If we look back ten, twenty, or even decades from now, how would we describe 2022 as an extraordinary year? And what song can bring back memories of this year?
1. Great + forgetfulness + embrace = extraordinary 2022
Some people say that in the era of streaming media with diverse tastes, many charts seem to have lost their indicative significance in the era of the record industry, after all, everyone has the most loyal private playlists in their headphones, and we no longer need to find our beloved songs from popular lists.
However, in my opinion, a meaningful music chart, especially the annual list, summarizes not only the past year's music industry performance table, but also the "living fossils of music" of the era recorded by pop songs.
Generations are changing, great changes are caught off guard, everything around us is moving so fast that we can easily forget things that should not be forgotten. Fortunately, there is music to remind us what happened in this year's world.
Sometimes I feel that music is like a bookmark caught in memories, as long as you listen to that song and album of that year again, those memories of that time will come flooding back.
If I were to sum up 2022 in one word, I think I would choose "great".
This inspiration for greatness is exactly what Jay Chou and his "Greatest Works" brought me. Jay Chou, who has not released an album for many years, has actually been accumulating thick and thin, constantly storing his musical energy until it finally accumulates into this great album. "Greatness" does not happen overnight, it accumulates bit by bit, just like the era in which you and I live.
In "The Greatest Work", Jay Chou incarnated as a "time traveler", from Dalí and Monet to Magritte and Van Gogh, Zhou Dong, who shuttled through the sea of art in different years, tried to answer the myth of the creator through creative ideas across time and space: What kind of art can be called "great"? Every musician wants to leave the greatest work for the times, but greatness is more like a drop in water – the more patience you have, the greater you are.
"The madness of the generation, the king of music, the surrender of all things to my movement; The road is still breaking, I am still creating, and the melody on my fingertips is longing..." Jay Chou's "Greatest Work" records the true voice of all Chinese-speaking musicians. It's 2022, because they still have something to say and something to express, so they must continue to sing, compose music, and make music to write the most extraordinary music for the greatest era in front of them.
Zhou Shen's "Flowers Blossom and Forget Your Worries" is also a chicken soup for the soul that has soothed countless listeners in the past year. "If the memory is stolen and my love is forgotten, I will say hello, this is a flower for you..." We may never have needed to be saved by such tender music as in 2022. Some painful memories that do not want to be touched again, and some of the partings of life and death that I have to face, can make you and I "forget my worries" in an instant through the heavenly song of Zhou Shen's "healing system".
Of course, there are also some sorrows that are destined to be forgotten. In that case, let's try to hug each other tightly. When we start to huddle together, we may be able to form some kind of "forgetfulness" power that heals and saves each other. Cai Xukun's "Hug me" is no longer just a simple love song for me. "In the time of a song, swing on the beach", human beings have probably never been so eager to walk freely in the wild.
Therefore, the most important thing about an annual music list that deserves to be heard and remembered by more people is not the rankings, finalists, and winners, but the entire era reflected behind this list.
The reason why we will continue to listen to these good songs over and over again, and the reason why we will be touched again and again by the works of these musicians, is because they are all trying to paint a portrait of this era with their own efforts, and try to inject more elements close to the present into popular music.
2. Public preference + professional recommendation = diversity of the music scene
Therefore, an annual Chinese pop music list with benchmark significance has become particularly important to meet the music preferences of the broad public in a three-dimensional manner.
I tried to find my own unique answer from the recently released annual inventory. However, each inventory has its own different attitude, some are based on popularity, some focus on quality, and some focus on a certain type of music style, and few inventory or lists can achieve an objective and comprehensive picture of the music scene.
It wasn't until these two days, when I saw this list, that I finally let go of the big stone in my heart: it turned out that someone really wanted to go with me.
The top ten singers and top ten songs of 2022 announced by this annual list can be described as a combination of new and old, and a hundred flowers bloom.
In the list, there are Jay Chou, Xue Zhiqian, Zhang Liangying, Xu Jiaying, Zhang Shaohan, Faye Zhan Wenting and other well-known names for Chinese music fans; There are also Zhou Shen, Wang Jiaer, Mao Buyi, Cai Xukun, G.E.M. Deng Ziqi, Yu Kewei, Liu Yuxin, Modern Brothers Liu Yuning, Wang Heye, etc. to represent the choices of the tastes of the new generation of young listeners.
