Archie Hamilton, head of Split Works in Shanghai, will discuss the topic `Can China Build A Better Business` at SXSW in Austin this month.
“The Chinese music market has changed beyond all recognition in the last five years,” Archie tells Undercover News. “To illustrate - in 2005, Shanghai had one live venue with a capacity of around 80. The venue was a 45-minute taxi ride from downtown. Now Shanghai has two x 100, four in the 200-400 range, a 600 and an 800 with a 4,000 and 18,000 opening commercially for Expo”.“In 2005, there was one music festival in China,” he adds. “In 2009, there nearly 30 with plenty of new ones slated for 2010. The pace of change is incredible and will only get more so”.
With a population of more than one billion and an ever increasing appetite for Western music, China could potentially become the biggest touring market in the world. “The Chinese are getting a real taste for live music, and the infrastructure is developing very quickly,” he says. “Artists that want to create a presence for themselves in potentially the biggest market in the world, artists that want a rich cultural experience and artists that aren't looking to make immediate dollars (but rather have a long term goal), should all be making China a stop on the travels”.
With new foundations for the music business being laid right now, China should soon have the potential to export as well as import major talent. “China already has superstars that play regularly to many tens of thousands of people, but there are some problems, and also some glass ceilings,” he says. “The problems are the lack of depth, and the inexperience of the industry. Record labels are solely focused on the development and exploitation of a narrow band of pop stars and popstrels, reality TV and endorsements. There are a couple of institutions (ours included) trying to build the audiences, the artists and the industry from the ground up, but everything is still very young. The Chinese just haven't had the exposure and experience that developed markets have. Thus, it will take time for artists to develop to the level of their international counterparts. That said, the talent and hunger are here, and the changes are happening with frightening speed”.
The first Chinese international superstar will have to sing in English he says. “The glass ceiling, or course, is the language. It will be hard to develop true global superstars singing in Mandarin”.
Archie will speak at SXSW on Saturday, March 20.
