Huge market offers 'untapped potential'
Fans welcome Galen Crew, 29, at airports and hotels where he stays, his concerts sell out fast and his followers sing along to the lyrics he writes.
The singer-songwriter-who was born in Ocean City, New Jersey, United States, grew up in Tennessee and now lives in Nashville, the state capital-has accumulated a large fan base in China, as have some of his peers from other countries.
From Nov 28 to Dec 7, Crew played a seven-city Chinese tour, including concerts in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, Sichuan province.
He updated his schedule on his Sina Weibo account, where he interacts with his Chinese fans, who have given him a nickname, chuan zhang, which translates as "captain".
"I have been to all of the cities at least twice now-but this is actually my third time in Guangzhou (Guangdong province), Beijing and Shanghai," Crew said. "The most exciting thing is appearing in city after city and seeing that fans know the words to my songs. When they sing along with me, it is exhilarating."
His interest in music started at an early age, and he wrote his first composition at 11. He has played with various bands since high school, performing on a range of instruments, including acoustic guitar, ukulele, bass guitar and piano. He also produces music for other artists.
Crew describes his music-a combination of pop, electronic and some folk elements-as "dreamy", as he draws a lot of inspiration from stories, both fantasy and real-life.
On Dec 5, one fan, named Rongyan, posted on Crew's music page on NetEase Cloud Music, one of the main online music platforms in China: "It was a touching moment to watch his show in China and hear him speak Chinese. He worked hard to learn to speak Chinese for his fans."
In 2014, Crew began hearing from Chinese fans, who told him his songs were becoming popular in the country.
He said: "I wasn't even sure if it was true, but then some fans sent me a link to a Chinese music platform, where my songs were getting millions of plays. I said: 'Wow!! This is amazing!'"
He then created a profile on Sina Weibo and began communicating with his fans more regularly. Inspired to learn just how much his followers in China were enjoying his songs, he began planning a trip to the country in 2016.
Crew said: "One thing that many fans say to me is that they feel a strong sense of peace and calm when they listen to my songs. Others say that my songs make them feel as if they have suddenly stepped into a joyful dream. It really motivates me to continue writing new songs when I see the uplifting effect the music is having on them."
His popularity in China has extended to the US, where he now has a great number of Chinese followers.
"My music is actually much more popular in China than in the US. I have fans in the US and I have toured many states there, but these fans are typically not as passionate about my songs as those from China. However, when people in the US hear about my popularity in China, they are fascinated by this," Crew said.
"My American friends are always asking me about China and about my fans there. I have told many people in the US about the wonderful experiences I've had in China and the interesting things I've learned about Chinese culture. I have fallen in love with the Chinese people. It is very heartwarming for people to hear about this unique international connection we share."
His recent tour, titled Apologue, features 20 songs he released in four separate volumes.
"I wanted the tour to sort of make listeners feel as if they were reading a book of fairy tales as they listened to the songs. This project is a journey of adventure and excitement, but also what it feels like to walk through sadness and hardship," Crew said, adding that he used his own life experiences to craft songs that can relate to everyone. "Ultimately, I want people to feel a sense of hope and peace when they listen to them."
His latest release is I Want You Close Forever. The artwork to promote it was done by a fan in Shanghai named only as May. Crew released the number in China before the rest of the world, saying, "It's almost like a love song from me to the Chinese people."
During his debut tour of China in 2016, he wrote a song titled Fragrance. Crew said he was so inspired by what he was experiencing in the country that "my mind was kind of blown". He had never been to China before, and yet huge numbers of fans were coming to his shows and singing along to all the songs. He even featured the traditional Chinese instrument the erhu in Fragrance, as well as filming the video for it in China.
NetEase Cloud Music, where Crew can see fans' comments and how they react to each song, has helped him reach out to his followers in the country.
"My songs first became popular on NetEase Cloud Music, so I knew I needed to focus on engaging my audience there", he said.
In August 2016, one of Crew's songs, Sleepyhead, received nearly 20,000 comments, later becoming one of his most popular in China.
