Musicians win new audiences by moving online

Guzheng player Miao Qing was among the first musicians from the China National Traditional Orchestra to launch livestreaming programs. In 2017, along with a group of young musicians, Miao performed such shows on social media platforms, playing the erhu, bamboo flute and the ruan (a stringed instrument), with the orchestra and as a soloist.

With each livestreaming show lasting about two hours, the musicians gained more than 200,000 followers within a year.

Miao, 32, said, "All the orchestra's musicians now join livestreaming programs, which is making the scene much more vibrant. As musicians, we want to share our stories with audiences and tell them more about our instruments, which we usually cannot do in concert halls. Online platforms and livestreaming programs offer us the chance to get closer to audiences."

When she plays classic guzheng pieces in concert halls, Miao typically wears beautiful gowns, but for online audiences, she dresses casually.

She usually starts her online programs with a few simple pieces to attract audiences with her dazzling skills. She also interacts with them by answering questions and playing songs they request.

"Like some musicians, I was initially opposed to livestreaming, because I had become used to meeting my audiences in concert halls. However, as tours were postponed and venues closed due to the pandemic, live performances shifted online, which is an inevitable trend," Miao said.

According to Douyin, nearly 2 million livestreaming shows featuring traditional Chinese music were staged on the platform last year.

This year, the number rose to more than 3 million by June, attracting over 6 billion views, as the platform offered new opportunities for musicians seeking to make a living from live performances.

Zhang Fuping, vice-president of Douyin, said, "Livestreaming has become a new format that will have a huge impact on the traditional Chinese music scene," adding that these performances provide musicians with extra income during the pandemic.

In addition to the pipa, the erhu and the suona (a double-reed woodwind instrument), online shows have introduced instruments that are not so well-known among audiences. They include the konghou, (an ancient multistringed, plucked instrument), and the xun, (a globular, vessel flute from China), one of the country's oldest traditional instruments.

Zhang said that with the participation of musicians from the China National Traditional Orchestra, online programs featuring traditional Chinese music will be far more professional and colorful.

He added that Douyin also plans to support through livestreaming 1,000 Chinese musicians who play traditional music.