The Chinese music scene refers to the circle of Chinese music singers including Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and other regions.
Initial development
Chinese mainland
Chinese music scene
Foreign investors began to establish a record press factory in Shanghai, and by the 1930s, Shanghai EMI, Greater China Record Factory and Shanghai Victory Record Factory were built and put into operation, thus opening the prelude to the production of records in China.
The record industry of this period had a distinctly colonial and semi-colonial color. However, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, many outstanding artists, such as Nie Er, Xian Xinghai, Ren Guang, and others, have devoted themselves to the field of artistic creation and record production, and have done a lot of work for the party's cause and the cause of national liberation. For example, the anti-Japanese war and salvation songs of the 1930s, such as "March of the Volunteer Army" (national anthem), "Fisherman's Song" (the opening song of Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station), "Song of Selling Newspapers", "Singer Under the Iron Hoof", "Song of the Great Road", "Graduation Song", "Mei Niang Song", "Song of the National Salvation Army", "Song of the Midnight Song", "Guerrilla Army", "March in Jiangnan", and "Go to the Rear of the Enemy", were almost all made for movies or records. Many excellent national instrumental music such as "Golden Snake Crazy Dance", "Spring Dawn in Green Lake", "Zhaojun Out of the Plug", "Caiyun Chasing the Moon", "Flower Good Full Moon" and so on were written and instrumented by Nie Er, Xian Xinghai and others for the publication of records, and these precious records have left us with valuable artistic treasures.
In the past two or three decades, when China's music culture and art have developed greatly, Artists such as Li Shutong, Xiao Youmei, Zhao Yuanren, Huang Zi, He Luting, Zhou Xiaoyan, Yu Yixuan and other artists have created a music creation and performance career with Chinese national style, leaving many heirloom works, such as "Teach Me How not to Miss Him", "Three Wishes of Roses", "Tianya Song Girl" and so on.
The 1940s was the era of the establishment and development of popular music in China, and Li Jinhui, Li Jinguang, Zhou Xuan and others also left many excellent musical works for the world, such as "Shangri-La", "Night Fragrance", "Autumn Water Yiren" and so on. From the beginning of the 20th century to 1949, the recording industry in old China experienced hardships and slow development. However, what has been recorded in the past half century of "domestic" records is the brilliant essence of national art and the progress of human civilization; Peking opera, local opera, national instrumental music, folk songs, popular songs, film music, etc., have made unprecedented great developments, a large number of outstanding works have come out, a large number of outstanding artists have been produced, many excellent programs have recorded records, widely circulated, and sown seeds on the land of disasters that will blossom and bear fruit in the future, leaving us with extremely valuable spiritual wealth.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, popular songs were added to Soviet pop songs translated into Chinese after revolutionary songs. Symphony orchestras began to be established everywhere, playing Western classical music and new works by Chinese composers. Eastern European orchestras have performed in China many times, and Chinese orchestras have participated in many international performances. Chinese musicians have also tried to use Western instrumental methods to write music with Chinese flavor, and the more successful violin concerto "Liang Zhu", which adopts some melodies of Yue opera.
Hong Kong area
Before the 1950s, Chinese era songs from Shanghai Haipai were popular in Hong Kong, representing singers such as Gong Qiuxia, Zhou Xuan, Yao Li, Li Xianglan, Bai Guang, Wu Yingyin, Zhang Lu and so on. In the 1950s, the stars performed in high-end nightclubs mainly performed Occidental pop songs, accompanied by musicians (mainly Filipinos). At that time, famous local singers were more familiar to Hong Kong people than Joe Junior, Irene Ryder and Teddy Robin. The main reason for the popularity of English songs is that singing such high-end entertainment venues is dominated by foreigners from the upper society, and only a small number of Chinese have more social status and economic ability to afford such high-level consumption.
Exposed to Western pop music, young people in the 1960s liked to form their own bands, mainly singing English songs. Notable bands include Teddy Robin & The Playboys, Sam Hui & Lotus, Joe Chen & Menace, Loosers (the predecessor of Winner), and later New Top Notes and Jade. In the early 1970s, idol singers were still mainly English songs, famous for Chen Meiling and Chen Qiuxia.
In 1974, Hui Guanjie's album "Ghost Horse Double Star" opened the prelude to hong Kong's contemporary pop music scene, and the 1976 classic album "Half a Pound, Eight Two" marked the official formation of the Market for Cantonese pop songs in Hong Kong.
