Starting today, August 30th, and running until Sunday, September 1st, Xiami Music (虾米音乐) will host its summer music festival in collaboration with Beidaihe resort community Aranya. Spanning three days, the festival arrives after last year’s successful edition, and will be the last major music event of the summer in Aranya. The festival features more than 20 acts from the Chinese mainland and beyond. Notable artists include folk singer Zhao Lei (赵雷), early Chinese rocker Xu Wei (许巍), UK soul singer Corinne Bailey Rae, and Norwegian electronica duo Röyksopp. In partnership with Coca-Cola, Taobao, and Tianmao, the festival will also feature a music merchandise market.
Xiami Music, established in November 2008 by former Alibaba employee Wang Hao, was a hugely popular online music platform from its inception. A strong competitor to QQ Music at one point, the service helped revolutionize online listening in China in the early 2010s, shaping the listening habits of many Chinese millennials and Gen Zs. Featuring an expansive range of music, Xiami attracted a community of listeners interested in more “alternative” sounds than what was available on other major streaming platforms — something evinced by this year’s festival line up of big, but by no means obvious, names.
However, after being acquired by Alibaba in 2015, the site was shut down in 2021 amidst the pandemic, bringing tears and sadness to its loyal fans. Citing a lyric from the song “The Cruel Moonlight” (残酷月光) by Mandopop star Yoga Lin, a long time user of the app commented “you let me love you, but then abandoned me” underneath the announcement of its closure.
Fortunately for heartbroken fans such as these, two years ago, Damai, the largest ticketing company in China, announced the brand’s partial comeback through the launch of the Xiami Music Festival. Last year at Aranya was the first time the festival was held offline.
As the festival’s second offline edition gets started, many supporters are seeing their unrequited love for the renowned platform replaced with excitement for an IRL event that has so far kept its promise to present “life, undefined” through music.
Banner image via Beijing Daily.
