New TV show tunes into success

"I hope that all the new bands will pass the old bands," says Shen Lihui, founder of Modern Sky. The former rock singer-songwriter of Chinese rock band, Sober, founded the music company in 1997, hoping to use it as a way to distribute the music of his friends and his own band. More than two decades later, the company has expanded into an international label with hundreds of staff members, and is home to more than 300 artists and bands. It has offices in New York, London and Berlin, besides its headquarters in Beijing.

The Strawberry Music Festival has been held in 29 Chinese cities, and attracted more than 6 million people. Most, 86 percent, of them are people born after 1990. Modern Sky held nine outdoor music festivals across the country from October to December 2020, which drew 160,000 people.