Out of the circle and abroad, Chinese original music is popular overseas

Author | Punk Editor | Fan Zhihui

When Indonesian singer Putri Ariani sang the Indonesian version of "Flowers All the Way" on the stage of "Indonesia's Got Talent", the originally distant show suddenly became "close to each other" because of the familiar melody.

The original version of the song "Flowers All the Way" was released Chinese 2021, and it has swept major short video platforms in two years, and has been covered by major music and variety stages, becoming a popular song on the streets of China. However, what many people don't know is that a large number of Chinese songs represented by "Flowers All the Way" jumped out to sea and conquered the ears of young people overseas.

It is reported that the Indonesian version of "Flowers All the Way" alone has been played more than 50 million times in the local area, and coupled with the English version of "Please Say Hello First" and the original version Chinese "Confession of the Evening Wind", it has won more than 3 billion views on music platforms in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries.

From the unexpected popularity of "One Cut Plum" on the Internet in 2020, many foreigners can sing two sentences of "snowflakes fluttering, the north wind is Xiaoxiao", to recent years, the reverse output of Chinese songs has become more frequent, and many Chinese golden songs have been favored by overseas musicians and fans. Li Zhien IU has covered many Chinese songs such as "Little Lucky" and "Love" at concerts, and even learned Cantonese to cover "Xi Tie Street"; The West Side Boys also chose to sing "Ordinary Road" at the world's first online live concert.

From the time when the whole world was speaking Chinese, to now the whole world is singing Chinese songs, how did Chinese music leap out of the sea and conquer the ears of overseas listeners? Facing a new blue ocean, what can Chinese original music do?

Chinese original, out of the circle and out to sea

We often say that music knows no borders. Today, the phrase has become concrete in Indonesian musician Kezia.

When she first heard "Later Met Him", Kezia was moved by the melody of the song. After reading the lyrics, she felt that the lyrics of the song also resonated with Indonesians. So, she very firmly chose to sing the Indonesian version of the song.

The original version of "Later Meet Him" Chinese released in 2020, and the song was super popular that year, becoming the TOP 10 new songs in the "2020 Tencent Entertainment White Paper". This song, which has been tested in the Chinese market, was released in Indonesian and won the love of a large number of listeners in Indonesia.

Data show that the Indonesian version of "Later Met Him" has been exposed overseas more than 2 billion times, ranking TOP6 in Spotify's global soaring list, and has successively appeared on YouTube's Indonesia weekly list and Apple Music's Indonesia daily list, as well as streaming media platform Resso Indonesia Top 20 list TOP4 and JOOX hot song list TOP6.

It can be said that "Later Met Him" swept almost all the mainstream music streaming lists in Indonesia, and the DJ version of the song triggered a national follow-up boom among Indonesian netizens.

Kezia, the singer of the song, also became a hit, "After the song became popular, I am very grateful and proud because more listeners know me through this song. "This adapted version of the song is loved by many Indonesian listeners and brings them healing and inspiration." Subsequently, I also received many performances and TV offers for this song. ”

However, Kezia's fame story is by no means unique, the aforementioned Indonesian singer Putri Ariani also became popular by singing an adaptation of Chinese hits, and she has become a hot new star in Indonesia from a musician without a masterpiece.

Her personal hit single "All the Way to Flowers" Indonesian version, the song won the top 10 lists of 5 major platforms including Resso, TikTok, Spotify, and the song MV also successfully entered the YouTube Top 100 MV list.

and the Indonesian version of another Chinese hit song "Blame Me" sung by her, which also achieved outstanding chart results, and has landed on the top 9 lists in Indonesia, and the song MV has been played more than 10 million times on YouTube.

With the addition of these two hit songs, Putri Ariani is on YouTube's Hot Artists list, and her name appears in the TOP2 position. Subsequently, she not only successfully appeared on the stage of "America's Got Talent", but also was received by the President of Indonesia.

Whether it's Kezia or Putri Ariani, their fame stories all point to a common name – original Chinese songs. In a wide range of overseas markets, Chinese original music is making waves.

Recently, the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services was officially held, and CCTV News Channel also made a key report on Chinese music going overseas, and interviewed Kugou Music's overseas business team to introduce the advanced road of Chinese music from out of the circle to going overseas.

In addition to the aforementioned "Meet Him Later", "All the Way to Flowers", "All Blame Me", and the domestic hit song "Please Say Hello First", which was adapted into the English version of "Just Say Hello", "Eight Hours Time Difference" was adapted into the English version "8 Hours", these songs have been popular all the way from China to foreign countries, and are at the forefront of mainstream music platform lists in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and other regions.

In addition to multilingual versions of Chinese songs, many Chinese original versions have also set off a boom in listening and covering songs overseas.

