China Daily Global Edition (USA)
New brand bears good tidings for electronic music lovers
NetEase, Inc., one of China’s leading internet services which boasts a following of more than 400 million online users, launched a new electronic music brand called Fever, or Fang Ci in Chinese, in Shanghai on Oct 12.
According to Jessie Wang, CEO of Fever, the brand will offer electronic music fans access to live shows, music tours, music production and VR-based online DJ games.
“Electronic music is one of the fastest-growing music genres in China, but compared to the West, the Chinese electronic music scene has only just started,” says Wang in Shanghai.
According to NetEase Cloud Music, an online music streaming platform under NetEase, Inc., there is huge potential for development in China’s electronic music market as there are presently more than 100 million fans of this music genre.
Before Fever was officially launched, it had held three themed electronic music parties in Shanghai and Chengdu, Sichuan province, in collaboration with Spanish electronic music promoter Elrow, a Barcelonabased party-maker which spans 33 countries and has sold over 2.5 million events.
Fever will continue this partnership with Elrow, with the next being in Shenzhen on Nov 10. Also slated are more than 20 shows in other Chinese cities in 2019.
“Many Chinese electronic music fans enjoy music through online streaming. We want to offer them live experiences which excite,” says Wang, adding that the target audience of Fever is the younger generation in China, especially those who were born after 1990.
Wang adds that Ding Lei, the founder and CEO of NetEase, is also a big fan of electronic music and tickets to its global that it was his passion for the music genre that led to the birth of Fever.
“We’ve traveled with Ding worldwide to experience electronic music parties. Ding has learned the techniques of electronic music to better understand the genre,” Wang adds.
Along with London-based Point Blank Music School, Fever will also launch an electronic music school in Hangzhou, the first of its kind in China, which offers students Bachelor of Arts certificates.
“We share the vision with NetEase and will offer a full-range of content for Chinese students, including electronic music production, sound engineering, DJing, singing and songwriting,” says musician and producer Robert Cowan, who is the founder and CEO of Point Blank Music School.
Cowan founded the school in 1994 and has since expanded the institution to places including Los Angeles, Ibiza and Mumbai.
“The focus is to develop a new generation of local electronic music artists and producers who can share the stage with international artists,” Wang says.
With regard to games, Fever will launch a VR-based DJ title called Electronauts that is backed by NetEase Games, the country’s top online gaming service under NetEase and NetVios, a joint venture of NetEase and Survios, US game developer.
When playing Electronauts, players enter a VR environment where they can learn to be DJs before creating their own works that are performed to a virtual audience.
Electronic music, a music genre born in the late 19th century in Europe and the United States, took root in China in the 1990s. In 2009, China held its first home-grown electronic music festival, Intro, which was launched by Beijingbased record label Acupuncture Records.