Midi Music Festival Gains Wide Support Midi + International Brands = ?
The Midi School of Music just celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, and this year, the Midi Music Festival is also entering its 15th year. Over the years, Midi has maintained a clear positioning, distinct philosophy, and enduring ideals. The Midi brand has become China's top music festival brand known for its cultural depth and quality assurance. The 2014 Shanghai Midi Music Festival is scheduled to take place from April 25–27 at Pudong Sanjia Port, while the 2014 Beijing Midi Music Festival will kick off on May 1–3 at Beijing’s Kuangbiao Amusement Park.
Midi Merchandise and Food Guide
Midi merchandise has always been a hot item among fans. This year at both the Shanghai and Beijing Midi Festivals, several limited-edition new products will be launched in the official merchandise area, including Midi cabbage keychains, butterfly badges, Midi commemorative T-shirts, eco-friendly tote bags, “Reduce Honking” car stickers, and over 20 other collectible souvenirs. Among the 1,500 ticketholders who purchase the festival package, a special gift bag will be offered. These can be collected at the largest official merchandise booth onsite with the festival package, on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, custom-designed Midi Zippo lighters will be available for limited sale at the Beijing Midi site. Stay tuned to the @MidiProductions account or check the Taobao shop “MidiProductions” for occasional surprises.
Food and drinks at the festival are another highlight. Shanghai Midi food keywords: oyster omelet, fish ball soup, okonomiyaki, tornado potato, metal hot dog, German pretzel, Mexican taco, onigiri, Myros Pizza, popcorn chicken, and cocktails. Beijing food keywords: churros, Korean cold noodles, metal hot dog, Mexican chicken wrap, ice cream, Sanxian bean skin, cocktails, American burgers, grilled squid, coffee, Turkish kebab, as well as cocktails from Beijing’s 13CLUB.
Multiple Interactive Features Make the Midi Experience Even More Fun
April 2014, Beijing — The United Nations Office in China and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will collaborate for the first time with China’s largest rock music festival, the Midi Music Festival, under the theme “Sing for Green.” Through music, they aim to spread positive energy, introduce more young people to the work of the UN, and enhance the organization’s image among youth. This collaboration will unfold both online and offline, with UNDP leveraging music and social media to raise awareness about sustainable development among the Chinese public, especially the youth. Singing for environmental protection, raising public consciousness, and building a cleaner, greener future. The UN-Midi partnership will also feature a “United Nations Stage” at both the Shanghai and Beijing Midi Festivals, where both domestic and international bands will perform. The “United Nations Stage” will be a major highlight. Throughout the festivals, UN staff and volunteers will engage with fans through interviews and games, introducing the UN’s work, the Millennium Development Goals, and promoting volunteerism alongside the bands on the “United Nations Stage.”
The Shanghai Midi Music Festival will offer outdoor experiences like rock climbing and slacklining, combining the madness of rock music with the thrill of climbing, letting youthful melodies echo on rocky cliffs. The Beijing Midi Festival will promote motorbike culture under the theme “GROOVY LOVE FOR MUSIC.” Near the Warring States Stage, the Vespa exhibition area will display 5 Vespas and 5 motorcycles, with different short films shown throughout the day to introduce 1960s–70s music and motorcycle culture to biking and rock fans alike.
Since its inception, the Midi Music Festival has always been in the spotlight of domestic and international media. This year, the festival continues to receive strong support from many media partners and features even more engaging on-site activities. This year, Tudou, China’s most popular youth culture brand, not only secured an exclusive three-year copyright partnership with Midi but will also exclusively livestream the entire festival, delivering the rock spectacle to fans unable to attend. As part of the “4+1” strategy, Tudou’s deep collaboration with the Midi Music Festival will provide fans with exclusive livestreams and on-demand access to all festival performances. Blending offline festivals with online streaming and interaction, the O+O (Online + Offline) format offers a brand-new audiovisual experience for the youth.
Making its first appearance at Midi, the “Broadcast Hero Gas Station” will offer thoughtful services to fans at both the Shanghai and Beijing festivals. Co-created by Midi and the Mobile QQ Browser 5.1 Video Broadcast Hero, the “Broadcast Hero Gas Station” adds rich internet interaction elements to the Midi Music Festival. Onsite fans can enjoy free PC internet access, Wi-Fi, and mobile phone charging, ensuring they stay fully powered up throughout the event.
