chinamusicradar

Shanghai Expo Spam

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:04:09 +0800

Again, not strictly music based, but too funny not to post. Simple story is this

Chinese travel agent/ ticketing agency spams a large group of emails. Forgets to BCC people
One of the respondents (an expat working for an American retail firm) takes offense, and replies to all
Chinese travel agent/ ticketing agency (this time on BCC) threatens to hound said expat and company out of China.

It’s pretty good. More after the jump.

We took out the expat’s name/ company, but left in the Chinese one. This is because the exchange was precipitated without solicitation by the offending Chinese company (in fact, had never heard of either of the participants). We are leaving “Tommy’s” contacts in there as he doesn’t seem to mind giving them out to all and sundry.

Finally, we do not condone the response (in fact, we kinda hate it when expats behave like this in China), but hey. Take it or leave it…

On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 4:45 PM, liwenzheng <lwz@dynasty-tours.cn> wrote:

Dear Friends:

Asialive have been cooperate with Shanghai World Expo now, so we have entry ticket, so let me know when you decide to travel Shanghai during Shanghai World Expo.

Standard Day, Single Day Admission. 3 Day Admission, 7 Day Admission. If you are interesting about this information, contact me anytime.

Phases Types	Price List for Expo 2010 Tickets
	Pre-sale Phase 3 2010.01.01- 2010.04.30	Expo Session 2010.05.01- 2010.10.31
Standard day Single Day Admission	150	160
3 Day Admission	400
7 Day Admission	900
handling fee	80
Delivery fee	80

Have a good day! I’m looking forward to your reply   Thanks and Best regards

Asialive Travel

tommy

Assistant of Business Development

Tel:010-58237217 Fax:010-58237211

58237201 Mobile:13910127393

Add:A2-A2306 Zhaowei Huadeng Plaza 14  Jiuxianqiao Lu Chaoyang Beijing.P.R.China   100016 E-mail:tommy@asialive.net.cn Http://www.asialive.net.cn

P Think eco-friendly before printing this message

发件人: XX  发送时间: 2010年2月5日 9:27 收件人: liwenzheng 抄送: fita de mir blanca; Fitch Laura; Gallade Thierry; Gamard Benoit; GIRALDO PAULA; Greenacre Simon; Hackler Bernd; hare julie; Hashmi Khalil; Hashmi Khalil 主题: Re: Shanghai World Expo

Dear Friend,

The Expo is stupid. No one even knows what it is. Ok, there’re some “pavilions”. What the f*ck is a pavilion? Sounds pretty g*y to me. Liwenzheng, you must be g*y–like, faggot g*y. Is that so? You want to go get g*y with some “pavilions” you a5s f*cker? I’m sure you do, a5shole.

–Poops3x

Your mouth is not clean “XX”:

The first of all, you are not Asialive guest, and when I receive your email, I want to smile, because I don’t know you, so please clean some of your words, World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is the occasion for China to bring the world at home, and for the world to feel at home in China. By dedicating a 5.28-square-kilometer area at the core of the city to exhibitions, events and forums on the Expo theme, “Better City, Better Life,” Shanghai hopes to build a powerful and lasting pilot example of sustainable and harmonious urban living.

The second, If you have once again made such a silly e-mail, I will take legal measures to put sanctions on you and I’ll let police find out you, as below is your advertisement on cityweekend website, and there have some information of you, You have to apologize for such a silly word, otherwise I will make your legal penalties, and will you expelled out of China.

Asialive Travel

tommy

Assistant of Business Development

Tel:010-58237217 Fax:010-58237211 58237201 Mobile:13910127393

Add:A2-A2306 Zhaowei Huadeng Plaza 14  Jiuxianqiao Lu Chaoyang Beijing.P.R.China   100016 E-mail:tommy@asialive.net.cn Http://www.asialive.net.cn

P Think eco-friendly before printing this message

Emma -> Ticketmaster China -> Dust

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:25:01 +0800

Ticketmaster’s China’s operations were officially shelved last week. The news was lost amongst the furore surrounding the Department of Justice approval of a Livenation/ Ticketmaster merger. Ticketmaster’s foray into the China market was one of the most entertaining corporate soap operas that we’ve ever been lucky enough to witness. This tale is best told via the history of the man who erected the house of cards. Who says China isn’t the wild East?

