People shake their groove things online while nightclubs are closed
Print Edition
At 10pm, Lu Yiting turned off the lights in her Beijing home wearing pajamas, tuned into a livestreaming music remix channel on her iPhone and danced to the disco beats.
鈥淥nline disco dancing, though not as intense as in nightclubs, offers an outlet for emotions, and adds some color to my dull, stay-at-home life,鈥 Lu said. Since the coronavirus outbreak, Lu has stayed home for more than a month. Nightclubs, among other entertainment venues across China, have been closed to prevent crowd gathering.
It was Lu鈥檚 first 鈥渃loud disco dancing鈥 experience. On their smartphone screens, participants noted their cities and sent comments and virtual presents to the DJ so their chat heads could linger a little longer.
At the same time, thousands of miles away in the eastern Chinese city of Yixing, Xia Yun purchased gifts for the DJ.
鈥淥nline disco dancing is more about self-entertaining than socializing with others,鈥 he said. 鈥淒rinking a beer or two and sweating a little bit while dancing really helps release some pressure.鈥
On February 8, Shanghai鈥檚 TAXX Bar launched an unprecedented 鈥渃loud disco dancing鈥 session on TikTok, drawing tens of thousands of revelers. Later, TAXX announced the number of online participants stood at 71,000, and the club made 367,000 yuan (US$53,000) after paying TikTok鈥檚 commission.
Live-streaming disco became an instant hit and was labeled 鈥渃loud disco dancing鈥 on Twitter-like Weibo the next day. Inspired by TAXX, many nightclubs in China launched livestreaming events on various platforms.
The ongoing epidemic has affected China鈥檚 entertainment industry, forcing shutdowns and leaving facilities idle. Nightclub owners, like so many other business operators, resorted to online space for self-preservation.
鈥淭here is not much to do for many young people after staying home for so long,鈥 said Ruan Liangliang, general manager of TAXX. 鈥淲e鈥檇 like to share some fun through livestreaming music and beats and lighten their mood.鈥
Club MEI in Changsha, a central Chinese city famous for its nightlife, also joined the disco cloud last month.
鈥淟ivestreaming has even attracted those who have rarely or never been to a club,鈥 said Cao Jing, stage performance manager of Club MEI.
鈥淥ur TikTok fans have increased by more than 500 percent, and our number of livestreaming viewers doubled. We鈥檝e attracted more followers over the past few weeks than we had in the past year.鈥
Every day of the week at 8:30pm, Club MEI livestreams performances. The DJ, in addition to mixing music, chats with online participants. Newcomers learn more about nightclub culture and the venue and become potential consumers.
鈥淓very day I鈥檓 asked when the club will open,鈥 Cao said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably because many people believe our reopening signifies the end of the epidemic.鈥
Some nightclubs, including TAXX, have gone the extra mile to donate online broadcasting proceeds to fight the coronavirus in Wuhan.
鈥淎lthough this is a difficult time for the company, it鈥檚 the least we can do as a members of society,鈥 Ruan said.
Clearly, livestreaming is a temporary means to fill business voids during such an unusual time, but it has taught club owners the importance of promoting nightclub brands to online communities.
Cao said Club MEI will retain, and even expand, their livestreaming team when the epidemic ends while integrating online and offline promotions.
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