One fan who watched Crew's show in Beijing on Dec 2 at Mao Livehouse, commented on the artist's Weibo account the following day: "I discovered Galen through the song Sleepyhead and I enjoyed his music, which is warm and uplifting. His music gives me so much courage to believe that everything will be OK."
Another fan, who wrote to Crew, said: "We are cheered by your musical work. Sometimes life is difficult, but your music is always warm."
Crew wrote Sleepyhead with British songwriter Roger Cook, who is a friend of his. "It was very surprising to me at first when the Chinese responded to this song so much. Now, one of my favorite moments in the show is to perform Sleepyhead, because the Chinese fans sing along to every word."
Meanwhile, New Zealand singer-songwriter Luke Thompson has begun his first tour of China, appearing in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.
"Before I gave my first show in Shanghai on Dec 8, I thought there would be about 20 people in the audience. But I was surprised to see over 200 show up," Thompson said in an interview before he appeared in Beijing on Sunday.
The self-managed artist has released albums, including To the Common Dark in 2012, Strum Strum in 2015 and Hosts in 2016.
One of his most popular songs among Chinese fans is On a Slow Boat to China. They apparently enjoy the number due to its title, although it refers to something that takes a very long time.
About two years ago, Thompson started to receive emails and messages from Chinese fans, who shared their feelings about his music. With his smooth guitar-driven melodies, he now has more than 30,000 followers on his page on Net-Ease Cloud Music.
"I didn't know much about China, but I was eager to explore it," he said. During his trip to the country, he was drawn to its ancient history and he also bought some traditional musical instruments.
He even wrote a song just after he arrived in Shanghai, titled From Shanghai to Anywhere Else, which voices his feelings about the country.
In 2017, China was a new entrant to the global top 10 music market, and rose to seventh place last year, according to the report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The country's music market has enormous untapped potential, with an online user base of 650 million people and a growing number of licensed digital services, according to the federation.
Since its launch in 2013, NetEase Cloud Music has collaborated with more than 200 music companies on legal copyright issues. The music platform now has over 30 million authorized songs, which have attracted about 900 million comments.
Mathew Daniel, vice-president, international, of NetEase Cloud Music, said almost 90 percent of its music is Western, as it represents the largest growth category.
"It (the platform) is among the social media available to artists to connect to their fans in China, and those who have invested their time and efforts in cultivating their Chinese fans have definitely benefited. The fans are now eager to familiarize themselves with more music genres that have traditionally been dominated by Western artists, so the opportunity is there for these artists to reciprocate that interest via social media."
With the daily number of user-generated playlists standing at nearly 1 million, comments at 1.6 million, and shares at more than 10 million, users spend an average of at least 1.5 hours a day on the service.
With Chinese music fans embracing a variety of genres, international artists such as Dutch disc jockeys R3HAB and W&W have built a strong profile in the country in collaboration with Net-Ease Cloud Music.
Other artists, including singer-songwriters Kim Taylor from the US and J.Fla from South Korea, have gained more popularity in China than at home.
Daniel said: "While the rest of the music world was evolving in one direction, China's music market was moving in a different direction and at a different pace.
"But with the internet, everything rushes into China from the rest of the world, but often without context or chronology. So, part of the challenge for international artists and potential fans is to try to find a match musically, especially when the potential audience is not aware of the background of the music, genre or artists. As such, social media has taken on a more important role in providing more musical context."
In addition to online music platforms, the Chinese record company Modern Sky, one of the largest indie labels, also helps bring foreign artists to the country. In 2006, it launched its first overseas office in New York, while in 2017, it opened Modern Sky UK in Liverpool, northern England.
The overseas offices sign local bands as well as introducing them to Chinese fans via social media and the Strawberry Music Festival, an annual outdoor event held in a number of Chinese cities.
The label, launched in 1997 by rocker Shen Lihui, has held sold-out concerts for international acts, including Australian singer-songwriter Lenka Kripac and Brett Anderson from the British rock band Suede.
It has signed nearly 100 Western bands and singer-songwriters, and in December last year launched the Modern Sky International Artist Booking Agency, which represents 17 international acts, including Wednesday Campanella, a Japanese group, and the British four-piece alternative rock band Wolf Alice.
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