as more acts include China on their touring schedules \u2013 the Rolling Stones played Beijing as part of their 2006 tour.<\/p>\n

In the short time Scotsman Archie Hamilton has been operating his Split Works promotions company in China he\u2019s lured bands including Sonic Youth, Faithless, Maximo Park, The Go! Team and more. \u201cAll of them are totally excited about coming here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Hamilton says the artists are curious about playing to audiences in China but also recognise an opportunity to develop a market there. But there are financial constraints.\u00a0 The lack of disposable income among Chinese youth means ticket prices are out of the reach of many, although linking corporate sponsorship with some of Split Works\u2019 tours has reduced prices for local fans.<\/p>\n

Larger outdoor festivals, which mix local and big-name foreign bands, may be one way forward. Not only do they provide economies of scale, with a stack of bands performing on the one stage over one or two days, but festivals also create a lot of hype.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of energy and optimism,\u201d Hamilton says. \u201cPeople want to see this work.\u201d[:zh]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

[:]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[:en]SILKROAD covers China’s nascent underground rock scene, featuring Split Works’ Archie Hamilton talking about the difficulties and opportunities involved in organizing live concerts in China[:]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[91,128,292,406,454,532,540,679,685,756,786,927],"class_list":["post-1124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-archie-hamilton","tag-beijing","tag-ed-peto","tag-hua-dong","tag-jon-campbell","tag-mao-livehouse","tag-matt-kagler","tag-re-tros","tag-red-t-music","tag-split-works","tag-tag-team-records","tag-ygtwo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spli-t.com\/splitworks2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}