In May 2007, global ticketing behemoth Ticketmaster purchased the small, but high profile, ambitious and rapidly expanding China based promoters/ ticketers, Emma Entertainment. Rumors abounded that Jonathan Krane, founder of Emma Entertainment, had borrowed heavily to set up a company that looked good on the outside, but was very insubstantial once you scratched below the surface. Ticketmaster may not have done their due diligence adequately. This was 2007. Money was cheap. China was hot. The Olympics were coming. Ticketmaster needed to buy a ticketing agency. US$20m was the commonly considered fee. The Ticketmaster officials came to China, inked the deals, then returned to LA, not to revisit China until things started to go sour 18 months later.

Jon Krane lifts the Olympic Torch

Krane himself was not from a promotion or music background; rather he has been a mid-level real estate agent in New York at Cushman and Wakefield. He alighted in Shanghai in 2002 with a mandate not to bring music/ entertainment to China, but to make a packet of money. It was only when introduced to the guys from Midas Promotions (an Asian promoter with 25 years in the region) that he saw a gap in the market: why not establish a ticketing agency? No gigs – bring them in? Midas introduced him to Bob Sewell, a man who had set up Ticketworld in the Philippines. It was Sewell who was responsible for building the ticketing operation.

Krane’s first major coup was the Rolling Stones concert in Shanghai in 2005. Although the show must have lost a ton of money, it seemed to fit with a strategy designed to raise a profile rather than generate a sustainable business model for the China market. Less-than-comradely business practices were highlighted when Krane lured away two of the three partners at the then most prolific big show promoter, China West. Adam Wilkes and Robb Spitzer took with them the Linkin Park show that China West had been working on for quite some time, a show that ended up being the most significant Western artist concert in China ever.

Major catastrophes followed, with the all-new Emma Ticketmaster responsible for a string of disasters ranging from the infamous Bjork incident, to safety issues during an extensive Avril Lavigne tour, to the cancellations of both Oasis and the Celine Dion Beijing show. The latter was pure comedy. Krane went to Chinese media saying Dion had bronchial problems and couldn’t perform, while telling Dion that the government wouldn’t issue her permits pre-Olympics. In an unprecedented move, the Government came out publically to refute Krane’s explanation to the artist. Government officials told media that they had indeed issues permits for the show. Word on the street was that ticket sales in Beijing had been very, very slow, and as Dion was being paid $5m for 3 shows, it was more sensible to try and get out of the slowest selling show.

Wilkes and Spitzer departed in November 2008 citing “an impossibly political working environment”, followed by a major exodus of key employees including Alan DeZon and Jaime Welton (both now in senior positions at AEG China) plus numerous local operations staff. Krane’s final brainchild (and more than likely the reason he was pushed) was the riskiest of all. A massive music festival at the Shanghai F1 circuit in August 2009 – ill thought out in every way. The F1 circuit is 2 hours out of Shanghai (a city whose residents hate to travel) and in August -rainy season and 35-40 degrees.

To give Krane the credit that he is due, he was no work-shy scam merchant. Our belief is that he truly believed in what he was doing, and in his ability to pull it off. However, he was a gambler who kept making big and expensive miscalculations. Each new project was larger and more extravagant than the last, with the “profits” earmarked for the company bottom line, covering up the rapidly expanding holes in the balance sheet. He worked incredibly hard, he was charming and could work a room quite well, as long as he wasn’t in the presence of those who actually knew our industry very well. The ultimate embarrassment was when Emma Entertainment sponsored the live music panel at Music Matters 2008. During the panel, Krane (who was hosting) was savaged by at least two of the big players (Michael Chugg & Harvey Goldsmith) in what seemed like a premeditated onslaught. In front of a room of 400 peers, Krane was barracked and accused of distorting the Asian touring market, overpaying hugely for bands and having no idea of what he was doing. On the big screens, Krane was visibly panicked and had no riposte, stuttering and stammering to an undignified end.

Which, in the end, is an apt metaphor for Ticketmaster China. A company run into the ground by those that created it (an unnamed Ticketmaster source claims that during an internal meeting it was said that Krane lost the Ticketmaster inc. “enough money to keep all its employees comfortably for the rest of their collective lives”). Krane put China on the touring map, but in such a way that will take it years to recover from. He was audacious and brave, but should possibly have taken more from the playbook that discretion is the better part of valor. The stresses and strains that he was under were there for all to see towards the end.