"Confessions of the Evening Wind" sung by Hoshino became a popular song that local young people competed to cover after its release in Taiwan. IN ADDITION TO APPEARING ON THE HOT SONG CHARTS OF YOUTUBE AND Spotify, it also ranks in the top three on the weekly charts of mixerbox and line music. Coincidentally, because Dong Ran's "Heard About You" also brushed the list of overseas multi-platform lists such as Spotify and Apple Music.

It can be seen that Kugou Music has gradually covered Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other global markets.

It can be said that in today's overseas music market, the overseas story of Chinese music is no longer an accidental meme of "A Cut of Plum", nor is it just the head game of "Jay Chou", but a blue ocean that unfolds to a wider range of original music, successfully out of the circle and out of the sea.

How was an overseas hit born?

Looking at these brilliant list results, I can't help but ask: Chinese there are so many hot songs, why can they successfully go overseas and become a hit?

In CCTV's interview with the Kugou music team, they mentioned a value concept - "localization".

The fact that a Chinese song can become popular in China does not mean that it will also work in overseas markets, which tests the production team's observation of fashion trends in overseas markets.

"Studying local chart songs is one of our usual tools. In Indonesia, for example, they love lyrical love songs. The Kugou music team revealed in an interview with CCTV. Different regions have different preferences, and in Thailand, sweet songs are popular, but Vietnam is the world of electronic remix.

After understanding the target market, the team also had to face the problem of translating lyrics. Chinese concise and concise, a short line of lyrics can convey very rich emotions, but foreign words are often difficult to achieve. To this end, the Kugou Music team conducted in-depth discussions with local lyricists and lyrics, first extracting the core artistic conception of the Chinese, and then adapting to the language habits of the locals.

Taking "Flowers All the Way" as an example, the title of the Chinese song is only four words, but the literal translation into Indonesian is very long. "The original song is inspirational and hopeful, so the Indonesian version is named Mimpi, which means hope." Based on the new version of the lyrics, the team rearranged the music and invited potential local singers to perform the performance, and finally mixed and produced the finished product.

However, to achieve an overseas hit, it is also necessary to accurately promote and operate. Nowadays, music promotion cannot bypass short video platforms, and overseas markets are no exception.

Therefore, the short video platform has become the main battlefield for Chinese songwriting breakthrough, and matching different interactive gameplay for different styles will bring the greatest volume to music. "For example, sweet songs are usually spread using gesture dance, and lyric songs are very suitable for cover challenges."

According to CCTV reports, when promoting the Indonesian version of the song "Flowers All the Way", based on the positive energy characteristics of the song, the behind-the-scenes team launched challenges such as cover songs and lip-syncing, and united more than 200 overseas talents to help promote it. In the end, "All the Way to Flowers" received more than 1.3 billion views on overseas short video platforms.

In this process, the mature experience of China's Internet has been continuously applied to overseas markets, completing the market infrastructure of "going out + being heard". On Kugou Music's one-stop overseas platform TMM (To More Music), there are also tens of thousands of high-quality hot songs, waiting to be reinterpreted and let the world hear Chinese originals.

Chinese music, it's time to go to sea

Looking at the global pop music landscape, emerging music markets are on the rise, while the dominance of the European and American music markets is being squeezed.

According to the Global Music Report 2023 released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Middle East and North Africa, as the fastest growing market in 2021, will still maintain a growth rate of 23.8% in 2022, of which the share of streaming media in total revenue is higher than any other region in the world, reaching 95.5%; Sub-Saharan Africa took over as the fastest-growing region in 2022, with a growth rate of 34.7%; Latin America, on the other hand, has maintained its growth momentum for more than 10 years, with double-digit growth in each of its markets.

Behind the boom in emerging markets is the decline in the influence of the European and American markets. According to a report titled "Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Music Market Opportunities", between 2017 and 2020, the combined streaming market share of Europe and the United States has fallen from 50% to 33%. MIDiA Research also predicts that between 2020 and 2028, emerging markets outside Europe and the United States will account for 73% of global user growth, while the share of users in developed markets will fall from 54% to 41%.

There is no doubt that such market trends have brought new opportunities for Chinese music to go overseas.

This year, Chinese mainland debuted as the fifth largest music market in the world. The Chinese music platform represented by Kugou Music not only has a solid foundation of music content, but also accumulates mature music promotion experience, how to land the matter of going to sea, so that every talented musician can shine as soon as possible, is gradually becoming a new issue for domestic music platforms in the new context.

Facing the overseas music market, it is not only a must for the entertainment industry, but also a space for musicians' dreams and careers to expand more broadly. It can not only achieve the growth and fame of musicians in the target market, but also promote the further release of the value of Chinese original music.

We also believe that in the future, more Chinese musicians' songwriting will go overseas, and more music industry practitioners will promote more high-quality original content to go overseas, showing the world the energy of Chinese original music.

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