tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83828071596566134852024-02-19T08:34:40.844-08:00musicbizinasiamusicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-35009055844890119532014-10-20T18:44:00.000-07:002014-10-20T18:48:21.371-07:00“We’ve always been ostracized, but we deem it as a way of life,” says Subash, vocalist and band leader of Truth Be Known, local veteran metal band.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Their live performances
are known to be energetic and loud, which led to the moniker of them being “the
angriest band in Singapore”. Their lyrics, explicit. If being a local band isn’t
easy already, then perhaps being a local metal band would have it much harder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">As Subash of Truth Be
Known (TBK) explains, “</span>We
tried getting funding from government agencies like NAC for our tours before,
but it’s always difficult because of the genre we play. I’m a very vulgar
person, and our band is also very vulgar. Our songs are peppered with lots of
profanities, so we are definitely not censorship friendly (laughs).” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
But even without external support, Subash
and his band members soldier on. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
“Most of us have given up, so we just fund
our own tours. We would look out for air fare promotions, and try to time our
gigs around the promotion period if possible. We also can’t do heavy tours. At
most it would be three or four days, because of work and family commitments.”<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Being honest and true to
their music, TBK has not only managed to stay in the scene since 2005, despite
the frequent change in their members, but also make a name for themselves. One
of their biggest shows was at the “Bang your Head” festival in Semarang,
Indonesia in mid 2006, which boasted close to 5,000 in attendance, a big number
for the genre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvSPqPCpSddrrigx2xKvMMlm6f2177WvtY0BQ9jYJpyHrkjnjnOtmZsCrNqI4e68u2rpwAzVkun4HAi-hYUL_DKhoLJgpiQXn91yBaT7HuuRS6RAK_yYlPqec3732z4hlR7ETyGtc7UK4/s1600/532204_10151072362442205_543767571_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvSPqPCpSddrrigx2xKvMMlm6f2177WvtY0BQ9jYJpyHrkjnjnOtmZsCrNqI4e68u2rpwAzVkun4HAi-hYUL_DKhoLJgpiQXn91yBaT7HuuRS6RAK_yYlPqec3732z4hlR7ETyGtc7UK4/s1600/532204_10151072362442205_543767571_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Subash, vocalist and band leader of Truth Be Known</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">During
the interview, Subash shared many insights and inspiring anecdotes which are probably
relevant to bands of any genre:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"> The metal genre may be niche, but the
community is a close one. It’s because of this close knit community that
word of mouth is spread more easily and hence stronger support for the
bands. Keeping a close knit culture also encourages collaboration and new
opportunities for everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"> It’s
not about the money. If financial gain had been a priority, then nothing
would have been accomplished. The band would not have been able to release
their self-funded albums, or go on their regional tours. They may not be
making money from their music, but they would still continue to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US">Being open and flexible makes things work.
