Chao News Client Written by Zhan Huiwen and Lin Xiao
He went to a city for a concert.
In the spring of 2024, the "special forces" will perform non-stop concerts!
Some people took a 5-hour high-speed train to Quanzhou to see Jacky Cheung for a song of "Stealing Hearts"; some people traveled 3,600 kilometers across the ocean to Singapore to see Taylor Swift to fulfill their youthful dreams (fans are fond of American pop singer Taylor... Swift's nickname) concert.
html On March 21, the "2023 Annual Insights on Large-scale Concerts in the Performance Market" jointly released by the China Performance Industry Association, Damai, Weibo, and Beacon Professional Edition showed that the box office of large-scale concerts in 2023 reached 14.6 billion yuan, setting a record new highs. At the same time, the number of viewers exceeded 20 million. In this authoritative report, Quzhou City in Zhejiang Province is on the list, becoming the city with the fastest growth in box office rankings in the national concert market in 2023.Why are today’s young people keen to be “special forces” in concerts? What thoughts are contained in their actions?
Taylor Swift Era Tour Concert in Singapore. Picture provided by the interviewee
The ultimate "special soldier"
put on a customized "Taylor Swift" mobile phone case and an exclusive "Taylor Swift" luggage tag. On the morning of March 9, Wang Yi rushed to Shanghai Pudong International Airport alone. Heading to Taylor Swift's eras tour, which kicked off in Singapore.
For this concert 3,600 kilometers away, Wang Yi bought the tickets 2 months ago and spent nearly half a month's salary in one go. The visa-free agreement between China and Singapore that will take effect on February 9, 2024 will make this trip smoother.
html On the evening of March 9, at the dreamlike National Stadium in Singapore, classic songs echoed over the Lion City. Wang Yi cried, shouted and felt together with fans from all over the world who had never met before. Memories from youth kill.
Wang Yi went to Singapore to watch Swift's concert. Photo provided by the interviewee
After a short rest for the day, Wang Yi took a flight back to Shanghai on the evening of March 10. When we landed at Pudong Airport, it was already 3 a.m., and we took the high-speed train back to Hangzhou. It was almost 8 a.m. After taking a short nap at the workstation, Wang Yi started a new week of work.
"I had five meetings in a row that day, and I was still very energetic! " Wang Yi recalled her "Special Forces" concert tour, with passion still on her face.
Wang Yi is not an exception. More and more young people are keen to spend two days on weekends to make a fuss and start a seamless switch between work and concert mode.
Bingbing, who works in a large factory in Beijing, is very proficient in the cross-city extreme challenge of "48 hours, watch a concert + travel" .
After work on Friday, I went straight to Daxing Airport to fly to Hong Kong; on Saturday, I went to Hong Kong Disneyland to check out projects and watch Lina Belle during the day, and in the evening I went to Hung Hom Stadium to watch a concert; on Sunday, I slept until I woke up naturally and went to Central for a brunch. , went shopping in Harbor City in the afternoon, and flew back to Beijing in the evening.
Using weekend concerts + traveling special forces, Bingbing attended several Joey Yung concerts in 2023.
What’s even more exaggerated is Xiaoke. Within a month of in November 2023, he served as a “special force” for three consecutive weekends. watched three games of Times Youth League in Macau, Li Ronghao’s Hangzhou, and Wang Jiaer’s Shanghai. concert.
"It feels great to be there, everyone is dancing together, and I feel like all the worries are left behind!"
Xiao Ke pulled up the light sign for Yan Haoxiang, a member of the Times Youth League, in Macau. Photo provided by the interviewee
Emotional consumption
"When the heart, brain and live sound resonate, it makes me feel that I am living for myself."
Wang Yi told reporters that the concert is her break from daily high-pressure work. She is engaged in work in the Internet field, from the virtual world to the real scene. Every time she shouts with thousands or tens of thousands of people at the scene, she feels special releasing emotions .
"I don't want to miss my favorite singer. I'm so busy with work, and I don't know if I'll have the chance to go see a concert next time."
In Bingbing's view, living in the moment is the biggest change in her mentality in recent years. Change.Just like Joey Yung sang: Taking advantage of everything is just right, using endless chance to have fun, and wasting the beautiful scenery at will is disrespectful to it.
Bingbing watched Joey Yung’s concert in Hong Kong. Photo provided by interviewee
In 2023, consumer demand for live entertainment experiences will rebound on a large scale, and the concert industry will also usher in explosive growth. The aforementioned report shows that the number of concerts with more than 10,000 people in 2023 will triple compared with 2019, reaching 313.
