Thinking about new gameplay after full recovery, the industry is optimistic that online and offline concerts complement
each other
After the concert restarts: Combine lifestyle and upgrade the live experience
Three years is enough time to change a lot, some things will decay, others will evolve. What will the large-scale concert that has been restarted after three years face the audience, and has the audience quietly changed after a long time for a concert audience? How to re-locate yourself after the full return of offline concerts to the popular online concert format?
1 Be more sincere and pay more attention to demand-side feedback
After three years of almost no work, the performance company cherishes the moment when large-scale concerts are overwhelmed. Zhang Yiming said that now both artists and performance companies have a more sincere attitude towards concerts. In the past, you may think of playing some "flower work" and shaking "clever", such as hiding some concert songs or guests, trying to save the "surprise" to the scene, but now I think that the audience can come to the scene to watch the performance together is the biggest surprise. What's more, some singers are on a world tour, and many fans have already seen foreign performances. In the age of social networking, there is really not much content about concerts that can be deliberately hidden. "Today's fans are absolutely eye-catching, and they also go to government websites. Sometimes I haven't been notified of a concert yet, and they already know it's approved. I think that now the performance company should be like a confidant friend, telling all the information to fans and consumers. ”
On the other hand, as the number of large-scale concerts increases, it is necessary to do better in terms of quality in order to be competitive. "It's like making a restaurant, a food street is highly competitive, and each restaurant can only stand out by practicing its own dishes." After many years in the industry, Zhang Yiming often thinks about a question: What makes a good performance? There is no doubt that the quality of the performance should be high. Every detail related to the concert is also very important, a good name, a good poster, will leave a good impression on fans from an aesthetic point of view. "From the perspective of our performance company, from the name of the concert, the poster, all the design materials, promotional copy, to the song, the stage, the audience service... Each item is a perfect score, which together constitutes a full score concert. ”
The annual theme of the 2023 Strawberry Music Festival is "Still", which means "still" and "continue", announcing the end of the embarrassing situation that has been interrupted by the epidemic in the past three years, and calling on fans to "continue" to participate in this national music event. Shen Yue revealed that this year's Strawberry Music Festival will definitely have some changes in operation compared with previous years, such as paying more attention to demand-side feedback. Understand and analyze the changes in demand through the statements on social media, the curve trend of ticket sales, etc., and then make targeted adjustments to the operation of the music festival. "We have expectations for the cost and box office of a music festival in a certain city, and if we find that the box office revenue is lower than expected, it means that we have to invest more carefully in similar cities and operate in a way that reduces costs and increases efficiency." In short, as the organizer of the Strawberry Music Festival, it is more cautious and rational at the operational level.
Specific to the strawberry music festival in each city, it is necessary to combine the characteristics of the local youth cultural life, constantly innovate and optimize the product structure. "It's not that everyone will pay for whatever you want as long as you wear the Strawberry Music Festival brand, but that's no longer the case." Shen Yue introduced that the standardization of the sound system of the Strawberry Music Festival has been very mature, and the audience hears the same singer's singing voice at music festivals in different cities, and the "innovation" is reflected in the experience of the live audience, such as screen settings, devices that can take photos together, etc., and more importantly, at the level of combining music and lifestyle. "What kind of partners we choose and what kind of innovative content we make with the local young community, this is what we always care about."
2 Online concerts will not disappear and will complement offline concerts
In the three years that large-scale offline concerts and music festivals have been postponed or absent, online concerts have become a new way for musicians to communicate and contact with fans. Cui Jian, Luo Dayou, Liu Ruoying, Andy Lau, Mao Buyi and other musicians have successfully held online concerts, and Modern Sky has also hatched online projects such as "House Strawberry". Even many famous musicians who have not held online concerts until now do not actually reject this format. Jacky Cheung, who officially announced the launch of the "60+ Tour" not long ago, revealed to the Beijing News that he had considered doing an online concert before, but he had not negotiated: "Either I don't want me, or I'm not used to them, and I haven't negotiated anyway." So I think it's just that the timing is not right. ”
When watching concerts online has gradually formed a new habit of entertainment consumption in the past three years, will it have an impact on the restarted offline concert market? Zhang Yiming's answer is "no". In his opinion, the concert industry (offline) is too traditional, and traditional is unlikely to be replaced by the emergence of new technologies and new forms. "From the beginning of music, it is sung face-to-face to the audience. Whether it is an online concert, or some AR (augmented reality technology), VR (virtual reality technology), their impact on this industry, I think is extremely limited. People have to get together because of one thing, which is a very instinctive need engraved in the bones of human beings, and cannot be changed. ”
Shen Yue also believes that the format of online concerts will not have an impact on offline concerts and music festivals. For example, he said, some star singers now have a concert tour, one of the stops is the "Douyin station", that is, this one will be broadcast live on the Douyin platform, and the "Douyin station" is usually the first stop of the opening or the closing stop. But at present, it is more of a supplement to offline and a marketing method, which will not crowd out offline demand. "On the one hand, because the offline experience is irreplaceable online, on the other hand, the organizer hopes to obtain a marketing and even ticketing outlet by cooperating with the platform, so that more people can pay attention to the project."
