The power of music lies in its ability to soothe and resonate. As everyone knows, the live performances of some contemporary singers just lack the ability to move people's hearts. Take Zhou Shen as an example, the once high-profile new generation of powerful singers, recently had an eye-popping scene at a concert in Shenzhen - the attendance rate was extremely low, and the organizers had to overwhelmingly distribute free tickets.
Empty seats and sluggish attendance
On June 1, Zhou Shen opened a two-day "Shen" series of solo concerts in Shenzhen. As a new generation of powerful singers in the Chinese music scene, Zhou Shen is undoubtedly one of the hottest singers in recent years. His unique voice and excellent stage presence are all impressive. However, just before the opening of this concert, which is regarded as a major milestone in his personal career, the organizers frequently posted "free tickets" on the Internet, which made many people feel quite ridiculous.
Sure enough, the scene after the opening of the concert was even more shocking. The low attendance rate of the entire venue is shocking. As far as the eye can see, there are large vacancies in densely packed seats, and the staff has to fill them with glow sticks, barely creating some "atmosphere". Even the closest position to the stage is crowded and deserted.
Such a scene is undoubtedly worse for a new generation of powerful singers who have high hopes. What's even more embarrassing is that just a few days ago, in Zhou Shen's solo singing in Shanghai, the same dilemma appeared: the attendance rate was seriously insufficient, and the organizers had to resort to flashlights and glow sticks to "fill the field", creating the illusion of "popularity".
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case, but an indication that the Chinese music scene as a whole is experiencing a "harsh winter". Earlier, the concert tickets for king-level singers such as Jay Chou in Changsha were also sold out after four rounds. What's going on here? As soon as you explore the reason, there are twists and turns to find the hidden secret.
High ticket prices and the proliferation of scalpers have both impacted
The audience's first reaction to the sluggish attendance rate of Zhou Shen and other singers' solo concerts was to question that high ticket prices were the culprit. Taking Zhou Shen's concert as an example, the most expensive ticket was once sold to 6,100 yuan, far higher than the original price of 699 yuan. This expensive phenomenon is nothing less than an abnormally high injury to ordinary fans.
The reason for this is that the proliferation of scalpers disrupts the normal ticketing order. An insider once revealed that the organizers opened a large number of tickets to scalpers, which gave scalpers an opportunity to take advantage of them and raised them to ridiculously high prices. But fans can't afford to pay such a high price, so they have to choose to give up, so it's not surprising that attendance has dropped.
At the same time, life pressures and inflation have also greatly cooled people's enthusiasm for going to concerts. Looking at society as a whole, the current economic situation is indeed sluggish, and people are more inclined to spend their limited income on rigid needs rather than this kind of cultural and entertainment consumption. In this context, singers will inevitably be considered "out of touch with the times" when they appear in high-priced solo singing.
Therefore, it really matters to fans whether the ticket price is reasonable or not. This is also an issue that the organizers must pay attention to and weigh in the future, in order to better compete with the public's reputation and money bags.
The lack of originality in the content is also a drag
In addition to the expensive ticket prices, some inherent artistic problems are also the reasons why Zhou Shen's concert is cold and cannot be ignored.
Covers have always been regarded as a major weakness of Zhou Shen. Looking at his out-of-the-circle works in recent years, almost all of them are covers. The most famous is the wonderful performance when he covered "Dala Bangba" and "Pure Land of Bliss" in "The Year of the Singer" in 2020. In the past two years, he has also become popular with covers of songs such as "Sweet Honey" and "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky".
It can be seen that although Zhou Shen has a good voice and first-class singing skills, he relies too much on covering popular songs, and finally lacks unique originality. Over time, it will inevitably bring a bad impression of "repeating the same old tune" and "plagiarizing other people's works" to the public. This is also the reason why he has been repeatedly ridiculed by "song thieves".
lacks original power and the content is single and boring, which undoubtedly greatly reduces the viewing and selling points of his concerts. If the audience just wants to listen to some familiar songs, it is naturally difficult to have too much interest and impulse to "slaughter" on the spot.
It is undeniable that the title cover is the traditional way for many new singers to "start", but if it stops here for a long time and lacks lasting original power, it will still be spurned by the market. For Zhou Shen, this encounter in the empty field is undoubtedly a painful lesson, and it also sounded the alarm bell to attach importance to the power of originality and keep pace with the times.
In addition, the ability to render the live stage effect and atmosphere are all important factors that affect the live experience of the concert. Whether Zhou Shen is currently doing a good job in these aspects may be worth reflecting on. The new trend of performing arts and opportunities still need to be grasped.
In general, the high ticket prices, the lack of originality of excessive covers, and the clumsy rendering of the overall atmosphere are all reasons for the occurrence of this "empty field tide". From a larger perspective, this also reflects the new trend of the development of the performing arts industry.
In the current environment of cooling consumption and the transformation of people's entertainment needs, it is undoubtedly the top priority for artists to capture new audiences and master the ability of new media marketing.
At the same time, the creation and presentation of vivid and interesting content will also become a new focus of competition. After all, relying too much on "take-it-or-leave-it" practices such as covers will eventually make it difficult to win the favor of the audience for a long time. Only by constantly innovating and injecting original power can we attract the attention of the younger generation and maintain the vitality of art.
From this point of view, Zhou Shen's low attendance rate at this solo concert is also a slap in the face to his future development direction. He needs to reflect in time to retain his unique vocal strengths, increase his originality, and create more high-quality and creative works to win the hearts of his fans again.
In addition, in the creation of stage design, audio-visual shock effects and other concert live experiences, Zhou Shen obviously still has room for improvement. How to use new media and new technologies to enhance the audience's sense of immersion and create a more immersive and immersive performance experience is a direction that needs to be studied and practiced.
After all, times are advancing, and artists must also keep up with the times. In the fierce market competition, if you can't continue to innovate, you will soon be abandoned by the market. Zhou Shen, as a leader in the new generation of singers, should undoubtedly be more prepared in this regard.
The Chinese music scene has always produced many talents, how can tomorrow's stars stop there? We have reason to believe that as long as Zhou Shen reflects on it in time and learns with an open mind, he will be able to make a comeback, expand his territory on the road of original music, and bring more excellent works to everyone.
Of course, this is not only Zhou Shen's responsibility and task, but the entire music industry should reflect at this time: how to create more valuable and experiential performances for the audience in an era when content is king and the experience economy is becoming more and more important? How to make the connection between artists and audiences closer? How to discover new business models?
These are all major issues that must be faced by the development of today's music industry. We look forward to more outstanding artists, producers, and planners who can continue to innovate and break through in this field and inject new vitality into Chinese music.
Throughout the past, after every "cold winter", there will inevitably be new vitality. After this battle, I believe that Zhou Shen and the entire music industry colleagues will gain valuable experience, and then start anew to bring a more brilliant tomorrow.
In the face of today's "empty field problem", we should not stop at blaming, but should actively think about ways to solve it, and use more constructive ways to promote the innovation and development of the entire industry. Only in this way can the art of music be full of vitality, continue to transmit positive energy, and nourish the passing on of social culture.