By Gordon Chu | November 24, 2009

Rock Music in China – An Overview

Today in China, there are two distinct styles of music that tend to dominate the airwaves: traditional pop music and Yaogun Yinyue (Chinese rock music).

“Yaogun” literally means rock-and-roll.  The introduction of western style rock music in China can be traced back to the early 1980s. In Beijing at that time, young adults became increasingly exposed to Western music and in turn, tried to emulate what they were hearing – and they did quite a good job. As early as 1980, the first band to ever play modern style western rock in China was formed — Wan Li Ma Wang. Their first shows were held mainly in foreign hotels in downtown Beijing to audiences of mostly foreign students. Wan Li Ma Wang was famous for playing mostly western-style classic rock.

While the genre of rock music in China was pioneered by a multitude of talented and gifted artists, only one artist has been  referred to as the “Father of Chinese Rock”— Cui Jian.  Born in Beijing, Jian showed aptitude toward music at a very young age. At the age of fourteen he began playing trumpet and by the age of twenty, he joined the esteemed Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra.

According to Jian, he was inspired to learn guitar by Western musicians such as Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Talking Heads, and the Rolling Stones.  In the mid-1980s, Jian formed the band “Seven Ply Board” (later renamed ADO). The band played music inspired by the Northwest Wind music style – a traditional folk style music originating in China’s northern Shaanxi Province. Northwest Wind style music was predominately popular between 1986 and 1989 and was influenced significantly by Cui Jian.

Jian’s style drew heavily on the traditional folk Northwest Wind music while also incorporating elements of western rock such as the fast tempo and strong bass. For many fans and listeners, his music represented a cultural movement – one that can also be discerned in Chinese literature and films produced around the same time.

In 1986, Jian’s hit song titled “Nothing to My Name,” became the first popular song written in China to use electric guitar. Jian performed the song on a television talent show, and became an overnight sensation. The song is now widely considered to be one of the most influential songs of his generation. Even to this day, some even consider “Nothing to My Name” an “unofficial” anthem for the student protestors during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.

The brilliance of Jian’s work is often attributed to his unique way of incorporating the sounds of traditional Chinese instruments with electric guitar and other elements he admired in the western recordings he enjoyed.  In fact, when Jian first listened to western rock music on smuggled recordings from Hong Kong and Bangkok at 20 years old, he knew that he needed to spread this genre of music throughout China.

“We learned a lot by imitating,” said Cui Jian, “But we have our own problems, our own feelings to express, so we’ve started making our own music.”

If we explore the evolution of Chinese Rock through to today, the first part of Cui’s words is what typically bothers many young Chinese rock bands, while the later part (to a certain degree) give the excuse for those bands to think that they should not be bothered.

Does “Imitation” Work?

By most accounts, rock-and-roll music originated in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s and became increasingly popular with singles such as Elvis’ “That’s All Right (Mama)” in 1954 and Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” in 1955. However, through rock music in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Beatles, drove rock music into the international mainstream and catapulted western pop culture around the world. However, over 20 years after Cui started his “rebellious” band, the share of rock music today in the Chinese market is even smaller than during the 1980s – less than 5%. There are many arguments for this; political restriction, music pirating, declining record business, etc. However, in China, you will get a simple answer when you ask people what they think of rock music: it’s NOISY. And the answer has not changed much even after 20 years.

On a very basic level, many westerners arguably develop an appreciation for rock music because – to some extent – the so-called NOISE satisfies their need to express their inner cravings to “rebel”. It can often be taken for granted that the Confucianism culture is deeply rooted in China – and is so strong that it makes people feel that “to rebel” is a bad thing. Consequently “noise” must be bad and the whole “rock” idea is a difficult notion for the Chinese to understand.

So the assumption I am making here is that, in China, the youth don’t relate “rebelling” to “noise” but rather to the “image” of rock n’roll. It’s the idea and image of rebellion versus the love for the actual melodies and sounds itself. The fact of the matter is that the Chinese prefer visual communication over alternative forms. This topic could be stretched far beyond rock music, but we will just keep it to the topic on-hand: Does “imitation” work?

What are the Implications?

Let’s return to the last part of Cui’s quote “We have our own feeling to express, so we start to make our own music”. For the youth in China, the desire to “rebel” is certainly personified in the image, but not expressed in the music itself. If we look at some emerging pop trends below, you can see how the way to “rebel” heavily relies on visual experiences.

Super Girl

As far as music celebrities, the “Idol” concept has become an incredible phenomenon in China.  With “American Idol” dominating the US market, the Chinese developed their own version, titled “Super Girl.”  To illustrate just how popular “Super Girl” became in China: the show’s popularity also attracted many critics that after 2006 it was cancelled, and has just recently been brought back onto the air.

Super Girl is, at its core, a karaoke competition television show. However it is considered the biggest music cultural event in the past10 years as well. The key to its success is likely that it creates visual experiences to attract the youth market and drive them to vote, which is considered a primary way to voice their opinions and to be a “rebel” in the sense of an individual opinion and not limited by authority.

Conclusion

Today, rock bands are learning from every emerging pop trend. The television reality show “Battle of the Bands”, sponsored by Pepsi Co., has become one the latest top-rated shows in China—with the number of bands’ live performances around the country increasing at a phenomenal rate of 300% per year. For most new and up-and-coming musicians, it is important to heed these lessons and learn how important it is today to create visual experiences to engage audiences and to enlarge a fan base. I a broader sense perhaps these are lessons the bands and label managers should learn from the history of western rock-and-roll.

Reference:

CANTO POP

Canto-pop was thrust into the spotlight in the 1970s – a decade before rock music was on the scene in China.  As television sitcoms began to gain popularity, it became apparent that a “theme song” would be a good way to tie in music to television.  Sandra Lang sang the first television theme song in China in 1971 – “The Yuanfen of a Wedding that Cries and Laughs”. Following the overwhelming response, pop stars from all over China tried to follow suit..  Theme songs fueled pop musicians careers throughout the rest of the decade.  In the 1980s, the genre really took off, and  remained at the top of the charts till the end of 90s, when its place is taken by Mando-pop

MANDO POP

Mando-pop’s biggest hub of distribution has long been Taiwan. Mando-pop aims to stay true to its shidaiqu roots from the 1920s, while incorporating newer and more modern instrumentation. Today, mando-pop stars such as Faye Wong, called the “Diva of Asia” after she was the first Chinese artist to perform in Japan, Jay Chou, and David Tao carry the genre.  Despite the popularity of canto-pop within China, Mando-pop has gained a great export value for China.  Outlets in Canada, the U.S., and Australia all have great markets for mando-pop and other Chinese music. Moreover, mando-pop has proven to be an effective profit-making industry that has heavily influences Asian trends.

Gordon Chu is the VP of Business Development at METAN Development Group. For comments/questions, email gchu@metanmedia.com.