Split Works is a Beijing- and Shanghai-based concert promotion and brand activation agency. Founded in 2006 by Archie Hamilton and Nathaniel Davis, Split Works has produced both branded and independent live music events in Greater China and the wider Asia region. Split Works has worked with both Chinese and Western music artists across many genres.

Conceived at a time when live music options in China were extremely limited Split Works is one of a few notable groups that have aided the growth of the live music industry in China and wider Asia.

Foreign Artists

Split Works has organized China concerts/tours for the following visiting artists:

• The Lovely Jonjo (2006)
• Maximo Park (2006)
• Sonic Youth (2007)
• Bugz in the Attic (2007)
• The Nextmen (2007)
• Talib Kweli (2007)
• Faithless (2007)
• Yacht (2007)
• Ozomatli (2007)
• the Go! Team (2007)
• Infadels (2007)
• Killa Kela (2007)
• Dandi Wind (2008)
• Hard-Fi (2008)
• Jens Lekman and Viktor Sjoberg (2008)
• DJ Sasha (2008)
• DJ Tom Middleton (2008)
• DJ Roxy Cottontail (2008)
• South Rakkas Crew (2009)
• we are ENFANT TERRIBLE (2009)
• PoPCLO (2009)
• FuNKy FIngeRs (2009)
• Young Knives (2009)
• Creature (2009)
• Jets Overhead (2009/2010)
• socalled (2009)
• Hollerado (2009)
• Final Flash (2009)
• Ghostface Killah (2009)
• Jeff Lang (July 2009 / Aug-Sept 2010)
• These Are Powers (July 2009)
• Steve Aoki (Sept 2009)
• Diplo (Sept 2009)
• Clive Chin (Nov 2009)
• Owl City (Nov 2009)
• Immaculate Machine (Dec 2009)
• Andrew Bird (Jan 2010)
• Patrick Watson (Jan 2010)
• Trippple Nippples (March 2010)
• Olafur Arnalds (March 2010)
• Julie Doiron (March 2010)
• JD Twitch (Optimo) (March 2010)
• Shackleton (April 2010)
• The Inspector Cluzo (May 2010)
• Throw Me The Statue (May 2010)
• Frank Turner (May 2010)
• Ohbijou (May 2010)
• Parlovr (May 2010)
• Wil (May 2010)
• illScarlett (May 2010)
• Flash Lightnin' (May 2010)
• The Racoons (May 2010)
• The King Khan & BBQ Show (June 2010)
• Caribou (July 2010)
• Choir of Young Believers (Sept 2010)
• The Cave Singers (Sept 2010)
• Emilie Simon (Sept 2010)
• The Field (December 2010)
• The Black Atlantic (March 2011)
• The Whitest Boy Alive (March 2011)
• The Besnard Lakes (March 2011)
• Vitalic (March 2011)
• World's End Girlfriend & Black Hole Carnival (March 2011)
• Abaji (March 2011)
• Thirty Seconds to Mars (Sept 2011)
• Ludacris (Sept 2011)
• Yellowcard (Sept 2011)
• 120 Days (Sept 2011)
• For a Minor Reflection (Sept 2011)
• Gold Panda (Sept 2011)
• Perfume Genius (Sept 2011)
• Grandmaster Flash (Sept 2011)
• Weerd Science (Sept 2011)
• Optimo (Sept 2011)
• Mount Kimbie (Sept 2011)
• Marianne Dissard (Sept 2011)

Split Works has organized more extensive Asia Tours for the following artists

• Jose Gonzalez (2009)
• Battles (2009)
• Girl Talk (August 2009)
• Handsome Furs (September 2009 / August 2010)
• Olafur Arnalds (Sept 2010)
• Perfume Genius (Sept 2011)

Chinese Artists

Split Works has organized China concerts/tours for the following local artists:

