Post-pop stars

Li Zhi. [Photo provided to China Daily]

One of the most popular indie folk singer-songwriters, who launched his career via the internet, is Li Zhi.

Born in Jintan, Jiangsu province, he moved to Beijing in 1999. The 39-year-old Li now has nearly 600,000 followers on his Sina Weibo micro blog, despite having no manager, agent, or record company. He has rarely been covered by mainstream television and newspapers, but his concerts sell out fast.

Li sings about love, society and his unrealized dreams, themes that appeal to young urban Chinese.

"I think what makes many Chinese artists unique are their lyrics. When people listen to these singer-songwriters' songs about everyday life, they connect with them," says Michael LoJudice, director of the New York offices of Modern Sky, one of China's largest independent record labels, founded by rock singer-songwriter-turned-entrepreneur Shen Lihui in 1997.

In 2014, the company launched its first Modern Sky Festival outside China in New York's Central Park, with a mix of lineups from China and the US - including indie folk singer-songwriters Song Dongye, Ma Di and Su Yang.

LoJudice notes that while rock, hip-hop and electronic acts from China are more inspired by Western music, indie folk music in China is more localized, which builds a strong connection with Chinese music fans.

Since the company launched its first annual outdoor music festival in China in 2007 and Strawberry Music Festival in 2009, these stages for Chinese indie folk singer-songwriters have attracted hundreds of thousands of fans.

"Two decades ago, music lovers had little choice in bands," says the promoter Shen Lihui of the days before the internet and social media. "Now, you can see the variety of China's indie bands. These bands have their fan bases and young Chinese music lovers are open to different music genres," Shen says.