This year, the collaboration between Midi and the Phoenix News app boasts many highlights. To help fans access event information, the Phoenix News app has created an exclusive electronic guidebook for the Midi Music Festival. It includes site maps and performance schedules, and users can add favorite bands to their “My Midi” page to generate a personalized music itinerary. Fans can share this fun content and even receive performance reminders on the day of the show. This innovative product meets diverse fan needs and enhances the onsite experience. Additionally, at the Beijing Midi site, the Phoenix News app will host various fun interactions and surprise gifts. Moreover, the Phoenix News app will “set up camp” in the Beijing Midi camping area. After the May 1 evening show, it will team up with Zhang Chu, Daxian, Yu Xinqiao, Wu Hongfei, Shao Yibei, Ma Tiao, Luo Bing, and others to present an exciting music poetry reading show. The theme? “You’re so rock ‘n’ roll, is the whole world making noise? If they’re not, Phoenix is!”
Additionally, Baidu has a deep collaboration with Midi. Fans can use Mobile Baidu to search for the latest Midi info, check venue routes via Baidu Maps, and visit Baidu Tieba for the latest updates from the festival.
The Stubborn Dedication to Music Is Midi’s Secret to Longevity
Over the years, the Midi brand has not only attracted a loyal following of fans but also drawn attention and collaboration from many internationally renowned commercial brands. The Midi audience has grown more diverse, and partners now extend beyond traditional music products to include youth-oriented fashion brands such as MINI, Vans, Sennheiser, JanSport, Jägermeister, Zippo, Tiger Beer, and Aloft Hotels—all sponsors of this year’s Shanghai and Beijing Midi Festivals.
The British automotive brand MINI, with its iconic fashion sense and cultural heritage, successfully created a distinctive “MINI Stage” at the 2013 Beijing Midi Festival and invited Bubble Beatz to perform at both Shanghai and Beijing Midi events. This year, MINI teams up with Midi again to bring the most authentic series of classic British rock. As the opening act of this series, Midi and MINI have jointly invited one of the greatest British rock bands, Suede, to perform at the Shanghai Midi Music Festival (April 25–27) and the Beijing Midi Music Festival (May 1–3). This marks Suede’s first official festival appearances in both cities. On the MINI Stage at both festivals, Suede will deliver two special performances commemorating the 20th anniversary of their iconic 1994 second album *Dog Man Star*, widely regarded as a masterpiece of 1990s Britpop and the band’s creative peak. They will perform the full album along with rare B-side tracks that left lasting impressions on countless fans. The innovative Swiss percussion ensemble Bubble Beatz will also stun audiences in Shanghai and Beijing with two powerful shows. The collision of British rock tradition and avant-garde creativity on the MINI Stage will offer Midi fans an unforgettable sensory experience.
Sennheiser, a German audio equipment manufacturer with over 60 years of history, is the official sound partner of the 2014 Midi Music Festival. It will provide professional sound systems and technical support, with the combination of the Sennheiser 9000 series microphones and K-ARRAY KH8 and KS8 large-scale touring speaker systems delivering unparalleled auditory enjoyment. Onsite, Sennheiser will also set up an eye-catching inflatable headphone tent where attendees can try the Sennheiser MOMENTUM and MOMENTUM On-Ear series. Vans, the leading American brand in youth极限运动 footwear and apparel, continues its third year of collaboration with Midi. According to Brian, Vans’ China Brand Marketing Manager, this year Vans will launch the global “Living Off the Wall” campaign encouraging young people to capture their unique, unrestrained life moments on camera, with winning entries featured on Vans’ official website and the Midi section of Tudou. Photography enthusiasts are welcome to participate. JanSport, America’s top backpack brand, fully supports the 2014 Shanghai Midi Music Festival and has specially designed a co-branded backpack for the event. These new stylish backpacks will arrive at the festival aboard JanSport’s “Big Top Truck.” Jägermeister...
Mindy Market Director Gong Xun stated that the original intention behind "Mindy" was our love for music—Mindy is our ideal. In terms of commercial partnerships, Mindy has always been cautious and restrained, with clear principles and selective choices. We refuse overall title sponsorships and luxury brands, even if it means losing some commercial sponsorship. However, advocating and guiding young people toward the right values and consumption views, and ensuring fans have a great live experience, is far more valuable. The stubborn dedication to music is the secret to Mindy's enduring vitality.
In today’s era of fast-moving consumer trends, Mindy still stubbornly holds onto that idealistic position, steadily moving forward like the mythical Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains. Fortunately, Mindy’s persistence has earned more and more kindred spirits to walk alongside us. No matter what, this is a joyful development for Chinese rock music.