After the offline performance market fully restarts, will the form of online concerts continue to exist or gradually disappear? From performance companies to singers, online concerts are not going away, but the role it plays in the industry will be different. Zhang Yiming said bluntly: "The format of online concerts will definitely not disappear, but I think it may not be as important as before." For me, its role now is mostly propaganda. For example, a concert will have a very special guest, and only this one time, you may broadcast this one live. Or maybe the singer has a strong purpose to promote the new album when he opens a concert, and I think the singer will also be willing to broadcast the offline concert live. In terms of economic benefits, online live streaming is a supplement. ”
In 2020, Modern Sky has done many online projects that musicians can complete at home, such as "House Strawberry". Now, with the resumption of the offline performance market, the offline Strawberry Music Festival has also returned to normal, and the new city has been officially announced. Shen Yue said that online projects will continue, and they are not a substitute for offline projects, but complement and extend each other. The experience brought by the two to the audience is different, there are parties, dancing, markets, delicious drinks, etc. offline, and online you can see how the anchor participates in the music festival, how to interact and chat with the audience from the live broadcast room to the outdoor music festival, and so on. "Online and offline are completely two different products, their principles are different, the points that attract the audience are also different, and they are not replacing each other."
3 From 20+ to 60+ new and old singers are eager to return to the stage
The 2023 quarterly report of the China Performance Industry Association said: "Since February 2, local cultural and tourism administrative departments have resumed the acceptance and approval of commercial performances related to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and the social attention of large-scale commercial performances such as concerts has continued to increase." It is true that since February this year, singers have been officially announcing that they will hold large-scale concerts within this year. At present, more than 16 singers have announced solo concerts, covering all ages from their early 2s to their 20s.
Among them, there are not only young post-90s singers Hua Chenyu, Chen Grain, Mao Buyi, Wang Linkai, post-80s singers Zhang Shaohan, Li Ronghao, Xue Zhiqian, Zhang Jie of the Mesozoic Generation, post-70s singers Jay Chou, Han Hong, Wang Feng, etc., as well as post-60s senior singers Jacky Zhang, Ren Xianqi, Old Wolf, Xu Wei, Liu Ruoying and so on. In terms of the number of singers, mainland singers are almost equally divided with Hong Kong and Taiwan singers. In contrast, the average age of mainland singers is lower and the age group coverage is wider, ranging from their 20s to their 50s, while the Hong Kong and Taiwan singers who start singing are all over 40 years old.
Singers, regardless of seniority, age, and not having the opportunity to face the audience for too long, have a deep desire to return to the concert stage and have been preparing for it. Jacky Cheung, who is about to be 62 years old this year, held a press conference in Macau on March 3 to announce that a new round of tour "Jacky Cheung 30+ Tour" is about to set sail. In an interview with the Beijing News, he said that the concert has always been what he wants to do, and although he had to stop performing for three years due to the epidemic, he has been practicing singing during this period and is sure that he can sing. "It's been too long since I performed and should have done it. So I did this concert. ”
At present, many of the officially announced large-scale concerts are "familiar faces" who have been postponed due to the epidemic, but the "Mao Buyi Young Bird Guide" national tour that set sail in Hangzhou on March 3 is a rare "new blood". When the album "Guide to Young Birds" was just released in 25, Mao Buyi had the idea of opening a concert, and polished until this year finally had the opportunity to implement it. This is also the second solo tour after "People Like Me" in 2021, with a gap of 2018 years. Mao Buyi said in an interview with a reporter from the Beijing News that he seems to have become accustomed to days without concerts in recent years, but every time he has the opportunity to stand on the stage and see the audience at the scene, he will still have some expectations for his own concert.