On the big screen of Bangkok's CentralWorld, the promotional poster of Jay Chou's "Carnival" World Tour - Thailand (Bangkok Station) dominates the screen, "Jay Chou is back!".The imposing propaganda slogan has ignited the youth memories of many people.
From the second half of 2022, singers like Jay Chou who have chosen concert sites in Southeast Asian countries have gradually increased, in addition to the older generation of powerful singers who represent the youth memories of a generation, Wang Jiaer, Zhang Yixing, Cai Xukun and other "new generation" singers and younger mainland idol groups have also chosen to perform on stage in Southeast Asia, and many Southeast Asian countries have been selected as one of the tour sites. The "boom" of the recovery of the singing market is blowing to Southeast Asia.
On the LED screen in front of Bangkok's Central World, Jay Chou's concert promotional poster dominates the screen (Source: TV Pool***
Looking at the world tour itinerary catalogue released by various companies, it is not difficult to find that compared with popular cities in Europe and the United States such as New York, London, and Paris, Chinese singers have a lot more itineraries to "sing" Southeast Asian countries. According to the critic Xinzai, the form of performance is not only limited to large-scale concerts, but also festivals, small-scale parties and other attacks.
He further explained that in fact, there was also the phenomenon of "going to the South Seas" in Chinese concerts before, but mainly Hong Kong, China and Taiwan artists, they will take Southeast Asia as an important stop for overseas tours, and in the past two years, Chinese mainland singers have also appeared on the Southeast Asian stage, such as Li Ronghao, Zhang Jie, etc. Going south to "go to sea" has changed from the foreign trade manufacturing industry in the past, to the Internet industry, and then to the big entertainment industry in 2022, and the momentum of the Chinese song "going to the South Seas" has become stronger.
On September 15, 2022, Zhang Yixing, who has debuted for 10 years, announced that he will hold his first concert in Malaysia on October 15. In the following days, his 2022 "Grand Voyage: The Unreached" tour (hereinafter referred to as the Grand Voyage Concert) announced the Singapore and Thailand leg plans. On September 19, the lowest ticket slot for the Zhang Yixing Grand Voyage Concert on sale in Genting also reached 388 ringgit (about 597.).52 yuan), while Justin Bieber (a famous American male singer) has a minimum ticket slot of 288 ringgit (about 443.)52 RMB).
Zhang Yixing held a concert promotional poster in Malaysia on October 15 (Source: Sin Chew Network).
At the beginning of 2023, tickets for the 2023 Jay Chou Kuala Lumpur concert went on sale on Ticketcharge**, and it was hard to find a ticket. The same scene also appeared at Jay Chou's Singapore concert. The Singapore National Stadium can accommodate more than 50,000 spectators, and even so, two consecutive days of two performances were still packed. On December 9, 2023, Jay Chou's concert in Bangkok, Thailand, set off another wave of enthusiasm at the end of the year, and its venue was selected at Thailand's largest stadium - Bangkok Stadium, which can accommodate 56,000 people. According to Miss Huang, who has 10 years of work experience in Bangkok, Thailand, some Thai friends around her spent 8,000 baht (about 1,680 yuan) to buy tickets for Jay Chou's concert.
The scene of Jay Chou's concert in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 9, 2023 (Photo: Du Jing).
Chinese singers are interested in the Southeast Asian market, which makes people ask, what is the charm of the Southeast Asian market?
In fact, a closer look will find that the dominance of the European and American markets is being squeezed, and the emerging markets are rising. According to the report, "Middle East and North Africa (MENA)** Market Opportunities", between 2017 and 2020, the combined market share of the European and American markets has dropped from 50% to 33%. According to Midia Research, the incremental number of users in emerging markets outside Europe and the United States will account for 73% of global user growth between 2020 and 2028, while the share of users in developed markets will fall from 54% to 41%.
There is no doubt that such a market trend has brought new opportunities for Chinese language to go overseas. Since 2022, Southeast Asia has become the fastest recovering region in the world. The economic growth trend also means that the demand for entertainment consumption in Southeast Asia is showing a trend.
Thailand's largest stadium, Bangkok Stadium, which can accommodate 56,000 people, is also the venue for Jay Chou's concert in Bangkok (Photo: Du Jing).
At the same time, the Chinese community in Southeast Asian countries is huge, according to the estimation of Zhuang Guotu, a professor at the Nanyang Research Institute of Xiamen University, 6% of the total population of Southeast Asia is overseas Chinese, with a total population of about 3,34860,000, accounting for about 73 of the world's overseas Chinese5%。In the context of the great Chinese cultural circle itself has a great advantage in the culture and language spread in Southeast Asia, more Chinese singers and entertainment institutions "smell the fragrance" and want to win this "fragrant bait" in one fell swoop. "In many countries in Southeast Asia, the paid** ecosystem is still in its infancy. For singers, entering the market as soon as possible, cultivating a fan base in the early stage of market development, and expanding popularity can be a good way to promote ** works to 'go to sea'. Zhang Yi of Sony's **live department said in an interview with the Yangtze Evening News that China's domestic singers have recently concentrated on "going to sea" Southeast Asia, which may first be related to the resumption of navigation itineraries, and after smooth traffic, it is convenient for cultural exchanges.
However, in terms of the overall performance of the current offline performances, except for a few "head singers" who can receive a more enthusiastic response, it is still difficult for Chinese Chinese singers without a fan base to open the Southeast Asian market.
And even if there is a stable fan base and a certain influence of "veteran singers", they will still face the influence of uncertain factors when they "go overseas" to Southeast Asia. For example, Jay Chou is about to hold a concert in Malaysia on January 15, 2023, due to the collision of Southeast Asian football matches (Malaysia vs. .Thailand), which left about 20,000 seats unavailable during the Jan. 7 match, sparking discontent among a large number of Malaysian fans, which caused some controversy.
The Malaysian Football Association (FAM) said on January 4 that the vacant seats at the National Stadium were criticised by fans in the country after 21,000 seats could not be used due to the installation of the Jay Chou concert stage. (Source: Malaysia, Malaysia**).
Since going out to hold a concert requires continuous communication and coordination with the local organizer, the venue, transportation, religion, etc. may become one of the factors affecting the concert holding, which is also the "risk cost" that many Chinese singers need to face when they "go out". Zhang Yi said that although Southeast Asian countries and China have similarities in terms of cultural customs, it is necessary to further control the details when it comes to public performances. At the same time, the box office is one of the key points that cannot be ignored in the concert, and how to gather the Chinese community and attract them to watch the performance is also a factor that needs to be considered if "going overseas" wants to succeed.
There is no doubt that there is still unlimited potential for "going overseas" in Southeast Asia, but it is also necessary to realize that when Chinese Chinese singers go out of the Chinese domestic market, they must properly adjust their mentality and constantly adjust according to local conditions, so as to further seek new breakthroughs.
In addition, the holding of large-scale concerts can actually achieve a "win-win" situation for singers and host cities to a certain extent. After Jay Chou's concert in Thailand in December 2023, Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports Sudawan announced on December 13 that the number of tourists received by Thailand last week (December 4 10) increased significantly compared with the previous week, among which Chinese tourists became the largest tourist group, with an increase of 23,861 from the previous week. Many audiences will go to the ** concert and also carry out sightseeing tours in local cities to drive the development of the local tourism economy. Therefore, the choice of concert destination is not only related to the influence of the singer himself, but also depends on the tourist attraction of the destination city.
Synthesized from: Yangtze Evening News, Key Comment Network, New ** Express, Thailand Network, etc.