Business

Bus campaign puts Northern Ireland band streets ahead in China

Presenter Goldierocks launches the British Council campaign in Shanghai
Presenter Goldierocks launches the British Council campaign in Shanghai Presenter Goldierocks launches the British Council campaign in Shanghai

THERE must be worse ways for up-and-coming musicians to get noticed than having their faces splashed across a bus in China.

Certainly Northern Irish band 'Silences' are hoping to create a big noise in the country after being chosen by the British Council to take part in its 'UK Music on the Go' advertising campaign in the country which now boasts a population of some 1.3 billion.

The initiative is bringing the music of 10 cutting edge UK bands to a whole new audience by promoting band members - and lyrics - on buses in Shanghai, Nanjjing, Chongqing and Wuhan, as well as in university campuses in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Images feature a 'QR code' which will direct the Chinese audience to microsite 'UK Now' where they can listen to 10 chosen tracks.

The move is being seen as another boost to the thriving Northern Ireland music scene, which, as an integral part of the Creative Industries grouping here, boasted a Gross Value Added (GVA) figure of £39 million in 2011.

Updated overall figures contained in a recent bulletin issued by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) revealed the creative industries GVA in 2013 was £79.7m collectively, representing 2.4 per cent of Northern Ireland's total GVA.

'UK Music on the Go' is part of the British Council’s UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange celebrations and selected bands can expect to be publicised across China until July 18.

Silences manager Declan Legge said it was a "huge honour and a bit of a surprise" for the local group to be selected to take part and early feedback indicated the band's new single 'The Sea' - an accompanying video was made with the help of Tourism Ireland - was the most popular song out of all the tracks featured.

"This is a huge boost, not just for Silences, but for the music industry in Northern Ireland," he said. "It is quite difficult getting data back from China because of the firewall, but the hope is that this will be translated into lots of extra sales.

"Silences have only been together for a year-and-a-half, but with their grand, melodic music, they have already they have been compared to Coldplay, Jeff Buckley and Death Cab For Cutie."

Band members Conchúr White, Christopher Harbinson, Brendan White, Jonathan Downing and Michael Keyes, are equally stunned at the opportunity presented by the 'virtual' Chinese trip.

Frontman Conchur, from Portadown, said: "To be named the most popular is a real bonus. I guess the Chinese audience like our music as our songs are quite melodic and you don’t necessarily need to understand the lyrics to enjoy them.

UK Music on The Go is an initiative of British Council’s radio station, The Selector, which brings the best of new UK music to the world once a week with an estimated audience of three million listeners.