From 'bedroom heroes' to music stars in China

Open to new ideas

In recent years, an increasing number of overseas musicians have flooded China's music market.

The Global Music Report 2026 released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in March showed that last year, Asia saw strong growth of 10.9 percent in recorded music revenues, and maintained its position as the largest region for physical revenues in 2025, accounting for 45.1 percent.

Notably, China has overtaken Germany to become the fourth largest global market, with remarkable revenue growth of 20.1 percent, the fastest-growing market in the top 20, said the report.

Social media platforms like Red-Note, or Xiaohongshu, are also actively facilitating foreign artists searching for new horizons.

The RedNote music team has ramped up efforts to introduce overseas artists to China since early last year, after the "TikTok refugees" phenomenon emerged from the United States' threat to ban the platform.

Among those refugees is a massive number of niche and independent musicians and artists who have captivated Chinese audiences, said Jiang Jiayao, content operations manager of RedNote's music team.

These artists include many unsigned "bedroom musicians" who independently write, record, produce and release music, usually from their homes.

RedNote organized for many of them to participate in the inaugural Global Village Concert on Jan 26,2025. The event featured 20 groups and musicians from home and abroad, including James. It ran for about seven hours and attracted over 1.28 million online viewers.

The RedNote team later launched the Global Soundwave project and a No-border FM campaign to help overseas musicians connect with Chinese music fans.

Jiang said the team provides guidance and support to the artists on how to make their music reach the local community. The advice covers issues such as account operation, post creation, customized promotions, live settings, interaction, exclusive event planning, and online and offline music shows across China.

In September 2025, the team held the No-border Music Festival in Shanghai. The artist lineup included major stars including Malaysian pop band babychair, indie musician Hayd from the United States, singer Jordann from Canada, and Martin's Mood from France. The festival sold out quickly.

Jiang said many young RedNote users are highly educated, enjoy sharing music, and are open to supporting "niche, distinctive and indie music and artists".

"A vast majority — about 80 percent — of overseas musicians who are eyeing the Chinese market have joined our platform and community," said Jiang.

The team has made connections with artists worldwide, helping over 100 of them tap into the Chinese market and supporting hundreds of shows in China. They come from countries as varied as the US, Brazil, Australia, France, Germany, Norway, Japan and South Korea, and feature diverse music genres such as rock, pop, indie and jazz.