I decided to “borrow” this post from more_cmusic@LJ, because it is such a good visual representation of the answer to this frequently asked question by commenter on this site: “Do Chinese indie bands ever go mainstream?”
Well, of course they do, just like in any other place and this example below is as fine as any, especially for those who would rather not read me write paragraphs and paragraphs just to make one point.
Super VC 2008
(only easily available picture at the time)
SuperVC 2009 aka Present Day
I guess it’s harder to tell who is mainstream and who isn’t of the Chinese bands, since even packaged mainland Cpop isn’t very well known outside of China, and thus their fame is no indication of their indie- vs non indie status. However should any of the big record labels sign a group, the band is lifted out of their indie status, like what happened with SuperVC.
As more_cmusic pointed out, the first picture you above see was when SuperVC was truly indie, and it was the only picture of them available. Now, after having signed with Dong Records, mega-producer Zhang Yadong’s label, SuperVC has been getting more and more coverage, doing interviews with the bigger news portals, and most recently, have landed in Men’s Vogue, doing some modeling.
Yeah, I don’t understand why signing to a big label is bad. Why should talented artists suffer in poverty while we enjoy their products?
I haven’t really been motivated to come to post Cpop for a while even though I’ve still been listening to it non-stop. I guess I think it’s too hard to pimp out the artists that have released albums recently or something.
I’m so sorry I haven’t been on cfensi for such a long time!!
I just moved into college and such and I’m still in the middle of adjusting to it… yay college! Haha, our college orientation is still heading strong (it’s finally finishing after like a week, and classes start like on Wednesday and that will be hell).
Anyway. I haven’t downloaded chinese music in the longest of time. I haven’t heard of SuperVC, but this sounds interesting.
Ah, 果味VC… A band I’ve only recently noticed and begun to like. Their style has been pretty soft/pop-rock, IMO, from what I’ve heard. I like them regardless – it’s not a betrayal to sign a label, and I’ve never understood why people think that to begin with.
Well, they’ve still come a long way. They’ve grown both musically and in popularity. It’s nice to see. Under a bigger spotlight more people can appreciate their incredible energy and talent.
Of course, there are always people who will respect them less now just because they are more widely appreciated…but I tend to ignore those people while I turn up 果味VC on my ipod. :P
Oh thanks for the correction. That dampens my point a bit, but it doesn’t make it entirely invalid.
Who wouldn’t want to keep old pictures of SuperVC? Vogue can’t supply all our photographic needs. :P
That old picture wasn’t actually the only one available… just the best of the very few I could find on the net.
I just looked in a folder from my old hard drive and saw I actually saved the other Super VC pictures I found at the same time (2/08). Since I don’t know how to add them to a comment I’ll put them in my more_cmusic post. Can’t believe I kept them….