【China Startup】The rise of Behinders | 让音乐人走出幕后圈
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When a song is a hit the people who are often thought to profit the most are the singers and the record company. However historically the people behind the scenes, from the musicians to the producers, have rarely reaped the benefits to the same degree. This has been a particular problem on the Chinese mainland, and one man is trying to put right.
Once a recording engineer, Li Yongbin now works building the online music community “Behinders”. The Chinese site “Behinders” promotes the people in the shadows, the composers and musicians ‘behind the music', helping them to build a better relationship with the people who actually buy their services from advertisers to movie directors. Ultimately he wants the Chinese music industry to be fairer.
RESHAPE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
In July 2015 a ban of playing unauthorized music on online music platforms came in to force by the National Copyright Administration of China. The move was seen as crucial in strengthening IPR (Intellectual Property Protection) on music copyright helping musicians' throughout China. But this is viewed, as only half the problem the other half is cultural. Raising the public's awareness of the value and hard work behind the music production is another obstacle to crack for musicians to get a fair share for their hard work.
－ Li Yongbin, CEO of Behinders
Founded in the end of 2014 as an online to offline platform, Behinders aims to bridge the gap between the public and the musicians. People who want to commission music (for example an advertiser or event organizer) can browse the musicians' information online, this not only helps raise the profiles of the artists but increases their business opportunities. According to Li, more than 1200 musicians have registered on the site so far, including Cui Jian, an icon of rock and roll in the Chinese music industry.
With each contract arranged through the site yielding a possible profit and with a strong concept behind it, Behinders is already attracting serious investment interest.
ROLE CHANGED
As the CEO of the Behinders, Li Yongbin said he wants the public gain a better understanding of how music is made in order to cultivate a better awareness and respect of musicians.
“If I can't achieve that goal as a recording engineer, than I think I can through being the CEO of the Behinders”, Li said when thinking of his time before he set up the startup and why he set it up.
Born into a business family in the early 80's Li felt pressure from his father to enter the family business. At university Li Yongbin majored in English for his first degree and then Marketing as a post-graduate.
But all the time alongside school he was focusing on music from an early age playing the violin and percussion, and then playing in the college band. During his education in the UK, he finally decided to abandon his business-focused education and pursue his love of music and music production. The decision caused family arguments but after a year of preparation and study Li was admitted into the Leeds College of Music at the age of 26.
Although studying full time in England, he did internships in famous production studios in Beijing every vacation during his post-graduate studies. The move gave him the contacts and resources he needed to work in the music industry in Beijing after graduation.
Li returned to China in 2011 and worked in recording studios in Beijing doing a variety of jobs from recording engineer to chief manager. It was during this time that he gradually realized that the customers in China commissioning the music were often impatient with little appreciation for the hard work behind the music being produced.
“The whole industry has these hassle to have a song done instead of taking good care of time to make fine music.” Li found it hard to accept the reality that the music industry in China and the UK operated so differently. “Do you know where the microphone should be placed for the best recording sound? I know, but the customers don't have the time to wait for the right recording, they just want to have it done and make money,” Li recalled the bitter memories as a recording engineer.
PAYING FOR THE MELODY
Li feels that individuals in China are not to blame for this attitude towards music production; instead he sees the problem as having economic roots. “It costs around 50,000 RMB (7846 US dollars) to produce a song, who know how long could the record companies earn these money back?” The economic reality means Li thinks it is often seen as just not worth the time and effort in China to spend quality time to produce good music.
The mass development of Internet music hasn't helped the situation, when the public can easily search and obtain all the songs they like online; they seldom pay attention to all the elements behind the music. The situation was relatively better in the 80's and 90's when one need to buy a CD or tape if you needed to listen to your favorite artists. The packaging that accompanied the physical piece of music often came with credits and liner notes alongside the lyrics helping people to learn the names of composers and musicians.
Now as music has moved online the fear is public's appreciation for the value of music has decreased and their awareness about the people who make the music is even lower.
The Internet is not the reason why music industry is drooping in China”, Li Guangping, a lyricist talked to TimeWeekly, “Adele Adkins still sells tens of millions CDs in the US and the Europe, so the changing of media is not the cause but people's attitude towards the music's copyright. Chinese people have these strong desire for free lunch where the respect of copyright has not been formed yet.”
“The singers are earning the most from the industry, then the show promoters, and the online singers, the composers and lyricists go last. Now the only way to make a living is to put your songs online for free and let people know you, then getting copyright income from performances,” Li Guangping explained his view on the composing job.
Maybe recent developments are also the reason why there are more singer-songwriters in the industry, when it is more difficult to make a living by simply being a full-time composers or lyricists.
It is hard to image the situation will be improved without a well-structured IPR for the music workers behind the scene being implemented. It will take time to tell what role the Behinders' site will play exactly in the music industry. The signs are positive though and so far it has had space to grow.
But while Li is fighting to make sure people appreciate music more the irony is he is increasingly finding it difficult to appreciate it himself. “How and on what devices do you choose to listen to music these days?” our reporter asked Li Yongbin.
“I barely spend personal time listening to music now,” Li forced a smile while driving to a recording studio.
Note: Some photos are provided by the documentary team of musician Liang Huan. The team is shooting a film to tell the story about song-making.