Mapping China: Music - Authoritative Media & Institutions: Radio, TV and Film

Radio

Radio stations are part of state-owned media conglomerates.

Revenue

Expect no royalties from radio, in fact, expect to pay for airtime (legal in China).

Promotional Value

Over the air radio has commercial breaks every 15 minutes and does not seem to resonate with younger audiences. Instead they listen to downloaded or streamed playlists (see below).

Car use might change this, but so far hasn’t.

Taxi drivers are an exception.

TV and Film

Television is still the most mainstream media in China. It is dominated by state-owned enterprises, but there is competition between CCTV, the national broadcaster and various provincial satellite TV stations, including Fenghuang, Hunan, Zhejiang and Shanghai Satellite TV. In this competition Beijing-based CCTV has a clear political and public function (embodied by the evening news), whereas the satellite TV stations based in liberal southern coastal provinces are more commercial and entertainment-focused. These stations push the envelope with reality television, including singing contests and dating shows. However, whenever the dominance of CCTV is threatened it calls in the help of the media watchdog (SAPPRFT) to restrain the vulgarity of satellite TV.

Revenue

In recent years a lot of money is invested in China in TV and cinema. Composers of original soundtracks profit from this trend.

However if you find your music being used in a Chinese TV show or film, there is no easy way of getting compensation. Chinese copyright laws focus on protecting the rights of Chinese citizens and companies. As with copyright infringements in general (see above) you will need a local representative. MCSC, specialized legal firms and legal music platforms (such as R2G) are the obvious places to look for help.

CCTV

24 Channels
CCTV’s Chinese New Year Gala is the world’s most watched television show and an appearance, however brief, ensures an audience of hundreds of millions. Ever since the program started in 1983, Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists have been making appearances, and New Year wishes from Chinese communities all over the world are also a set item. All performances are meticulously scripted, scrutinized and rehearsed. It is very rare for any Western artist to make an appearance.
CCTV-3 is dedicated to arts and entertainment, including popular music. CCTV also has an English language channel that occasionally contains portraits of foreigners.

Talent Shows

Success: Mengniu Yoghurt Super Girl 2005

In 2004 and 2005 the PRC was swept by the Contest. The show was modeled on the British format of Pop Idols. Although it was part of a worldwide hype of this format, the Chinese program attracted especially large numbers of viewers. The final episode of Super Girl had a total of 400 million viewers.
Around 800 million text messages were sent during this season. It was possible to vote several times for your favorite candidate. The program popularized new words (such as PK for a battle of live and death) and spawned debates on the democratic potential of voting by SMS. The accessibility of auditions (over 120,000 candidates applied in several cities) and the slogan ‘sing whenever you want’ promoted the idea that anyone can be a star – which is part of the worldwide democratization of celebrity (capitalized upon by media conglomerates).
The series was won by Chris Lee with over three million SMS votes. Thanks to her loyal fans (called yumi), Lee became a celebrity singer and actress. Also the numbers two (Bibi Zhou) and three (Jane Zhang) have been able to launch singing careers. This has been much more difficult for the many singers that came out of similar programs that were launched in the years after this tremendous success.
The series was produced by Hunan Satellite TV, which thereby temporarily overtook CCTV as the most watched and most profitable television station. Already during the 2005 season, regulators (i.e. SARFT) issued a series of restrictions of entertainment shows. The rationale behind protecting CCTV’s market share is that CCTV addresses the whole nation (and not just wealthy urbanites) and that it has an educational function.

Clones and Restrictions 2006-2011

Hunan Satellite TV had to drop ‘super’ from the title of the program next year (they produced Happy Boys), and include more patriotic songs. Showing the wild behavior of fans was another taboo and a few years later voting through SMS briefly became controversial. A number of scandals, including candidates pleading to jury members and controversial remarks in dating shows lead to clamp down on reality television in 2011, dubbed by the media as ‘entertainment-stopping bill’.
Since 2005, SARFT (now SAPPRFT) went on a mission to contain the explosion of reality television. The watchdog restricts the number and nature of reality television shows through the permit system, and stipulates for instance the maximum amount of time for commercial breaks (resulting in massive product placement within the programs) and the minimum of time a singing contest should spend on actual singing.
Still many talent shows emerged. Interestingly, older formats such as CCTV’s Young Singer Contest had to adapt to the new reality and for instance dropped the distinction between professional and amateur contestants.

The Voice of China 2012 onward

In 2012 The Voice of China revived the genre after it had gradually petered out. It mainly did so by introducing a new dynamics between contestants and jury members.
In the older Idols format the jury was there to embody the unfairness and nastiness of the music industry and perhaps society in general. The attraction was in the vicious and often humiliating remarks by members of the jury, and simultaneously in sympathizing with the (talented, relatable) underdog, who overcomes and succeeds against all odds. Although never explicitly stated as such, this element was controversial in China because it implicitly invites the challenging of figures of authority (the judges). Despite the mainstream pop sound of Super Girl winner Chris Lee, her career still builds on representing a certain defiant individuality.
The Voice of China changed this dynamics by having the judges participate in the competition by selecting and training their teams. Although this might seem to lower the judges to the level of the candidates, it actually teaches young hopefuls to remain modest and accept the guidance of their ‘teachers’, as the judges are called in Chinese.
Rock music features prominently on The Voice of China, and judges frequently encourage contestants to find their own voice, express their individuality and stand out from the crowd.
A number of singers that are active in the Chinese band and festival scene have appeared on The Voice of China, Chinese Idols and similar programs since 2012. Some have had considerable success (Yangjima, Hanggai, Moxizhishi and Perhat), even if they did not make it very far these appearances helped boost the careers of these singers and their bands, however briefly. This may be a viable strategy, and quite a few overseas Chinese contestants have participated over the years. However, the prerequisite is that you speak enough Chinese to be endearing to Chinese TV audiences.

Variety and Comedy Shows

Taiwanese variety shows such as Kang Xi Lai Le (since 2004) often feature pop stars and are also hugely popular in the PRC.

Especially K-pop singers have done well at formats such as Running Man, in which celebrities need to solicit the help of students to fulfil silly tasks on a campus.

Other popular programs focus on online audiences. Foreigners and singers have appeared in the mainstream youth-oriented programs such as the comedy show Dior’s Man (and the spin-off film Jian Bing Man) and the talk show Wang Zijian (targeting millennials, the so called post-80s).

Mapping China: Music - Authoritative Media & Institutions: Radio, TV and Film