Chinese Genie Out Of The Bottle
KWANGCHOW, P.R. CHINA – Momentous change affecting the whole world is underway in the Peoples Republic of China, but the speed and direction will be determined here in old Canton where East meets West contrary to poetic assertion.
This bustling port city on the Pearl River delta north of Hong Kong has been China’s official trade center since 714 A.D.
The music industry in China has significantly changed over the past couple of decades, from a tightly government-controlled propaganda pipeline into an increasingly powerful and sophisticated economic sector. Spearheading the way in China’s entertainment industry is Kenny Bloom, music veteran of over 30 years, and Founder and CEO of VisiTek Holdings, Ltd. Born in New York City, Mr. Bloom, at age 56, has accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime, and he has no plans of slowing his pace. To say that his list of accomplishments is impressive would be a gross understatement.
A winner of the Lincoln Center Award for Music Achievement at age 15, Bloom attended both Julliard and Manhattan Schools of Music Prep Departments. He joined Atlantic Records in 1977 (a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group) and launched KB communications in 1984, one of the first entertainment marketing companies. He formed a joint venture with China Film (China’s film monopoly) in 1988 and secured the China license for the Warner Music library, which led to the first foreign owned PRC record company since 1949. Over the years, Bloom went on to produce numerous radio shows, television programs, concerts by internationally renowned artists, soundtracks, and Broadway plays. He is widely recognized as a major player in the entertainment industry.
The period between 1927 and 1949 saw the process of decolonization in China, a process which had eventually reached its conclusion in 1998. China experienced, during this time, a long and arduous period of modernization. In reference to the causes of the suffering experienced during this transformation in China, MacKerras argued that “The history of modern China shows ample shame and humiliation at the hands of foreign imperialism. Yet the causes of China’s problems were essentially internal”. This is a questionable statement. There is no denying that China has, during the early half of the 20th century, faced much internal strife and adversity. But to put the blame of China’s problems to only the internal social structure during this time might lack depth in helping us to understand the root cause of China’s difficulty with modernization – that of European colonialism, or more specifically, Westernization.
China’s problems during the era of revolution, while for the most part detached from foreign influence, would not have occurred were it not for the foreign activity that was occurring in China since several decades earlier, during the Nanjing Decade, and prior to the establishment of the CCP government in 1949. One could be inclined to agree, after reading historical facts between 1927 and 1949, that the idea of wayward foreigners managing to cause such chaos in China’s social structure bears insignificance, using reasoning based on the scarcity of foreign influence in China, and the lack of important or historical events that involved foreigners. The impact of the West during such a time, one may think, seems like it has been blown out of proportion by some Western historians.