One might hail the end of such an anomaly, but China is most definitely worse off with Ticketmaster China’s demise. Livenation are hardly active, AEG have apparently mostly pulled out of being promoters (after a single show), having just pulled in (key members of the music team have recently been recalled to LA), and we are left with a world similar to that of 10 years ago – dodgy promoters, nervous managers and agents, and a dearth of legitimate action at the top end of the industry.

Linkin Park Side Project appears in Taiwanese Gangster Movie

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:17:00 +0800

Louis Yu, our Taiwan pop culture maven reports in on a real Western/ China collaboration.

Monga (艋舺) is a new movie set in the no-longer area of Monga in Taiwan, where Taiwanese gangster culture used to be popular. Because this movie is set in Taiwan, and gangster films come out of Taiwan only rarely, this film is getting a lot of press right now. The director and cast have been on the chat show/ celebrity roundabout for a while now.

The latest publicity for this film is that it features a single by Dead by Sunrise, side project of Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. Taiwanese press have made a huge deal of how the movie is about old Taiwanese gangster culture, but it features a song from a Western band. All these publicity seems to be playing in favour of the movie as press stress how suitable the song is and how fitting it is to feature this song in the movie. Last week Chester Bennington even held a press conference with the cast and director of Monga

I’ve included a promote clip with scene from the movie and the song from Dead by sunrise.

It seems that Linkin Park is really working at tapping into their market in China. They have big followings in both mainland China and in Taiwan and they are working every angle…

Cowboy Country

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:30:33 +0800

This morning, we came into possession of an email sent to a band that we help negotiate China. We’ve alluded to the rise of the “government sponsored” music festival HERE, and we’ve also alluded to promoters etc. making false claims to further the aims of their dubious events (see SHOW OF PEACE).

And so to another, this time Suzhou, who are claiming that Green Day will be headlining their summer festival. The exact words are:

The Suzhou International Music Festival Committee is delighted to invite BAND XXX to perform in our festival.

The First Suzhou International Music Festival runs from Friday 16th July – Sunday 18th July 2010 and will take place at Huoli Island, Xiangcheng, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, P.R.China. This festival is organized by Suzhou government, and will be an annual event. The Huoli Island is a transportation hub in suzhou city,the outdoor theater on Huoli Island can accommodate 100,000 audience. With full support from the Suzhou government and our sponsors, our committee is dedicated to make the Suzhou International music festival a high quality music event with the strongest musician lineup in China.

The festival will feature 3 stages, Rock stage (a.k.a main stage), New talent stage and electronic music stage (Attached please find our site planning). There well be more than 60 musician’s and music groups from around the world perform on these stages. Live shows on all three stages will start from 15:00 until midnight everyday, for 3 consecutive days. We are also delighted to have several world class musicians and rock bands to perform on our stage: Green Day (U.S), Glay (Japan) and Cui Jian (mainland China), just to name a few. Band XXX could take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to work with some of the world’s finest musicians, to meet their Chinese fans, and to gain new audience.

National media including CCTV and all major satellite TV stations; China International Radio Station and most provincial music radio stations; newspapers and magazines; major Web sites will all cover this festival.

We have (in our best police guise) spoken to Green Day this morning. They 100% refute the claim above – Green Day will not be playing any festivals in July.

This ongoing opportunism hurts the music industry in China in myriad ways. First, the bands that accept the invitation based on the information above generally arrive in China to a poorly organized event featuring none of the delicacies promised and leave with a bad taste in their collective mouths. Secondly, the large bands that continuously have their names taken in vain will increasingly despair of the “Wild East”. They will find it impossible to weed out genuine offers and opportunities, and might end up ignoring China altogether.

The industry must be honest with itself and others. It is the only way for it to grow and improve.

Festival roundabout

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:57:10 +0800

Experienced employees for festival organizers are hard to come by here in China. Festivals are relatively new in this country, and good ones relatively rare.

Two of the more experienced individuals have moved. Shan Wei, the 2 i/c at Rock for China (organizers of the Beijing Pop Festival from 2005 – 2007) has joined the team for Midi, which should bode well for the festival. Lua Zhou, ex-InMusic journalist and one of the key players for the inaugural InMusic festival in Zhangbei is now helping out with the Zebra Festival in Chengdu.

As an aside, Midi Festival will be back in Beijing, after a year off in Zhenjiang. Midi is slated for May at its old home of Haidian Park, which will put it in direct competition with Modern Sky’s Strawberry. Will be interesting to see how that one turns out.