Modern Sky Branching Out

Modern Sky is a Chinese concert promoter who, this year alone, expects to organize 1,500 small scale concerts and 100 large-scale concerts. In addition, Shen said that Modern Sky’s “to-do list” includes “hosting 30 festivals around the world,” according to radioandmusic.com, which means the company expects to expand to Europe and the U.S.

It staged a Modern Sky Festival in New York last year.

That isn’t to say the company hasn’t faced obstacles. In 2014, the Chinese government refused to grant the company a license to host the Strawberry Music Festival, one of China’s biggest, due to security concerns. Nevertheless, as Shen pointed out, “Three major festivals were cancelled in China, but we resumed work on them.

Strawberry Music in an important festival and always attracts a huge crowd.” In fact, the company’s main challenge, as it is for all promoters in China, is coping with the energy and time spent on gaining permission from authorities. Another challenge is competition from Internet companies “who are doing many offline activities.” Also, too much of the country’s live music business is concentrated in and around Beijing because “that’s where the artists are located.”

Shen hopes to expand the live market to other cities in the country. For that reason, he hopes to bring major international artists outside the major Chinese cities and thinks Modern Sky is uniquely positioned to make that happen.

“It is a great opportunity not only for local companies, but for anyone that is interested in the market in China.”