Every year we review the year that was and look to the future (Click through for our essays on 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019).  Given the year that we’ve just had, this one will be a bit of a leisurely wind around the theory rather than the practice of what our industry has become. 2020 was the Year of the Rat.  The rat can be a troublemaker, a harbinger of chaos (and of course pandemics), and sure enough, those were the main characteristics of 2020.  China has led a somewhat different path through the chaos than most other countries, so here goes the review. On the ..read more

by Will Griffiths with Archie Hamilton. More from Will over at www.livechinamusic.com When COVID-19 hit China officially on January 24th, the whole country – starting with Wuhan – went on complete lockdown. Live music globally was among the first industries to be completely shut down and in most places, it will be the last to reopen. Here in China, some cities started preparing for reopening at the end of March, even though in reality officially sanctioned gigs didn’t emerge until the end of May. After a month of finding collective feet again, we were up to fullish speed by the end of June (wi ..read more

Everything about it seemed off in the beginning. ‘The Big Band’ was going to be streaming network iQiyi’s next big reality TV extravaganza, following on the success of Rap of China. It was going to involve…older “indie” bands from the late 2000s? Wait, what? Squaring off in the usual dramatic reality TV fashion, complete with the cutesy plinky-plonk noises and on-screen emojis, like Korea’s Running Man?? It decided on this aesthetic to reflect its true rock’n’roll soul??? The show did not get off a great start. Everything about it was the epitome of “middling” – the ensemble of bands (even as ..read more

One letter is all it takes to get fooled. Over the last few weeks, music promoters, festivals and venues across the continent have been getting emails from agents representing A-list music talent – Rihanna, Eminem, Lady Gaga, System of A Down – laying out Asia tour dates for these artists and inviting offers. So far, so normal. The names are right, the signature is solid. The artists and their touring requirements seem correct. But you read enough of these emails, and you notice something eerie. They’re all on the same template – a terse “Dear Promoter”, wonky formatting, the exact same stru ..read more

This week, Joyside announced a reunion tour in China. Presale tickets for their first two shows sold out in minutes. The boozy, sloppy drunk-punk band built a cult following in the early 2000s before breaking up, and singer Bian Yuan had since established a fairly high-profile image as a solo performer and songwriter. Rock comebacks are a rare thing in China, where alternative music only stretches back till the late 80s, with most of it dominated by pop or solo performers. Joyside join their erstwhile label mates Carsick Cars (who reunited as their ‘original lineup’ in 201 ..read more