Taiwan
In the Taiwanese music scene from the 1950s to the 1960s, the creation of music lagged far behind the development of the music scene. At that time, the singers sang songs that were generally repertoire of the old Shanghai era. In addition, the imperfection of the recording industry has also made local singers seek overseas development. At that time, Japan, the music center of Asia, had won the popularity of Taiwanese singers such as Ouyang Feifei, Weng Qianyu, and Chen Meiling in a year. Teresa Teng, Qingshan, Yao Surong, etc., who remained in the mainland, also had to perform frequently in Hong Kong. At this time, Taiwanese pop music was gradually losing its attraction to people. Some young fans, tired of the Taiwanese songs developed by Japanese crying and the old Shanghainese lights, turned to Western music to release their emotions. For a time, listening to Western hit songs became the main entertainment project for young people in Taiwan. At that time, due to the imperfection of copyright law, a large number of reproduction records were listed. Low investment and high returns enabled some record players to release a large variety of English albums, which created a major boom in Western music in the late 1960s.
Driven by this trend, there have also been singers in Taiwan, such as Su Rui and Huang Yingying, who mainly launch English albums. Although this atmosphere restricts the development of Chinese music to some extent, it also enriches the expression of future Chinese songs from another perspective.
In the 1970s, under the influence of European and American songs, out of the love of music, but also to fill the gap of local creation, a number of highly innovative songwriters emerged in the music world, the most famous of which were Zhuang Nu and Zuo Hongyuan. Their collaborative works made breakthroughs in traditional Taiwanese ballads and old Shanghainese music styles, so they attracted the attention of the music industry at that time. The beginning of local creation has also begun to drive the development of a number of singers, Such as Youya, Ye Mingde, Chen Fengfen, Gao Lingfeng, etc. are all singers who were once beautiful. At that time, Liu Jiachang, who emerged, was much loved by fans. "Yunhe", "Full Moon West Building" and "Ten Thousand Miles on the Road of Love" were all masterpieces deeply rooted in people's hearts at that time.
Cassette era
In 1984, marking the hong Kong pop scene into the era of the King of Heaven, the first so-called King of Heaven superstar was Tam Wing Lin, and the other most important singers of the 1980s also surfaced Zhang Guorong, Mui Yanfang, Lin Zixiang, Chen Baiqiang, Yim Qianwen, Lin Yilian, Chen Huixian, Zhong Zhentao, Kwan Shuyi. Hong Kong local bands also thrived during this period.
The Hong Kong music scene of the 1980s was the most glorious and colorful period in the history of Hong Kong music. From the music trend led by Xu Guanjie, Luo Wen, Lin Zixiang, Chen Baiqiang, Tan Yonglin, Zhang Guorong, Mei Yanfang and Wang Jie to the rise of Beyond and Jacky Cheung. A large number of excellent singers have emerged. Hong Kong pop songs in the 1980s refer to many Japanese songs and Western music such as Music and Fury, Blues, and Folk Songs. Because Japanese songs have a more contemporary sense, adapting songs has become a boom. Among them, it is represented by songs such as "The Man Who Catches the Wind" and "The Wind Continues to Blow".
Pop music first entered the mainland from Hong Kong and Taiwan in China, especially Zhu Fengbo took the lead in singing Taiwanese school songs and Songs sung by Zhu Fengbo and Li Guyi, which were very popular in the mainland. Zhang Mingmin's "My Chinese Heart", which was performed at the Spring Festival Gala of China Central Television, became a hit in the mainland, which was also the first public Performance of Hong Kong and Taiwan songs in Chinese mainland. Since then, the popular songs of Chinese mainland have been combined with various styles and genres of music in other regions, resulting in many popular songs. In the late 1980s, Cui Jian became China's first rock star, and bands such as the Tang Dynasty and the Black Panther rose to prominence under his influence. Cui Jian not only led the rise of Chinese rock, but also set off a "northwest wind" at that time, and almost all the first few CCTV singers who won the awards at that time used western folk songs as the competition songs, such as "Xintianyou" and "Loess High Slope" and so on.
The Taiwanese music scene in the 1980s was an era of metabolism, with a large number of outstanding musicians and singers, represented by Luo Dayou, Qi Qin, Wang Jie, Zhou Huajian, Li Zongsheng, Zhuo Yiting, etc.
In the 1990s, Taiwan's song scene was the dominant region for Chinese songs, among which Wang Jie, Qi Qin, Yu Chengqing, Xiao Hu, Lin Zhiying, Zhang Yu, and Ren Xianqi swept the Chinese area. Zhuo Yiting (spanning the 1980s and 1990s) swept Southeast Asia and mainland China.