As band members enter different life stages, they have to juggle family
and work commitments, but they still invest time and effort in their
music. For TBK, the members simply work around each other schedules to
rehearse, jam and tour. It’s the
can-do spirit that has allowed the band to continue even as priorities
change.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What was the metal scene in Singapore like in
the past?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Subash:
The metal scene in Singapore started at around 1989-1990, with bands like Abhorer,
a black metal band. In the mid nineties, most of the gigs were mixed gigs. It
was a big thing back then. The first in the lineup would always be the indie
bands, then punk or skin, followed by the hardcore bands, and lastly the metal
bands. They were held in venues like Octagon in Ngee Ann Polytechnic,
Macpherson ITE and Substation. Some of the big names back then were Rudra, Impiety,
ITNOS, Doxomedon, Bastardized, Silent Sorrow, and many others. The community
was very close. In the nineties, we used to hang out at Plaza Singapura Forum
Gallery. People would come during weekends after work or school to go there
chill, play, drink, and some people would catch the last bus by midnight, while
others will stay until the next morning. Back then I was around 18, so during
school days I couldn’t stay up too late. We would meet on Saturday evenings,
and all the bands would hang out there. The Forum was a very important and
pivotal place for us in the underground scene. It was where everyone met
everyone, and that’s how you knew that there was a gig was coming up soon, and
word of mouth would spread. It was also a chance to explore playing with other
people. There were also competitions
like Clash of the Bands, which we (Kaliyuga) participated just to try out and
see how good we were. It was during then we talked about our music dreams, like
where to record our album (i.e. TNT Music). Even now I still record with him
and he has never changed, always supportive of the local scene. He’s super ah
beng, talks like an ah beng, but a very nice guy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">How did you become a metal head yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Back in
1994-5 I was a closet metal head. I didn’t know anyone. I listened to my own
music, I bought my cassettes every week, and I never knew anybody. It was only
when I shifted to Teban Gardens then I had a secondary school friend, and we
would hang out together. I also met another friend who was also another metal
head, and it turned out to be Selvam, who was the guitarist of Rudra. When I
met him, I remembered that they were from Marsling, as their address was indicated
in their cassettes (back then there was no Internet, email or website). So I
thought he was from Marsling too, but it turned out that it was only his vocalist’s
address. I was very surprised and impressed to meet a member of the band that I
had been listening to. We clicked and hung out together. At that point in time,
Rudra had split. The vocalist had a different direction, so he left the band,
but the other members still wanted to play. They were looking for another
vocalist and asked me if I was keen, and I wanted to try it out. So we started
jamming together. I was the youngest member of the band, and they enjoyed my
company because I was funny and had no airs. They also liked my singing style.
We did covers together. After jamming for some time, we decided to join a band
competition, Clash of the Bands, at Fire Disco. I was very nervous. I remember
one of the judges was Suhaimi from Stomping Ground, and those guys are also the
pioneers of the scene. We didn’t win, mostly because we are a metal band. We
have always been ostracized, but we deem it as a way of life. As long as some
people like our shit, we would be very happy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Our
first gig (Metal fest) was on 14 July 1997. I remember the date because when we
released our album we called it 1407. That gig was very significant to all of
us. During the 1990s, gigs were all mixed genres. There was never a pure metal
gig. We were the first guys to do it. Everyone contributed. There were five or
six bands who came together to do this after some discussion at our usual
hangout sessions at Forum. Venue was the hardest thing to get. This gig was
held at Bugis, a place called Noah’s Ark. It was run by New Zealand
missionaries. They held hardcore gigs because some of the missionaries were
hardcore band members too. We approached them to hold a metal-only gig.
Initially they were a little hesitant because it was metal, as we would be
wearing T-shirts that spouted inappropriate vulgarities. But later, they were
cool about it and agreed to provide us the venue. They didn’t expect that it
would be a big crowd, thinking that it would be only thirty to fifty people. We
started to prepare for the gig. We created our own posters, printed our own
ticket stubs. We placed our posters at Roxy Music. If you’ve had your poster
there, you would have easily captured fifty people. Some of us placed them at
important bus stops outside schools. News was spread by word of mouth and there
were no pre-sale of tickets. Tickets were only sold at the door. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">In the
end, around two hundred people turned up. The venue was too packed and we
couldn’t let in any more people. The missionaries were shocked because everyone
didn’t expect it. It was a very pivotal moment for us as it was the very first
metal-only gig, even before Chaos 99 which was held at Fire Disco. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">In
early 2000-2003, we released our album under Kaliyuga, a melodic metal band. We
played a few gigs in Singapore, and a big one in KL. That was my first overseas
gig. We got to know the organizer Fadzil. Under that time we were under Trishul
Records which signed Rudra too. They paid for our CD production and took a cut.
But to me, it’s never about the money. At that time, metal music was banned in
Malaysia. For a good six months to a year, there were no gigs there at all. We
were invited to play at the first gig after the ban lift, together with Impiety
who were the headliners. We were the only other Singapore band in. We travelled
by coach, which we paid ourselves, and everything else they would cover.
