£7,350 China music moratorium
p2pnet news | Music:- Chinese music fans of “more independent, under-the-radar music should gear up for a moratorium on international artists for the time being,” suggests China Music Radar.
Thanks to the Bjork Tibet Effect, musicians who want to perform in China may have to agree to self-censorship, CNR reported earlier in the month, quoting a March “behind-closed-doors discussion” which said >>>
Additional measures (not yet approved) from SH Cultural Bureau re foreign performers in China:
1. Organizers must sign additional guarantees that performers will not comment on political issues from stage, etc.
2. A 50% of the total potential box office must be paid as a deposit on the show to the Cultural Bureau. Should performers break the law, this deposit will be retained by the government. Additional fines may be levied.
3. Artist performances will be closely monitored to conform to the government pre-approved set-lists.
4. Artists will not be allowed an unapproved encore.
Now meet the £7,000 (about $13,693) Visa
The RMB 100,000 (£7,350) entry visa is the new cost of a visa for a foreign musician who wishes to perform in China, says CMR, going on:
“A club owner in Beijing notes that, from a government perspective, the astronomical fee is ‘a much more politically acceptable way to restrict foreign performances than simply to turn them down, because except for the biggest acts, this all but assures that organizers will take losses on any shows they organize, especially for bands that involve several people.’
“Let’s say for example that Tokyo Police Club wanted to come over and do a China tour: It would take a whopping RMB 400,000 just to get the four band members through immigration. That’s roughly the same price as 40 round-trip airfares from New York to Shanghai. For anything other than the most mainstream acts, this visa fee ensures a net loss on touring that will be too much to bear.”
The irony, the Beijing club owner mentions, says the story, is the, “exorbitant new fee (which will hopefully deflate after the Olympics) won’t affect the Maroon 5s, Celine Dions and, ahem, Bjorks of the music world, ’since a few hundred thousand additional RMB are probably well within the normal budget’ for these international idols.”
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.Stumble It!
China Music Radar – The £7,000 Visa, May 14, 2008
self-censorship – Bjork Tibet Effect ricochet, May 21, 2008
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May 29th, 2008 at 6:22 am
One Celine Dion is more than enuf!
May 29th, 2008 at 6:25 am
I like little Chinese and their tiny trees