The CD era
In the 1990s, the Hong Kong music scene entered its peak period, first with Wang Jie leading the way, then Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Li Ming, Aaron Kwok, the four kings of Hong Kong and Faye Wong, Zheng Xiuwen and other powerful tianhou representatives. Before the 1990s, Hong Kong pop music singers did not pay attention to Chinese pop music, before this Hong Kong Chinese pop songs are mostly from the works of Japanese singers, until the beginning of the 1990s, the four kings of Hong Kong represented by Jacky Cheung Andy Lau began to enter Taiwan, Singapore and the Chinese mainland market, with a large number of cover Japanese as the mainstay, the most successful of which is also Jacky Cheung, his Chinese records "Kiss Goodbye", "True Love New Song + Selection" and so on have achieved great success, making his career reach the peak. During this period, Andy Lau, who is also a member of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong, swept the entire Cantonese-speaking region with songs such as "Forgetting Love Water" and "If You Are My Legend".
After the financial crisis in the late 1990s, with the gradual fading of the four kings of Hong Kong and entering the Hong Kong music scene after the new century, only the glory of Nicholas Tse and Eason Chan appeared. Hong Kong singer Nicholas Tse became the best-selling singer in Chinese with 2 million sales of two albums a year.
In 2000, Emperor Entertainment announced the establishment of MUSICPLUS Musicians Records, which incorporated Eason Chan, Nicholas Tse, Joey Yung, Chen Guanxi, Cheng Xiyi, Twins, etc., which developed in only 5 years and became one of the most popular record companies in the Hong Kong music scene. From 1999 to 2002, it was the most brilliant period of Tse Tingfeng, releasing his first Chinese album "Thank You for Your Love 1999", and the total number of albums that won the top of the Taiwan album sales chart that year also exceeded one million. Eason Chan is considered one of the indicators of the new era of Hong Kong pop music and is also considered to be the successor of Jacky Cheung.
At the same time, The Taiwanese music scene Jay Chou rose to prominence with his self-titled album "JAY", followed by a second album "Fantasia" that quickly swept the entire Asian pop music scene. The album's hit single "Double Stick" created RAP in a Chinese style, and has been sung in a style rarely seen in the Chinese music scene to this day. From 2002 to 2006, Jay Chou released several albums such as "Octave Space", "Ye Huimei", "Qilixiang", "November Chopin" and "Still Fantasia", which established his undisputed position in the pop music scene.
In 1999, Wang Lihong established himself as a "quality idol" in the Taiwanese music scene with his albums "Rotation" and "Impossible to Miss You". In the unprecedented prosperity of the "R&B wave", there are also many outstanding singers, Lin Junjie, Pan Weibai, Luo Zhixiang, Huang Lixing, etc. are among the representatives.
In 2000, Liang Jingru became a hit with "Courage", and Jolin Tsai, the "boy killer" who debuted in 1999, also formally transformed during this period, "Look at Me 72 Changes" achieved unprecedented success, Taiwan sold 370,000 copies, and the sales volume of 1.5 million in Asia won the first time in Taiwan's annual sales of female singers.
The age of digital music
In the late twentieth century, the draft era produced many draft celebrities, and the 21-year-old Li Yuchun became China's first elected idol. MP3, IPOD and other music players have emerged, digital music has defeated physical music to become the mainstream, most of the audio-visual stores in the fall of favor forced to transform, in 2003, Taiwan's local Rolling Stone records closed the physical record distribution channels, by 2009, digital distribution will account for 60% of the entire Asian music market.
Forced by the trend of the times, many record companies have focused on wireless music, but also created a number of Internet singers, in 2005, the popular "Mouse Loves Rice" set a record of 6 million ringtone downloads in a single month, resulting in 12 million yuan of revenue equivalent to 700,000 traditional records at that time. This year has been called "the first year of China's digital music" by many people in the industry. Since then, traditional video stores have gradually moved towards a cold winter.
In 2011, xu liang and wang sutaki, two internet singers, had a pure organic download revenue of 5 million, surpassing the old big record labels such as Universal. In recent years, with Apple announcing the discontinuation of IPOD, smartphones have gradually become the best tool for people to listen to songs. Data show that among the 1.1 billion music users in China in 2011, mobile Internet users accounted for 700 million. In addition to traditional record singers, it is also the best era for many niche independent singers, and they have achieved greater communication effects through online platforms than ever before.
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A representative figure in the Chinese music scene