However, when we reached the hotel, it was the worst place ever, with no
air-conditioning, broken windows and cockroaches in the room. Spoilt as we
were, we decided not to stay there and paid for our own accommodation as well.
When we went for our sound check, we didn’t see the crowd yet. We went back to
the hotel to chill until it was our turn to perform, and it was only then that
we saw the crowd of over a thousand people. All these Malaysian fans had been
starved without music for months, and people from other states travelled all
the way to watch this gig. There was some racial bias at first, because we were
an all-Indian band. I remember when we went up on stage, there were many people
who were mocking us, shouting, “Kopi-O satu! Prata satu!” We wanted to
retaliate, but instead we just let our music do the talking. It was a beautiful
thing, because within that half-hour set, we changed their perceptions. Everyone
started cheering for us. We played our own songs and covers, and they really
liked our shit. At the end of the gig, I was totally exhausted because I gave
my all out as it was my first overseas gig. After the gig, usually I would stay
around the side of the stage after packing up and say hi or thanks to our
friends, which is something that I do every time. They came up to me and
congratulated us, told us that they loved our music. So it was a very big
moment for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Unfortunately,
we split up after that due to many reasons, and I started to look for a new
band to form. That was when </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Truth be known (TBK) was formed. We started out as a five-piece
death metal band in 2005, consisting of John, Anesh, Gene, Arul and myself.
Even though we were from different bands with slightly differing music genres,
death metal proved to be the common factor for us to start this band. I had to
give Arul a lot of respect because he stayed in JB. So whenever we had gigs and
jamming sessions, he would travel over. And so, armed with 3 songs and a couple
of covers, we played our first gig on 1st October 2005 at the Guinness Theatre,
Substation. </span><span lang="EN-US">I couldn’t remember what happened during the gig
because I was totally drunk. I was drinking the night before, a few hours
before the gig, and even after the gig. We made a few mistakes here and there,
but generally we had a good response. </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This was the only gig with this lineup. In early
2006, Anesh left for Australia to pursue his studies. We decided to enlist the
help of another friend from scene, Damien from Bhelliom. With the lineup
complete again, we went into full song-writing and touring mode. In the
following years, we played numerous shows locally and around the region. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">On 8th August, 2008, we
launched our debut album “Just Another Lamb” which was well-received by peers
and fans alike. After 3 years together however, the individual responsibilities
of each member began to take its toll and ultimately led to John and Arul
leaving the band to concentrate on their personal lives. We had to take a short
hiatus to recuperate. After about a six month break, the remaining members,
Damien and Gene and myself picked up where we left off and recruited our good
friend, Joshua (who, coincidentally, mixed and mastered “Just Another Lamb”) to
play bass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Gone were the days of the
angry. The new Truth Be Known was all about having a good time. Though we’ve
dubbed our new style “Fun-core”, the music leans more towards punk and
grindcore without forsaking our roots in metal. With this new drive, we went
into writing mode and within a few months, we were ready to show the world what
Truth Be Known is. We performed at the Soundcrusher gig held at the House of
Rock and has been performing quite regularly since then. We also recorded and
released a “teaser” EP entitled “Rock ‘N’ Roll Baby”. The feedback was positive
and this encouraged us to release another EP called, AsphyxiHate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">How do you promote your band now?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I would say it’s become
lazier. Now that there’s Internet, everyone puts up their stuff on a Facebook
page. But in this way we’ve also managed to reach out to fans overseas who came
over to watch our shows, which is great. We also have our live shows videos on
Youtube, which helps to garner more interest. We just completed a new music
video too, which was produced with our own budget. I got a few good metal head
friends of mine to help with the filming, directing and editing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But the best form of
advertisement is through word of mouth, when your friend asks you to check out
this band he found. After the gigs, I will also stay around and say thanks to
the people who came all the way down and paid to watch us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
In the past, how metal heads discovered
music would be through buying cassettes, sometimes only by looking at the album
cover, and if it came with the disclaimer Parental Advisory, it would be even
more attractive to them (laughs). Nowadays, people can discover music through
Youtube or Spotify to try and listen. I’ve been speaking to my manager to put
our music on digital channels too, and we are happy to make our old songs
available free for download.<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 404.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Our manager is Bret from Mourning Sound. He watched a
few gigs of ours and was kind of impressed with us so he decided to manage us.
