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Split Works in the News |
7th Aug 2008 / Rollingstone.com |
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Another hurdle is the country's entertainment infrastructure, which remains below international standards. Many bands opt to fly in their own gear, and soundchecks can stretch on for hours. "You have to do production for every show in advance, and you have to build stages everywhere," says Archie Hamilton, a promoter who has brought Sonic Youth and Talib Kweli to China. "It's an expensive thing."
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12th Mar 2008 / Reuters |
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Last year, a Beijing concert for U.S. rock act Sonic Youth was nearly scuppered at the last minute after local authorities were tipped off that it had played at "free Tibet" concerts.
"The Ministry of Culture sent one person from each of their 17 departments to make sure nothing went wrong," said Archie Hamilton, general manager of Split Works, the concert's promoter.
Hamilton, whose company warns artists to not play politics in China, said he didn't expect major changes after Bjork's performance, but that officials would inevitably react and "take a closer look" at foreign acts' backgrounds.
"The Chinese government situation is that they have to keep a fairly strong handle on this to stop it getting out of control."
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11th Mar 2008 / Shanghaiist |
Our friends over at Split Works tipped us off to their Yue Festival website, on which you can vote for the artists you'd most like to see at the second annual event this fall. Lots of big names on the list — how many of them are realistic, and how big of a role voter opinion will play in the signing process, remain to be seen. But we have been told that all but perhaps one band mentioned on the list are possibilities, although some are much more expensive than others (yes, we're looking at you Mr. West).
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24th Jan 2008 - 13th Feb 2008 / City Weekend |
For Split Works, the Shanghai based promotion company that organized the Yue Festival last October, adapting marketing techniques have also played a key role in getting potential Chinese music fans to the shows. "You need to find keen people, usually on the Internet, and get them excited about the bands. We want to develop the indie music scene here, so we work hard to find a credible audience that's interested in new bands," says Split Works Marketing Director Tori Widdowson. "Because the scene here is less mature, there is a smaller audience of people who know about indie music."
Choosing bands requires careful market research to determine what kind of music local fans are interested in. "We learn a lot about our audience from web marketing, so we can bring in new bands that we think people will like," says Widdowson. Much of Split Works' success in bringing bands to China has come from their sponsorship-driven business model. This enables Split Works to keep ticket prices lower without limiting the quality of the performances. "We use sponsors to keep our ticket prices low, but we aren’t dictated by sponsor requests. We look for genuinely good music and we work with the sponsors to maximize the opportunity for us both," says Widdowson.
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2nd Jan 2008 / Smart Shanghai |
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Bar shows are the real barometer for the overall health of any "scene," but 2007 will also be remembered for the large-scale festivals that brought bands from all around the world to the eyes and ears of Shanghai residents. While the cancellation of October's 1234 Rock Festival (for reasons that we are not officially allowed to discuss, but we all know) and the outrageously high prices of July's Rock It! Festival both displayed blatant disregard and lack of understanding for the fans, October's Yue Festival was a user-friendly success that did an excellent job of combining Chinese and International talent, broadening the aural palate of Shanghai's rock scene.
"The turnout at the [Yue] Festival was a little disappointing," claimed Archie Hamilton, Split Works Managing Director and the man behind Yue. "But the vibe and feeling was really beautiful ... still we need to get Chinese people involved."
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Jan 2008 / Buzz |
2007年有个非常有趣的现象就是，摇滚风潮大热，无论是户外音乐节，诸如Rockit热带风暴摇滚音乐节、SMC夏日新音乐联盟、中山公园的十跃音乐节都把我们带到了户外的摇滚狂欢
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31st Dec 2007 / Shanghaiist |
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What to watch for in 2008:
Split Works - 2007 was a great year for Split who put on a string of successful shows by some great international bands. In 2008 look for even bigger things from this promoter.
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27th Dec 2007 - 9th Jan 2008 / City Weekend |
Yue Festival
The Yue Festival rolled into town, bringing tons of bands and throngs of fans just in time for the October holiday
Go! Team
“They took the Bacardi Sino Sessions to a new level … mixing cossack and breakdance, then falling down to a stage-floor melee.”
Tori Widdowson
Marketing Director
Split Works
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The initial award is the “Finally We Can Start Bragging about Our Town” Honor, which goes out to the guys from Split Works. This crew brought acts like Sonic Youth, Ozomatli, Faithless, Killa Kella, Talib Kweli and more to Shanghai and helped us forget about the Go! Team gig. “From 20,000[fans] rocking out in a stadium to a rave in a water park, we’ve still got our jazz here,” says Split Works General Manager Archie Hamilton. Sure, big acts really don’t help our tiny little local scene, but it gives new musicians a chance to dream and gives us an opportunity not to go to sleep.
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7th Dec 2007 / Shanghai Talk |
Archie Hamilton is the managing director of Split Works, a media and events agency specializing in music. In the past, Split Works has brought bands like Sonic Youth, Maximo Park and Talib Kweli to China - their most recent big outing was October’s Yue Festival in Zhongshan Park where thousands enjoyed a packed day of both local and international talent including Faithless, Ozomatli and SuperVC. For more info on Split Works, visit www.Spli-t.com, www.myspace.com/splitchina or www.yuefestival.com.
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