The problem with the level of Chinese music creation is not just a personal one

While the numbers look good for the Chinese music market, I have to think twice about what I post on Weibo these days.

Because whenever I say something good about Chinese music, someone will jump out and say the opposite, making me feel like a "brainless blowhard" of Chinese music. (If you have to give me a label, I'd rather be a "warm man".)

Observing the comments on the Internet, the views that don't look good for Chinese music are all the same: shaking x hot songs are in the way, original songs are bad, the charts are full of stinky fish and shrimp, Chinese people don't like music ...... and so on. 

Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, and I respect all opinions, here, just to talk about my own.

1. If the market is good, the work can be better

The data can only partially illustrate the trends in the market, it doesn't prove the quality of the music.

However, I always believe that when the market is good, the general environment is good, and consumption is active, there is room for improvement in the quality of works on the whole.

Pop music has always been a business, and it can only thrive in a healthy functioning market.

Growth in output is not necessarily "benign", but no growth or even negative growth is definitely not "benign".

For an individual, talent and input may not be proportional, but for an industry, input and output must be proportional: only with constant high inputs will it be possible to improve product quality. Only by seeing the income opportunities will more people invest in the industry. Only then will the industry be energized, which will drive the continuous improvement of content production. 

China's music market is now in an upturn, a stage in which everyone can see the opportunity and is willing to invest, even if the fish and dragons are mixed and muddy, it is also a problem in the development of the sea may still be a precursor to the sea.

2. Creative level issues, not just personal issues

I posted an article a while back, and a friend commented at the bottom, "What's needed at the bottom, in ordinary creative writing, is an increase in industrial standards."

I agree.

I once had a friend at a record label complain that they wanted to make good records, but they couldn't pick out any good songs from the demos they received.

It's like this.

Maybe our singers or creators can only score 7 points compared to Europe and the United States, but has the publicity scored 7 points? Has the manager achieved 7 points? Have we achieved 7 points in recording and production? Has the company operation achieved 7 points? Has artist training scored 7 points? Has media communication scored 7 points? Has the music platform scored 7 points? Have the demos for singers' selection scored 7 points? Is copyright protection a 7? Has public aesthetics scored 7 points?

3. China's music market can't be measured entirely by Western standards

Growing up, a lot of the information I was exposed to about pop music was from a "Western perspective". What people do is not good enough for us, so it's not good enough for us.

Myself included, I'm immune to it.

However, if we use western standards to demand Chinese music, frustration is inevitable: other people's rhythmic music has played all kinds of tricks, we are still singing bitter songs; other people's rock music is so awesome, we are still stuck in the copying stage; other people's lyrics are all kinds of true feelings, we are all kinds of word games; other people's newcomers and new talents are flocking to, we are listening to jittery x hot songs! ......

4. Music is only really good when it returns to the public's life

What counts as a good song? This is a question that people seem to be very torn on.

Moreover, the number of good songs has become a criterion for some friends to judge whether the market is good or not. Chinese music doesn't work, no matter how good the industry figures are, because there are too few good songs.

In my opinion, the significance of judging the quality of content in China's music market can only be directed at improving industrialization, and is of little significance to the individual consumer in this day and age. 

Because, if one if one is not bound to the charts, or the genre, or the language, or the platform, there are so many great songs and music to be heard online.