Promoters come and go. Not many stay for a long time. Brad plays full manager
role, but he promotes the annual gig, Full Battle Order, and he also promotes
Taiwanese bands like Anthelion and Solemn. He would go to Taiwan to help them
out, and if they are going to release an album or do a tour, he would provide
contacts and try to get them to play here. The contacts from Taiwan, Japan and
Australia are mostly his. The scene in Taiwan is pretty big and they are very
supportive of the local scene. When we played in Taiwan, it was a big surprise.
It was a professional venue, the people were all very nice to us, and they were
all very appreciative of what we played.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Our new album, By Any
Means Necessary, will be released in the later part of 2014. We are hoping to
tour with Anthelion who has also just released a new album. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">How has the metal scene changed over the years?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I missed the old days. In
the past, people were into the music mostly because of the angst. Nowadays,
metal has become more like a fashion trend. Some of the bands now are more into
the visual side of things, but their music sounds a bit copied and
factory-like. When you listen to their music, you’ve heard these rifts before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">On the other hand, we
should try to adapt to new trends. Bands and audiences have become more
diverse. It used to be dominated by the Malays, but now we have different races
joining the scene. Nowadays we even have non-metal heads, being curious and
wanting to check things out, coming down to metal gigs, which is a good sign.
We would never have that last time. Our fan base has also changed a bit. We
have some younger fans in their twenties, and we even have female fans, which
is very rare in the past. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Currently, because we
have been around for some time, it’s likely that a metal head would know us.
But I’ve always made the effort to check out the younger bands too. For all you
know, this new young band could have a lot of potential, and become bigger than
us in future too. I would try to talk to them, encourage them, or if they are
really good, I would offer to rope them in for future gig opportunities. One
thing that has not changed all these years is that community is still just as
close. It’s a metal thing. When you meet random metal heads wearing a certain
T-shirt, you would still give them a nod of recognition and approval. I still
get that once in a while too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In the next five or six
years, I would see that if the bands that are starting now can stay together
after National Service, they would easily be the headliners of the future. If
we want to continue playing into our forties, we have to keep up with the times
too. Overall, there will be more sub-genres, which is more exciting for the
whole scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What kind of challenges is the local scene facing now?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">At a local gig, you may
have 10 or 15 bands, and the ticket price would be around $20, which is fair.
Local bands would have their own regular followers, and everyone knows each
other. But when you attend a gig of a foreign band, you’d see all these new
faces, and you wonder if they came and paid a high ticket price only because it
was a band from overseas. Our local musicians are quality musicians too, yet we
do not see their support for our own gigs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">In the ’60s and ‘70s, the
radio stations would play local music, and we would listen to local music
first. It was until the ‘80s and ‘90s then it stopped happening. Now it would
be even worse. People hardly listen to local music. Yet, the musicianship from
the ‘60s till now has always been fantastic. It would be great if there was
more support from local fans and radio stations. As of now, the only person who
supports airplay for local metal or hardcore bands is Borhan from RIA 89.7FM.
He used to play in a band called Manifest and Urban Karma and now he’s a DJ,
playing metal songs on Sundays for an hour or two.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">For some promoters who
support local music, when they bring in a foreign band, they would ensure that
the opening band is a local one, which is a very good way to expose local bands
to local fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Venue remains a major challenge.