Jay Chou's "The Greatest Work", "Still Wandering", "Red Face Like Frost", Xue Zhiqian's "Innumerable", Xue Zhiqian + Zhang Liangying's "Ke", these are the top ten songs of the year in 2022.
I am very grateful to these music industry predecessors who have been famous for many years, who are still constantly innovating themselves and exploring new boundaries of their music career step by step. I don't think that "The Greatest Work" is Zhou Dong's arrogance, and if the predecessors can keep singing it, it is already the "greatest" thing.
As for the top ten Zhou Shen's "Blossom and Forget Worries", "Light Word Film", and Cai Xukun's "Hug me (Hug Me)", it is enough to make us have greater confidence and expectations for the extremely broad musical vision of the new generation of artists.
These young musicians did not slow down their progress because of their high popularity. They proved one thing to us: a popular singer can actually be very powerful.
I still remember watching the awards ceremonies in the 80s and 90s of the Hong Kong music scene when I was a child, and I was quite curious about a question: Why can a singer constantly go on stage to win awards for the top ten songs of the year? In fact, it is quite reasonable for a popular singer to have more than one popular hit in the same year. However, some current music awards ceremonies have set an unwritten rule that each person can only have one annual top ten in order to allow more singers to have a chance to be selected.
In my opinion, a song that is popular is popular, good is good, and the recognition of fans is the last word. We should not set artificial limits on the number of times the same singer can win the top ten hits of the year. Therefore, the biggest surprise that this list brings me is that it quietly restores the fine tradition of the Chinese music scene decades ago: as long as it is a good song, as long as it is a good work that can move people, whether it is sung by the same singer or not, it has a chance to enter the top ten of the year.
Seeing this, some people may ask: Is there really a list that takes into account both the market and the profession, and can it be diversified? I would suggest you take a look at the top ten singers of the year on this list, these ten names can be said to show the "changes of the times" in the Chinese music scene. From Jay Chou, who debuted in 2000, to Wang Jiaer, Liu Yuxin, and Liu Yuning, who are sought after by the new generation of listeners, these ten groups of artists almost include Chinese musicians of different generations.
3. By you list + wave list = two swords combined
After talking for so long, you should probably have found that the list I am talking about is actually the "Tencent Music List Annual List" in 2022.
I admire the innovation of Tencent Music List this year, they have put Tencent Music by You List and Tencent Music Wave List, two music lists representing different audience groups, according to popular music idols, powerful singer-songwriters and other focus field circles, and then in an innovative way "merged" the two lists by You & Wave into one, selected the top ten singers and top ten songs, and turned them into the annual list of Tencent Music List we see now.
The difference between the term from "annual inventory" to "annual list" reflects the upgrade and iteration of the concept of running the list.
2022 is a year of diversity, change and diversification for the Chinese music scene. The all-encompassing annual list of Tencent Music List records the extraordinary year of 2022 by virtue of the unique temperament, angle and method of each of the You List and the Wave List, through these excellent works that can be left in time.
It can be said that the annual list of Tencent Music List shows listeners a magnificent picture of the Chinese music scene. The Tencent Music List has become an important reference for current listeners to dig up good songs and hot songs, keep up with the trends and trends in the music industry, and compare the comprehensive influence of singers.
In addition to the popularity of singers shown by Tencent Music's list, I would also like to expand on the efforts made by Tencent Music Wave List in the past two years to continuously promote the Chinese music scene. On the occasion of the second anniversary last year, the jury composed of hundreds of Chinese music creators was upgraded to the wave jury, which will select more good songs that will refresh the audience from the perspective of unique professional songwriters, and these good songs will not be buried by the noisy times, they will eventually become the wave.
In the past, I may not have believed that a song like Faye Zhan Wenting's "Secret Love" that seemed a little "partial" could be shortlisted for the annual top ten of the Tencent Music List.
A work with quality and depth wants to be heard by more people, and behind it needs to have a platform like Tencent Music List, perseverance to set the standard of good music, these rare good songs, in order to have the opportunity to be sung into the hearts of more listeners in different circles.
Through the 2022 Tencent Music Chart Annual List, we can also see that this list reflects the current situation of the music industry. Whether it is the popularity of Tencent Music by you list or the professionalism of Tencent Music Wave List, it is a different aspect of different dimensions of the Chinese music scene——
Popular idols are trying to make more good songs with quality and musicality, and strive to move towards a more professional singer; Veteran artists continue to explore deeper, presenting more possibilities for Chinese music.