Back in 2010 we wrote a nostalgic piece that acknowledged the passing of our 3rd anniversary. We hoped, to quote, that “you will grin and bear us for another 3 years”. Well hasn’t time flown!
More importantly perhaps, we shared a number of hopes and predictions with our audience. Let’s take a look at how far we as an industry have come:
We Said:
- China will develop at least one truly world-class music festival.
Four Years Later:
We think that Modern Sky’s Strawberry fest （草莓）– while arguably not a world-class festival in terms of production – has actually become a Chinese festival that could match any in the world with respect to audience, reach and reputation. Ultimately, a world class music festival is one that becomes a right of passage for the kids making the step up into adulthood. Strawberry is certainly close to being that.
We Said:
- Independent artists will start to encroach on the mainstream, thus breaking the stranglehold of TV and traditional media.
Four Years Later:
We also think that independent artists – artists that weren’t ‘manufactured’ at least – are getting closer and closer to garnering mainstream attention. Cui Jian (崔健) being invited to perform on the Spring Festival Gala, Yunggiema (央吉玛) coming second on The Voice of China TV show, and artists like Escape Plan playing to bigger and bigger audiences exemplify this (albeit they’re perhaps not quite as edgy as some of the artists we’d like to see getting a little more of the lime light).
We Said:
- Creators will actually start to get paid for their work and the successful ones will be able to give up their day jobs and focus on their craft full time.
Four Years Later:
An increasing number of independent artists (not just musicians) are now getting paid enough to give up day jobs – the festivals, promoters in general, and brands are paying enough for this to happen, even if the public isn’t yet. Furthermore, there have been a lot of crowdfunding projects lately from the likes of Aweh.tv, Stegosaurus? and The World Underground which have enabled supportive fans with day jobs to give a helping hand to creatives in a way that wasn’t possible before.
We Said:
- Chinese bands will be able to tour the world as “artists”, not “Chinese artists”
Four Years Later:
Carsick Cars in particular are a band in their own right now when they tour the US or Australia. The same could be said of Nova Heart. Birdstriking just headed to the UK to tour with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. P.K.14 and re-TROS hit up Australia, and Hanggai have ventured all over the world. These artists are increasingly getting press and growing their audiences based on their music rather than their nationality.
For CMR, part of our obligation to the music loving community in China is to use the insights we’re able to gain from our friends across the country, in order to give what we feel are fair predictions for how things could turn out in the coming future. Sometimes we’re off the mark, so that’s why we need you.
Feel free to submit any predictions you’d like to make for the next four years!