China’s entertainment market has undergone incredible transformations over the last few years. In 2007, there was only one mainland music festival. By 2013, every major city had one, from Rizhou to Yinchuan, Luzhou to Lijiang. There are international quality arenas, live houses of all descriptions, recording studios, record labels, management companies, showcase festivals and cultural centres. The Voice of China is one of the highest rated TV programmes ever while 100,000 people went to Zhangbei’s InMusic Festival in 2011.
In the last 12 months, there has been a convergence of international and Chinese zeitgeist. Whilst Electronic Dance Music, EDM, or Event-Driven-Marketing (as DeadMau5 likes to call it) sweeps the USA, China’s super clubs have all but abandoned hip-hop in exchange for the bass and the beast of the music industry’s latest plaything. DJ’s have been popular here for nearly a decade. Tiesto, Sasha, John Digweed all made many trips to China’s major cities from 2005-2009, opening the gilt-edged, bottle-serving clubs that were invested in by hopeful (and financially dubious) investors, thinking that another superclub was just what Shanghai / Beijing / Chengdu / Dongguan / name your Chinese city was in need of.
Then came the great financial crisis of 2009. The raging torrent of new clubs slowed to a trickle, and then dried up completely. The hot money had run out, and people seemed to realize that there just wasn’t really a market for a club per person. Whilst more developed economies have multi-decade economic cycles – 20-40 years boom to bust – China’s cycles are somewhat shorter. The fluctuations are less egregious, but we seem to swing from limited bust to relatively outrageous boom in 4 years phases. In late 2008, 2 massively overpaid and undersold shows with Kanye West and an empty Hongkou Stadium for Kylie Minogue spelled the “end” for Steve Sybesma (see interview HERE) and the beginning of the crisis. Brands stopped spending, businesses started folding and we were all forced to reevaluate business models and company structures.
And so it is that from the low point of early 2009, we have arrived at the end of 2013 in a similar situation. New clubs are opening every week, some with incredible names (MYST – Moving You, Stunning Trip), some with incredible themes (Cirque du Soir – freak show cabaret), and some just incredibly bad. New festivals, new venues, and a strong leaning towards dance music is the story of 2013. Most of them seem doomed to failure, but the hot money is certainly rushing in.
Over the summer just gone, we have had all manner of mega-failures (among a stark few amazing successes: Metallica is actually the only one we can think of). Creativeman launched a Chinese episode of their Summersonic Festival to handfuls of people, Aerosmith cancelled due to insanely low sales (and insanely high prices), Pet Shop Boys, the Killers, Suede, and many others played to 20% full venues (or less). We thought it was all done then and that our Kylie / Kanye moment had come again, but no! The story is just unfolding. The electronic apocalypse is nigh…
First up, this weekend (and next Friday) we have the biggest new entry on the Chinese festival charts since Chengdu launched the ill-fated Big Love Festival. Storm blasted in with a crazy video, crazy rumored lineup (Nicki Minaj was bandied around for a while before she was removed from the bill) and massive promises of huge stages, huge VIP viewing areas and huge DJ’s. Their promotion has been ubiquitous in Shanghai, with Storm employing all the local (expat) DJ crews and taking over every inch of media real estate. It also seems they are set to deliver on most of the production promises, carrying on the alien theme through the stages. But it all seems a little early:
- Is there really an audience for big DJ culture, beyond a couple of thousand expats and some dedicated Chinese?
- Will that audience head out in mid-November (cold) for an outdoor event on a Saturday? Less likely, will they head out a week later on a Friday?
- Will they pay the high-ticket prices? 380RMB per day early bird, 480 presale and 580 door is the highest price ever for a Chinese music festival, (save the disastrous Shanghai Sonic)?
- Can Storm’s investors last out a first year of incredibly heavy losses, and another couple of years of losses to get to breakeven?
All will be revealed this Saturday and the following Friday. Event details HERE
Following in Storms footsteps comes a slightly unbelievable Avicii performance, which will be held at an auto museum in the distant suburb of Jiading. 60-90 minutes outside of Shanghai downtown. Old friends Cool DJ Agency (they of the Great Wall Festival and the longest running of the electronic promoters) join forces with Muse to present a huge production with one of DJ Mags toppest of top DJ’s. Whether they will get the 10,000 people that they want is another matter. We’ve been to Jiading – it’s a long way from home and in the middle of nowhere, literally.
We can’t say for sure, but it does feel like an electronic apocalypse is upon us…
*Update: Storm has now launched a ‘flash sale’, dropping prices for bulk sales. A telling move.