Mainland music snubbed by fans

• Source: Global Times
• [09:34 July 28 2010]
• Comments

Chen Chusheng, for example, a popular young singer who emerged from talent shows run by a provincial television station in China, has only released an EP of five songs over five years, Dai said. "He did have a concert but it was ridiculous considering the number of his own works. Most of the time he sang other people's songs."

Dai suggested singers from the Chinese mainland were focusing more on small venues like bars or clubs in Shanghai.

In Taiwan young performers have an opportunity to show off their works at music festivals which offer the audiences free admission. But mainland performers lack this kind of initiative.

Some insiders suggest the problem could be peculiar to Shanghai where the audiences seem to prefer stars from outside the mainland. "Beijing has a more comprehensive music scene with a wider variety of genres readily available. And Beijing audiences appreciate mainland performers. Perhaps it's a local culture thing," a music insider said. "In Guangzhou the audiences there prefer Cantonese performers. But Shanghai crowds accept anyone from overseas. It doesn't seem to matter about the language."

"No matter how, live concerts will go on. I think live concerts will never die but mainland music will develop," said Zhang Yiming, director of media and marketing for a nationwide ticketing company.

Show business is constantly and rapidly changing and what is hot one month is cold the next. As music production companies grow more sophisticated, their stars will also reap the benefits and it will only be a matter of time before mainland stars and bands are matching the box office attractions of their overseas peers. In the meantime both mainland performers and the fans wanting to hear more from them will have to wait.