Tang Dynasty, whom some called China’s first “heavy-metal” band, finally returns. The band’s first album sold over 2 million copies, and then their second album was released seven years later. This time, after an eight year wait, they will be releasing their 3rd album, an EP on March 28, at a special performance concert in Beijing. It is worth nothing that the EP will only be sold at performances venues, and not in stores, and that there will only be 1000 copies available.
Why only 1000? They’re going to brought up on day 1…
Wow, it’s been a long time…
Maybe the 1000 thing is a publicity stunt to push for ticket sales? I don’t know that they have the same fanbase they used to, plus they might just be distributing online or something…
As a side note, I’ve noticed that a lot of Chinese indie bands actually do distribute some of their music for free online. I guess if piracy is bad enough, you might as well not bother trying to make money off of physical records…?
@Neph
Uh, maybe that’d be the case for a struggling new band trying to make a name for themselves, which it is for many indie bands.
But Tang Dynasty is LEGENDARY. I heard of them before I had even a real inkling of the Chinese rock scene – they shouldn’t have trouble with sales, and Chinese pirating has gone far down since they debuted. They made 2 million in sales then (not counting any illegal versions), and they should be able to sell well now.
I think it may have something to do with that it’s an EP? Maybe the album will come later.
I’d heard of them too, don’t get me wrong – when I looked up Chinese rock, they were the first band I came across, and that was long before I had any interest in Chinese entertainment in general. That said, I don’t know that they’d be able to sell well now, and I guess you’d know the conditions in China better, but bands that go inactive like that tend to only attract their old fans. Saying that their 2 million sales (which doesn’t seem hugely impressive, IMO, but maybe that’s ’cause I’m not as used to measuring in the metrics of the Chinese industry) = amazingly impressive and sustaining seems a bit exaggerative to me. It’s like expecting Motley Crue to go platinum with Saints of Los Angeles just because they’d gone platinum many years back.
Also, it’s like how a lot of artists worldwide are distributing their songs online, through venues like iTunes and so forth. It’s not just about pirating (though that doesn’t help) – it’s about convenience as well. It costs money to put an album out, and this way, they get the just as necessary press and boosted ticket sales.
OMG! no way i can buy it DDDDDDDDDD:
Hope someone up their album!!
@Neph – 2 million is really really good for Asia in general, and keep in mind that even though China’s market is much larger than Korea’s it is still not as big as Japan.