13 April, 2020
1.Origin
In 1985, an Irish musician called Bob Geldof and a Scottish musician, Midge Ure, planned a massive music event, ‘Live Aid 1985’ in order to advocate for the eradication of the famine in Ethiopia, Africa. In London, UK and Philadelphia, USA, a large number of rock and pop music stars performed in the concert, and this performance was broadcast live in many countries and regions around the world. More than ten hours of the live performance was distributed through TV and audio-visual products such as DVDs. The recent movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", which won four Oscars, reenacted shot by shot Queen’s performance at the concert. The event was watched by over 1.9 billion people around the world, almost 40% of the global population, had a profound impact on music fans and raised funds and awareness of the famine.
In this initiative, the two men proved their ability to collaborate creatively and they worked on the planning, execution and marketing of the concert. Midge Ure wrote the song " Do They Know It's Christmas?" which was performed by many high profile rock stars, such as Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, who later led the performance of "We Are The World". These songs had a direct influence on popular songs such as "Tomorrow Will Be Better" and "Let the World Be Full of Love" in China. Bob Geldof played an important role in gathering the performers, building momentum with different radio stations and record stores, and strengthened public influence and welfare implementation in the front line of fighting the African famine. In terms of developing a brand and forming an innovative public music performance, Bob Geldof continued his efforts, from Live Aid to Live 8 to Net Aid, which used the internet.
What was the over-riding inspiration that shone through from Live Aid 1985? It was that music has no borders. A punk rock musician, seeking a breakthrough in how things were done, was persistent and he also cared about humanity. The musical performances, with tens of thousands of people present, were unforgettable. The band Queen sang ‘We Are The Champions’ in London, David Bowie stood behind a piano-playing Paul McCartney and sang “Let it be” together, and the stars all sang “We are the world, we are the children, We are the ones who make a brighter day” in Philadelphia. The emotion of everyone singing together and the wide resonance of hearts opened by the meaningful lyrics, showed the great power of music. Live Aid was a product of the television and radio era, and the media was occupied by this charity music event. Its influence and transformative power were unique.
2.What do we have now?
What do we have at the beginning of 2020? A coronavirus called COVID-19, which lives in human and animal cells, and continues to dominate the world's headlines. In China and in any other country or region in the world, we can no longer ignore this virus that can only be seen microscopically. Because of COVID-19, more than 90% of people in China have had unprecedented amount of time off work. We voluntarily isolated ourselves at home, accompanied by our mobile phones and televisions. O All our cinemas were empty, but happily there was a major sponsor who provided a free online viewing of a new blockbuster film that was originally scheduled to premiere during the Spring Festival. Hundreds of millions of us (including a large number of underage students) learned to download and use live apps (including a variety of Internet text, picture, audio and video integration files and other apps with live functions) or have been pulled into online live scenes. Moreover, we have seen well-known personalities operate online video connections for discos and parties, and we have also seen online concert posters from many singers that were widely spread in our friends circles and Wechat group chats. Due to this, almost all charities (whether or not disaster relief is within their charity missions) and a large number of non-charitable institutions have joined in the cause of fund raising, giving donations, donating goods and materials and helping materials reach the front line of this “war” pandemic.