"The post-90s and post-00s generations are a group of people who are very good at 'space nomadism.'"
Zhao Yu, executive deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Innovation Research Center and deputy dean of the School of Media and International Culture of Zhejiang University, believes that contemporary The environment and experiences in which young people grew up make them very adaptable to space travel. Coupled with the combination of concerts and tourism, it has triggered stronger market appeal.
Xu Tao, director of the Department of Social Work at the School of International Culture and Social Development at Zhejiang Normal University, also said that each generation has its own pursuits and lifestyles.
"Young people use weekend time to skillfully balance life and work on the one hand; on the other hand, they also save the time and economic costs of travel . "
Xiao Liang, director of the Modern Business Research Center of Zhejiang Gongshang University, believes that, Entertainment consumption vehicles such as concerts are the right kind of "emotional consumption" for young people. Today's young people generally have a lot of work pressure. The "Special Forces" concert combines the characteristics of the fast-moving consumer economy without losing the pleasure of entertainment consumption. It is a good way of emotional healing.
Don’t be a “short-lived epiphyllum”
The concert “Special Forces” not only brings emotional value to young people, but also activates a “pool of spring water” in the cultural tourism market.
Taking Hangzhou as an example, from March to April alone, many heavyweight concerts such as Jay Chou, JJ Lin, Li Zongsheng, Soda Green, and Gao Wuren were scheduled. Facing the "Big Lotus", Hampton by Hilton Olympic Sports Center, a superior river view double room usually costs 500-600 yuan a night. During the Jay Chou concert from April 18th to 21st, the room price has soared to 2400-2500. Yuan per night.
It can be seen from last year’s concert market curve that after March, performance policies continued to be liberalized, with Xue Zhiqian, Mao Buyi, Li Ronghao, etc. taking the lead in starting tours. Since April, large-scale concerts have been in full bloom. Under the leadership of Jay Chou, Mayday, and Joker Xue's concerts, the scale of the large-scale concert market has continued to break new highs and reached its peak in September. In terms of
user statistics, 20% of the audience attended 2 or more concerts in 2023, and 4% of them attended 4 or more concerts.
"The consumption model of concerts + tourism is an industry chain-like driver for transportation, hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, etc." Xiao Liang believes that concerts can bring more empowerment to the tourism industry of the host place. .
The most typical case is the "Typical Economics" staged in Singapore in March.
According to Singapore media reports, in early March, hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked to Singapore due to six consecutive Taylor Swift era concert tours, bringing 500 million Singapore dollars (approximately 2.67 billion yuan) to Singapore. tourism revenue.
There is no doubt that concerts have a very positive effect on boosting urban consumption and stimulating the economy. For example, the first stop of Joker Xue's "Extraterrestrial" tour was settled in Quzhou. As a result, Quzhou became the city with the fastest growth in the national box office rankings in 2023, jumping directly from the original 73rd place to the 23rd place, proving that "hosting a good concert will lead to success." A city on fire” model.
Zhao Yu believes that on the one hand, we must see consumer demand, on the other hand, we must also see industrial pressure, and how to catch this "tremendous wealth." In fact, "holding a good concert and retaining a group of people" is more worthy of pursuit. This requires the city to do a good job in , provide thoughtful services, and have sustainable special consumption. Otherwise, the prosperity brought by the "special forces" will only be short-lived.
On March 16, outside JJ Lin’s Hangzhou concert.Photographed by Zhan Huiwen and Lin Xiao
Last Saturday was March 16, and JJ Lin started singing in Hangzhou that night. The "Big Lotus" at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center turned into a sea of purple. Outside the venue, reporters saw many "special forces" dragging suitcases to attend the concert, as well as many surrounding residents sitting on the lawn with camping chairs and picnic mats.
Fans from all over the world, together with the residents of the city, raised their mobile phones and hummed softly along with the songs coming from the venue. Everyone sang "Jiangnan" and "Mermaid" together. It was a beautiful and healing scene.
This situation makes us believe that the spring of 2024 will be a year of numerous concerts, and it will also be a year of explosive combat value for the "special forces" at the concerts. Spring has arrived, and the world is getting warmer. While everything is just right, go and meet all kinds of unexpected encounters!
(At the request of the interviewer, Wang Yi, Bingbing and Xiaoke are pseudonyms in the article)
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