https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1791-9991
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ABSTRACT
This article will discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Chinese cultural industries, in particular independent music based on live interviews with musicians, venue owners, labels and others in the Chinese music industry. On the one hand there are many state employees in the cultural industries, who are somewhat protected from immediate employment impacts; on the other there are many private sector companies, especially in Music, TV and Film, who have been severely impacted. China’s social protections are not high, but at the same time neither are expectations of state help in terms of loss of income. In the music industry, the closing of all venues has had an inordinate impact on the already suffering “independent” sector (mainly due to lockdowns), with many music venues especially not expected ever to re-open. We ask whether the crisis forces the sector to re-evaluate its cultural value positioned in a heightened commercialised music industry.
Notes on contributors
Xin Gu is Senior Lecturer at the School of Media Film and Journalism at Monash University. She co-authored Red Creative: Culture and Modernity in China with Justin O’Connor.
Nevin Domer is a musician and music researcher of Chinese music industry based at Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Justin O’Connor is professor of cultural economy at the University of South Australia and visiting chair in the Department of Cultural Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
Notes
1 ROMO signed to label Maybe Mars, China’s most important punk label in June 2020. https://www.360kuai.com/pc/921a30c67d7cbad05?cota=3&kuai_so=1&sign=360_e39369d1
2 Voice of Wuhan, 2019 Dec EP launch party https://www.douban.com/event/33126832/
3 Lyrics of ‘Falling Down, accessed May 28th 2020. https://www.xiami.com/song/mT91BK91858
4 By “Indie” we include a range of genres – hip-hop, noise, punk, experimental, techno – which fall outside the commercial mainstream. The relatively small space of this indie scene – discussed below – means that these genres, but the bands and the audience, operate in shared, somewhat undifferentiated spaces, rubbing shoulders with each other in ways less common in western cities where audiences and venues tend to be separated out.
5 This industry forum was organised by the authors as part of UNESCO’s ResiliArt Webinar Series on “artists and creativity beyond crisis” https://en.unesco.org/news/resiliart-artists-and-creativity-beyond-crisis. It took place on the 28th July 2020, panel is composed of key stakeholders in China’s indie music scene.
6 Yuyintang is one of the oldest Livehouses in China. Located in Shanghai, it is one of few Livehouses that is dedicated to indie rock music. https://site.douban.com/yuyintang_h/room/442781/
7 Modernsky is China’s largest independent record company. Founded in 1997, the company aimed at promoting the internationalisation of Chinese indie music. https://www.modernsky.com/home/aboutus
8 Taihe Music has the largest share of Mandopop market and is the only music organisation in China that covers the entire music value chain from IP, celebrity, audio-visual, live performances to integrated marketing and fan community. http://about.taihe.com/
9 VOX, is a Livehouse based in Wuhan. It’s founded by Zhu Ning in 2005, member of band SMZB, one of the oldest punk bands in China.
13 Maybe Mars is a China based, independent record label, founded by Michael Pettis in 2007. The label promoted indie Chinese bands including Carsick Cars and SMZB to an international audience. https://downloads.maybemars.org/
14 Strawberry music festival, run by Modernsky, is the most well-known live music festival in China, catering to diverse genres and audience. https://www.modernsky.com/home/live_labels/11