What other technical, industrial and lifestyle changes do we have compared now with the time of Live Aid in 1985? In other words, if there was a Live Aid 2020 now (in the Chinese context, we can understand the meaning of Live Aid 1985 as not just “saving lives” but also providing "immediate aid"), what kind of ideal scenario can we create? In our era, there are still great singers and musical works, and our era has also produced Hatsune Miku. Michael Jackson and Teresa Deng can still be invited to the stage through video technology. In this era, live events with a comparable influence to that of Live Aid 1985 may be the 2018 World Cup final, when the live audience exceeded 40 million world-wide. This data may not fully include the number of people covered by multiple channels and multiple content dissemination forms such as information networks (during the 2019 Women's World Cup, the cumulative number of participants through various platforms was one billion). For every single real-time "on-the-spot" audience member, through improved technical means, we can have rich content, as well as business and public welfare interaction. Other modes, such as UPGC, bullet screens, rewards, online donations, order placements and forwarding for promotion, which can be supported by personalized live broadcasts, can facilitate a huge core of IP, to generate ever-increasing influence, business and social value. When Live Aid 2020 happens, even if performers can't squeeze together in Wembley Stadium or other performance venue because of the pandemic, we could connect the main live video screen (if there were still performers who can be on the same stage), and also have access to each performer's live broadcasting stage. When authorized, we could access the fans response platform (also in live mode). The interaction between performers and performers, and performers and their audience could have various modes, and form a rich content and communication matrix. Immediately, a song, a logo, a slogan or a 2D image could become the top headline and hot search topic, and also become available in all forms of a fan’s derivatives to an audience at a breakneck speed, unimaginable more than 30 years ago. Also, because of the commercial value brought by the content, communication and marketing matrix, we could offer the title sponsorship of Live Aid 2020, and the co-sponsorship of products and brands, such as the soft drink placed on the piano during the band Queen’s performance in 1985. Moreover, it is possible that some new startups in the online world could use valuable traffic as a sponsorship consideration to promote various consumer goods for the virtual world, together with such a charity music event. Based on the practice of corporate social responsibility and the effective support of online welfare fund-raising platforms, we can expect to obtain large-scale public welfare funds to support a charitable music ceremony at both the B-end and C-end, which should be able to eventually support the fight on the pandemic’s front line fairly, transparently and effectively.
As we have been told: "An infectious virus is like an invisible warship, joining the camp to threaten globalization. As vested interests move further away, disappointment begins to drive immune mechanisms that may lead to self-destruction…" It is believed that developing and promoting a "positive medicine" to cure the disappointment and even the lingering panic of this virus, will be an important strategy in the world’s "new security"1. Moreover, this "positive medicine" is the most important lead to open and explode the above magic content matrix.
3.We are on the road
It has been more than two months since the pandemic began to expand, and the “international war” against the pandemic continues to escalate. Why haven’t we seen a Live Aid 2020 happen online? As we know, the Measures on the Management of Internet Live Broadcasting Service were issued last year, and the Regulations on the Administration of Network Information Content Ecosystem were just implemented on March 1. We believe that the Chinese government is building a clearer, more predictable and effective regulatory environment for online content. However, there are market access regulatory authorities in the Internet field (such as the issuing authorities of Internet culture operation licenses and licenses for the transmission of audio-visual programs through information networks) who play regulatory roles in parallel with the administration of the content ecosystem. Also our content ecosystem has gradually developed with only a limited number of scale-up platforms, China's Bob Geldof or Midge Ure still needs to form an effective interaction with core players in these industries, and propose large-scale plans with positive energy and real international and national influence. Furthermore, for a limited number of content platforms with huge traffic resources, core teams also need time to understand the construction rules of the overall content matrix of online music performances, as well as the comprehensive operational rules of content marketing, charity marketing, public welfare establishments, and also the core methods of managing negative impacts and emergencies.
When we look at the development of China's opening up of markets and the implementation of core principles of national treatment for foreign investment, in the fields of performance and the Internet, we see the opening up of talent management, and the gradual opening up of offline entertainment venues and performance institutions. In the field of the Internet, no matter at the central level or in free trade zones, Internet culture is still the field where foreign investment is prohibited, while the special principle of "excluding music" has existed for some time. When we look at the field of industry and market administration, it seems that there is no precedent for the approval of foreign-invested Internet cultural operation licenses (Internet music performance direction) being granted. And no top-tier international entertainment enterprises have conducted green field investment, merger & acquisition or operation of headline projects in the field of Internet music performances. In other words, we haven't clearly seen whether we can welcome international players and international planners in online music performances.
However, there must be practitioners who are determined to lead us forward. To fight a “war” against the pandemic, everything should probably start from a creative powerhouse who can provide us with another "We Are The World" moment for this new era.
For further information, please contact:
Ming Linghu, Counsel, Jun He
linghum@junhe.com
1.The concept of ”new security” and related systematic thinking originated from Mr. Xu CHEN, former chief editor of Newsweek China, see https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5_iXRJnrdLXpRMzEqxSTSg for more details on concept of “new security”.