• The Beijing Live Hip-Hop Experience
• The Lab DJs
• DJ Chozie
• DJ Youdai
• YBbox
• The Verse
• Zenmala-Jalamaa
• The Scoff
• The Reason
• Crazy Mushroom
• Sonnet
• Perdel
• Bigger Bang
• The Offset:Spectacles
• WuJi aka Mr. Particle
• AV Okubo
• Ourself Beside Me
• Carsick Cars
• Queen Sea Big Shark
• P.K.14
• LAVA|OX|SEA
• Wu ZhouLing
• Boys Climbing Ropes
• Hard Queen
• 24 Hours
• Snapline
• VJ Fanpianer
• Hush
• Casino Demon
• Banana Monkey
• Redstar
• Hedgehog
• IZ
• Bananas Soundsystem
• SuperVC
• Dragontongue
• DJ Wordy
• Young Kin
• Flying Fruit
• Demerit
• Discord
• Rustic
• Overdose
• The Flyx
• Pink Berry
• Dead J
• Liman
• The Gar
• B6
• Gus MacMillan
• Gala
• Shanren
• Snapline
• AV Okubo
• We Save Strawberries
• Mr. Dadado
• B-side Lovers
• 24 Hours
• The Me Guan Me's
• Mr. Graceless
• Yuguo
• Hanggai
• Hebe
• Peng Tan
• P.K.14
• Lil' Ray
• CiaCia
• Otakrew
• CNdY
• Uprooted Sunshine Soundsystem
• Rainbow Danger Club
• Iron Mic
• Wang Wen
• Omnipotent Youth Society
• Nanwu
• Mini Train Heart

Clients and Sponsors

In early 2010, Split Works established a partner brand activation agency to focus solely on representing clients and brands. This new agency is called Splatter. Split Works now concentrates exclusively on touring, booking and festivals.
Splatter has created branded projects and events in China for the following clients and sponsors:

• Converse
• Bacardi
• Smirnoff
• 42 Below Vodka
• Tiger Beer
• Tsingtao Beer
• Apple
• OPPO
• Volkswagen China
• Transmit China
• Range Rover
• MTV Europe
• Hunan TV
• Hilton Hotels
• Holiday Inn
• Hotel G
• Hotel Indigo
• The Embassy of Sweden in China
• The US Embassy
• Embassy of France in China
• Embassy of Norway in China

Branded Work

Converse Love Noise (2008–2009)

In association with the advertising agency W+K, Split Works conceptualized, planned and produced the seminal Converse Love Noise road trip. They designed and built China’s first and funkiest tour bus and, with the Olympics looming large, took two of the hottest Beijing bands (PK14 and Queen Sea Big Shark) on the journey that spawned the Love Noise documentary. The tour and post-event publicity generated immense buzz for the Converse brand in China.

Bacardi Sino Sessions (2006–2008)

Split Works launched Bacardi’s B-Live platform over the course of 18 months, from November 2006 to March 2008. At a time when China’s live music scene was under-developed, Split Works proposed a series of well-produced and exciting shows featuring combinations of international and Chinese bands, supported by a fully integrated marketing and media campaign and culminating in the largest music festival in China up to that point. Split Works was Bacardi’s sole agency working on B-Live across this period, and continues to work to build Bacardi in China.

Apple Summer Series (2010)

To celebrate the opening of China's first flagship Apple store in Shanghai, Splatter curated a series of 6 weekly "in-store" performances running from July 25 - August 29, 2010. Artists included Wang Xiaokun, Li Jian and Silkfloss, among others. The summer series was supported by a fully integrated on-and-offline marketing campaign, which amplified the Apple Retail concept across China.

Yue Festival

In October 2007, Split Works produced the Yue Festival

Yue Festival

The Yue Festival is a live music festival featuring Chinese and international performers, in Shanghai, China. The first annual Yue Festival took place on October 5, 2007, outdoors in Zhongshan Park...

, an outdoor music festival held in Zhongshan Park in Shanghai, China. Talents included Faithless

Faithless

Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...

, Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

, Ozomatli

Ozomatli

Ozomatli is a seven to ten piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others.In a 2007 NPR interview, band...

, Yacht

Jona Bechtolt

Jona Bechtolt is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in Portland, Oregon, United States. He is a former member of The Badger King and The Blow, and has released solo records under the name Yacht since 2003...

, Banana Monkey, SuperVC, Hedgehog, IZ, Bananas Soundsystem, Dragontongue, Uprooted, and Redstar.
A mini-Yue Festival took place at the Star Live in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 on October 2 and 3, 2007, with Faithless, Talib Kweli, and Ozomatli.
Partners and sponsors included Bacardi

Bacardi

Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...

