More and more foreign brands are dipping their hands into China’s burgeoning pool of musical talent. Corporations such as Converse, Vans and Dickies are taking a genuine liking to Chinese indie rock as a platform to establish brand awareness.

Meanwhile, Sean Leow and Adam Schokora, the Shanghai-based expats behind the arts, music and creative community website NeoCha.com, have created a site for Chinese artists to share their original music, in an effort to bring bands to the attention of a wider audience.

“It’s a very interesting time to be part of the creative industry in China,” comments Leow. “We’re trying to take grassroots talent and expose it on a wider scale.”

Bursting onto the scene two years ago with a very Myspace-y model, NeoCha quickly expanded its reach, launching the NeoChaNet Label and the Next streaming music player. While neither of these were ground breaking, Leow and Schokora were ahead of the curve, beating the Pepsi and Google folks to the punch on distributing and pushing original content in China.

“We always think: ‘How can whatever we’re going to do next be a better platform or give more exposure to the creative people we work with?’” states Schokora.

The NeoCha boys have also launched a consulting agency to work with brands who want to tap into China. NeoCha Edge is, as Schokora puts it, a “consulting brand ... a showcase blog” that cherry-picks the best-of-the-best creatives from the community at large.

Another aim for Leow and Schokora is to help musicians support themselves on income earned through their art. For this reason, they approve of the involvement of big businesses and fashion brands in the Chinese music market. However, they’ve already noticed some negative impact.

“Some bands are losing a little bit of that independent spirit, which is probably to be expected,” says Leow. “But it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”

NeoCha will release two compilations in the near future (a punk comp and an electronic disc) and overhaul the site in the next six months while continuing their organic approach. It is unclear whether NeoCha’s impact will force a shift in China’s music industry or artist development, but no one can say they didn’t try.