He adds that his idols are Cui Jian, Chinese godfather of rock 'n' roll, and rock singer-songwriter Xu Wei. "An independent singer-songwriter should have a clear understanding of his music and his audience, rather than counting on images designed by the record companies," he says. He adds that there are few independent singer-songwriters in the music industry "because their attitude and spirit are not independent". Tickets for his national tour cost as much as 880 yuan ($142). "People take it for granted that folk and rock singer-songwriters should cater to a minority taste and lower their tickets price. Li has stirred some controversy with his comments about the current music scene in China. With the Internet revolutionizing the music industry worldwide, Li promoted himself internationally, and his songs can be purchased on iTunes and other platforms. The concert was also webcast live with more than 100,000 people paying to watch. His concert on Dec 31, 2014, sold an unprecedented 3,600 tickets within 13 minutes. With an entrepreneural spirit, Li established his own team to promote his music. His folk tunes and poetic lyrics about his personal life and observations about society won him thousands of fans online. Li first rose to fame on, a popular Chinese social networking website. Since 2004, Li has released seven albums, including the newest, 1701, which was played online more than 2.5 million times within a week of its debut in November. He has nearly 200,000 followers on micro blog Sina Weibo. So I wanted to give it a try," says the Li, 37, said at the recent media event. But lots of my friends encouraged me to have one, as a way to celebrate my 10 years in the music scene. The photo seems to hint at his ambition to conquer the country. Li showed to the media a photo depicting him half-naked, a tattoo on the center of his chest in the shape of a Chinese map. Starting in Shenzhen on May 23, Li will perform in five cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Li held a news conference in Beijing in early April to launch his upcoming national tour, titled Kan Jian (Seeing). But he has never performed on TV, rarely does interviews and always keeps a low profile.ĭuring the past 10 years, he has been exploring ways of being an independent folk singer-songwriter by relying on social media to spread his music and interact with his fans. Li Zhi is one of the few singer-songwriters in China who can quickly sell out tickets to each of his concerts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |