Rising above the pandemic
Equality, authenticity, variety key watchwords for delayed China music awards event
On a sweltering summer day in 2019, fans cheered in a spacious studio in the southern suburbs of Beijing as a group of rock musicians took center stage.
As the indie rock trio Hedgehog received the Chinese Rock Band of the Year award, lead singer-songwriter and guitarist Zhao Zijian held drummer Shi Lu aloft in excitement.
Later, the group performed the hit Requiem for a Train of Life, a song regarded as its anthem. Even though Zhao performed that number out of tune, this failed to stop the fans from cheering.
The band’s appearance was one of the most exciting events at the third China Music Industry Committee Music Awards, or CMA.
Despite no major pop stars gracing the red carpet, nor a dazzling fashion parade with cameras flashing, music industry insiders, record company executives, critics and other key figures in the music business gathered to celebrate the awards. A total of 35 trophies were presented for outstanding achievements in the country’s music industry in 2018-19.
The awards were launched in 2017 by the China Music Industry Committee, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Beijing. The awards honor performers from a diverse range of genres, including pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz and classical music. They also recognize technicians, engineers and designers who work on each album and song.
In 2020, the fourth edition of the awards had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year they were again delayed.
On Jan 26, the fourth and fifth editions were released on Sina Weibo, with 37 awards presented for each of the two years in recognition of the artistic achievements of those working in the nation’s music industry.
For the fourth edition, which covered the music scene in 2019, Carambola Garden, an instrumental album by Dou Wei and his band Bu Yi Yang, which was released in June that year, won the Album of the Year award.
Since Dou left the iconic rock band Black Panther in 1992, he has been viewed as something of an eccentric among Chinese rock lovers.
With each album released, he lost a rising number of fans but gained support and admiration from music critics. For years, Dou has been devoted to composing and performing instrumental pieces.
For Carambola Garden, he and his band performed nine works on instruments such as the flute, the guzheng (on which the strings are plucked) and the yangqin (a hammered dulcimer).
The fourth edition of the CMA also saw awards presented to rock singersongwriter Zheng Jun, who won Male Singer of the Year, and Yu Kewei, who was Female Singer of the Year.
Other key winners included pop
star Jay Chou and pop-rock band Mayday’s lead vocalist Ashin, both from Taiwan, who co-wrote Won’t Cry, which was voted Song of the Year. Mr. Sea Turtle won the Band of the Year award.
Inside the Cable Temple, an album by indie band Omnipotent Youth Society, won Album of the Year award at the fifth edition of the CMA. It was the second album for the band, which was founded in 2002.
Some 50,000 copies sold in just 21 minutes of the album being released online, grossing more than 1.1 million yuan ($174,130). Inside the Cable Temple is considered a milestone for a Chinese indie band.
The Song of the Year award at the fifth edition went to Tan Weiwei for Xiao Juan, which highlights the plight of women experiencing violence and abuse. Tan also won the Female Singer of the Year award.
Xue Zhiqian was Male Singer of the Year, while the Best Jazz Instrumental Album award went to 21-year-old pianist Abu, who released his third album, One Step East, last year.
The song Teen Spirit, written and performed by Jiulian Zhenren, a fourpiece rock band from Guangdong province, won the Best Rock Single and Best Lyrics awards.
Xu Yi, president of the CMIC Music Awards Committee, said: “What matters to us is that we need to ensure equality, authenticity and variety.
These awards truly represent the music scene in China. Although we can no longer celebrate together at galas like we used to each year, we are very proud to carry these awards on, which has not been easy.”
Since the fourth and fifth editions of the awards were held at the same time, the committee members worked tirelessly to determine the winners.
Before the awards were officially launched, Xu and his friends, including Song Ke and Jonathan Lee — all of them central figures in the development of the nation’s music industry — spent a long time working on the rules and guidelines.
The voting process involved several rounds of discussion and was monitored by a professional audit company. The results were announced by the CMA Committee.
Xu had long dreamed of launching music awards. He has worked in the industry for three decades and was CEO of Sony Music Entertainment China before becoming president and CEO of Taihe Music Group.
“There are many music awards in China. They have nearly everything, such as celebrities, screaming fans and generous sponsors, but no music. They are pure entertainment — just a showcase. It was a shame that we didn’t have any awards to provide an accurate picture of the music scene,” Xu said.
“We know that people in the industry
are watching and waiting to see how far these awards can go. They have questions and doubts. The awards are still very young and are growing. Our original and ultimate goal of presenting music awards for the sake of music will never change.”
To ensure equality, Xu withdrew from the judging panel for the fourth and fifth editions of the awards, inviting two veterans from the nation’s music scene, Zhan Hua and Tan Yizhe, to act as conveners.
Zhan, who directed the first three ceremonies for the awards and was among the first group of people to join the CMA committee, said, “Our job was to keep the voting process going and to stick to the rules.
“Judging by the results from these two editions of the awards, we can see that the music scene — from pop to rock, from indie musicians to record companies — is vibrant, although the industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic. Some of these works have achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim, which is a good sign.”
Zhan said the awards also recognize independent artists — with many of them sharing their original material online to appeal to a large number of users.
“One of the nine jurors now gathers leaders from music communities at top Chinese universities to act as voting consultants, injecting new blood
into the awards. We are happy to see these changes, which will ensure that the awards are long-lived,” Zhan said.
Xu’s dream and determination are shared by Song Ke, the former head of Warner Music China and now CEO of Live Nation China.
A key figure in the music industry, Song announced in 2012 that he was quitting the business to run a roast duck restaurant, shocking many people and making headlines.
Due to rampant online piracy in the early 2000s, record companies did not consider it worthwhile to release albums, turning instead to managing artists’ performances and also to advertising for their main sources of revenue.
It took several years for the industry to recover from decline. In 2015, a notice was issued by the National Copyright Administration stipulating that online music delivery platforms must remove all unauthorized songs.
Song said: “We want to recognize talented people in the music industry and encourage young musicians. More important, we want to regain our industry’s dignity. We want to honor the arts and the artists for what they have created, whether they are commercially successful or not. We even considered not having galas. We attach the same amount of pride and honor in announcing the winners in a small restaurant.”
He added that he was happy to meet the winners of the fourth and fifth editions of the awards, which allowed him to get to know more new artists.
“The pandemic has been devastating for the music scene, especially for live music, but we are glad to see there has been no reduction in the number of new works,” Song said. “I was provided with a list for the fourth and fifth editions, because some of the songs were new to me and also to audiences.”
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, China rose to sixth place in the world’s largest music markets last year.
Xu, who said the nation is expected to enter the top five, added: “Many young artists are releasing new songs every day. These awards offer them a platform and set standards.”