Jay Chou: The biggest selling artist you’ve never heard of
If there was a pub quiz question around who the best-selling artist of 2023, you would be forgiven for thinking along the lines of Taylor Swift, Drake or maybe K-pop giants BTS. One of the most successful artists of the decade, however, is somebody who most people have never heard of, let alone someone who people would place among pop giants like Taylor Swift, and that is due to the influence of China.
Over the past year, the Western pop charts have been absolutely dominated by the US singer-songwriter, who has captured the hearts of millions. Her tour is reportedly worth over one billion dollars and is reportedly able to boost the economies of nations to a ridiculous extent. So, how can such a successful artist not rank among the most successful of the year?
As everybody knows, China has the second largest population in the world and is the third biggest country by area. The East Asian country also boasts the second largest economy across the globe. Despite this, little is known about cultural trends in China by those of us in the Western world. This is due mainly to the fact that the government of China (CCP) has very strict privacy laws. The internet, as we know it, is unavailable for the population of China, and a great deal of Western media is hidden behind firewalls and censorship.
Within the context of censorship and firewalls, it is easier to see why the vast majority of music fans in the West have not heard of the biggest artist of 2023. Without access to the web, the landscape of music streaming and downloads in China is incredibly different to that of the rest of the world.
Although it is difficult to know anything about socio-economic, political or cultural trends in China due to the intense culture of secrecy, figures released by German company Statista have revealed that the Taiwanese artist Jay Chou topped the list of best-selling artists of the year. Although not incredibly well-known in the Western world, the 44-year-old ‘King of Mandopop’ has been releasing music consistently for the past 23 years.
Reportedly raking in around 321.47 million Chinese Yuan (roughly equivalent to £36million) across streaming platforms in China over the past year, with a huge and dedicated fan base both in China and in overseas Chinese territories. Chou is also set to embark on a world tour very soon, with two dates at The O2 in London that have long since sold out.
Though Chou tops the charts in China, even CCP firewalls cannot block the influence of Taylor Swift, who remains the most popular Western musician in China. Swift occupies to top four spots on the rankings of best-selling English language albums in the country, but it was still not enough to knock Jay Chou off the overall top spot.
