Taiwanese rock band Mayday has been embroiled in controversy over allegations of lip-syncing during their recent concert in Shanghai, China.
The accusations came to light after a video uploaded by a social media influencer recently on the video-sharing platform Bilibili. He compared and analyzed the vocals of 12 songs a fan recorded during the band's Shanghai concert on November 16 on music analysis software.
The influencer claimed the results revealed that Ashin, the lead singer of Mayday, lip-synced at least five songs during the three-hour concert.
He also claimed that the vocals fluctuated between being out of tune and suddenly in tune within the same song. He argued that such a significant variation in the quality of singing is unlikely in a single concert.
The allegations have triggered widespread debate and became a top trending topic on Chinese social media over the weekend.
Mayday’s management company released a statement on Monday denying any allegations of lip-syncing.
The band has held eight concerts in Shanghai last month, attracting audiences of over 360,000. The highest ticket price was 1,855 yuan, with the lowest costing 355 yuan.
Shanghai cultural and tourism authorities said they would verify the issue, and as the concert ended, “it will take some time to conduct the investigation."
Beijing law enforcement on the cultural market noted on Sunday that they will "make a judgment according to the situation they recorded" and make a public announcement when there's a follow-up.
The China Association of Performing Arts, which oversees the cultural performance market in China, said on Monday that it would monitor the situation and conduct any necessary investigations.
According to the Regulations on the Management of Commercial Performances in China, performers are not allowed to deceive the audience by lip-syncing or pretending to play instruments, and performance organizers are not allowed to arrange for performers to lip-sync.
(Staff reporter, Global Times and Shanghai Daily)