, Converse and Neocha.com.

Jue Festival

In January 2009, Split Works produced the Jue Festival, a 10-day event taking place at a range of concert venues, art galleries and theatres across Beijing and Shanghai. The event included 57 musicians, 34 visual artists and dramatic performers, and a total of 25 events between the two cities.

Featured events included the Maybe Mars/Sound Destruction! Showcases in Beijing and Shanghai, and performances from French electro group we are ENFANT TERRIBLE. The visual arts component of the Jue Festival included a solo exhibition from Chinese artist Chen Hang Feng, and a joint video-installation exhibition from American artist Bradford Kessler and Chinese artist Cong Longfei. Jue drama performances included “To & From” by Shan Cheng Ju, and “Marriage Counseling: Three Sessions,” which was written and performed by the 5th Wall ensemble.

Split Works produced the 2011 Jue Music + Art Festival which ran from March 11 to April 3, 2011. This marked the 3rd time the festival was held since its inception in 2009. It expanded its duration from 10 days in 2009 to 17 days in 2010 and 23 days in 2011. The Jue 2011 lineup included scheduled performances from more than 46 musical acts and 48 visual artists and performers. The Festival took place in 42 venues across Shanghai and Beijing.

The Jue Festival 2011 featured musical acts included: The Whitest Boy Alive

The Whitest Boy Alive

The Whitest Boy Alive is a German-Norwegian musical group based in Berlin. The band comprises singer/guitarist Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience, bassist Marcin Öz, drummer Sebastian Maschat, and Daniel Nentwig on Rhodes piano and Crumar.- History :...

, World’s End Girlfriend

World's End Girlfriend

World's End Girlfriend is the musical project of Katsuhiko Maeda, whose work blends elements of electronica, classical music, and post-rock to create a style reminiscent of several other modern day bands.-Band:...

 & Black Hole Carnival, The Black Atlantic

The Black Atlantic

The Black Atlantic is the Dutch acoustic pop band formed around singer-songwriter Geert van der Velde, former vocalist for the American hardcore band Shai Hulud.-History:...

, Vitalic

Vitalic

Vitalic is an electronic music artist. He was born in France and is of Spanish and Italian descent.-History:His first singles were released in 1996 and 1997, but were confined to the underground electronic music scene...

, Shanren and We Save Strawberries
.

Black Rabbit Music Festival

In 2011 Split Works worked with Taihe Live to produce the first ever Black Rabbit Music Festival Presented by OPPO Real in Beijing Sept 17 and Shanghai Sept 18. The festival had three stages in Beijing and four in Shanghai. Headline acts included Thirty Seconds to Mars, Ludacris and Hebe. Other performers included Yellowcard, Grandmaster Flash, 120 Days, Gold Panda, Mount Kimbie, For a Minor Reflection, Hanggai, Rainbow Danger Club, Perfume Genius, Carsick Cars, Marianne Dissard, Weerd Science, Boys Climbing Ropes, Omnipotent Youth Society, Peng Tan, CiaCia, P.K.14, CNdY, Lil’ Ray, Iron Mic, Optimo, Otakrew, Nanwu, Uprooted Sunshine Soundsystem and Wangwen.

China Music Radar

Since November 2007, Split Works have written and maintained China Music Radar, a blog focused on the music industry in China. Written in English for the benefit of the music industry outside of China, the Radar is committed to generating more interest and investment in the China market.

Wooozy

Launched in April 2009, Wooozy is one of the first Chinese-language specialist web publications focusing on both underground and mainstream music.
Wooozy Radio sits alongside Wooozy with weekly podcasts featuring Chinese and international independent music.

External links

• Official Website http://www.spli-t.com
• Split on Myspace http://www.myspace.com/splitworkers
• Split on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/splitworks
• Split on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/splitworks
• Split on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/splitworks
• Split on Youku http://u.youku.com/user_show/uid_splitworks
• Split on PSFK http://www.psfk.com/tag/split-works
• Yue Festival http://www.yuefestival.com
• Jue Festival http://www.juefestival.com
• Black Rabbit Music Festival http://hei-tu.com/2011/en