There’s the usual Substation, Aliwal Arts Centre, Blackhole. But many of the
smaller venues have closed down. These days, the organizers all the more have
to be very creative and resourceful, and we’ve performed at the most unexpected
places like the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b>How
can local bands find gigs overseas?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Many of our bands go on the Internet to
search for local promoters, chat with them, send them their profile and music
links, and try to get a gig. Another way is through friends who are in bands
that are already playing in the gig. Then you can ask the organizer if they
could take in another Singapore band, and if they are ok, then you’re good to
go. Transport is covered by the band; accommodation and sometimes food are
covered by the organizers. Sometimes the organizers would also give a token fee
to the bands playing. But we don’t care about the money at all. When we play a
gig, we take it as a holiday. If we can make a bit of money from merchandise,
that would be a bonus. We wouldn’t count on CDs either. In fact, for the new
album, we will be only printing a few hundred copies and we plan to sell most
of our stuff online. The CDs are more for promoters and media. T-shirts, badges
and stickers sell best. We don’t mind spending a bit, just to let more people
know and listen to us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
Currently, Indonesia is a very big market.
Any metal band has to play in Indonesia at least once. The first time I played
there I was overwhelmed as well, because there were at least one thousand
people there. The atmosphere in Indonesia is great, the people are very
supportive, but they generally are not very rich. You cannot sell your stuff at
the normal price or at a profit. You may not be able to sell CDs, but you can
sell smaller items like badges, T-shirts, wristbands, which they will buy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Where else have you toured?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
We have also played with Japanese bands
like Hydrophobia, Defiled, GSD (God Send Death). They messaged Bret saying that
they are doing a tour in Southeast Asia, and they are looking for a spot in
Singapore, so what Bret did was to get a few local bands to play with the
foreign bands. We toured Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. In Taiwan, they have
bigger festivals like Spring Scream, and some of our local bands have also
played there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Other
than Taiwan, we have also toured Malaysia and Indonesia. We were supposed to
play in India and Sri Lanka as well, but at that point in time, some of the
band members couldn’t make it. But we will definitely try to make it for the
next festival in Sri Lanka. We make it a point to tour at least once a year,
but in my band, almost all of us are married. Everyone has commitments, and
family comes first, so we can’t be so hardcore already (laughs).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-46568341554866029012014-06-23T05:04:00.000-07:002014-06-23T05:04:16.340-07:00Digital Music in Japan: A Threat to the Lucrative Physical Format<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During last month’s Music
Matters in Singapore, Universal Music Group International chairman-CEO Max Hole
highlighted in his keynote speech on how Japan, the largest music market in
Asia, is “unique and remarkable in many ways”, including innovations of the
360-model, and its ability to maintain high fixed prices on CDs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Indeed, Japan is <a href="http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/dmr2013.pdf">reportedly</a>
catching up with the US and possibly even surpassing it as the world’s most
valuable music market, with strong growth in the physical format; yet, it faces
its own set of challenges when it comes to fully embracing the digital
revolution, including music streaming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">To understand more, MBIA spoke
to Mikiro Enomoto, lead writer of “<a href="http://wired.jp/magazine/?id=8">Music of Our Times</a>”, published in WIRED
Japan and author of “<a href="http://www.musicman-net.com/SPPJ01/50.html">Music Takes Us to The Future</a>”, a special series on
musicman-net.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4evG0JrRnAhyM8hq2Yqdd6M75DUsqfGAlDTvWJQeWLJkhFPGSCAiRIdugdJVXdTAx6OvqrruzZyeWSI8VuFa6n-uKOCwZt6cA1MtgPqVVFSm6NV7m7Mch03C1HBPrcX0dQUuX7lEJLirR/s1600/Mikiro.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4evG0JrRnAhyM8hq2Yqdd6M75DUsqfGAlDTvWJQeWLJkhFPGSCAiRIdugdJVXdTAx6OvqrruzZyeWSI8VuFa6n-uKOCwZt6cA1MtgPqVVFSm6NV7m7Mch03C1HBPrcX0dQUuX7lEJLirR/s1600/Mikiro.JPG" height="320" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mikiro Enomoto</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">He explains, “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Downloads have never worked, and there are no ad-revenue models
in Japan. The market leaders in Japan are Sony Music and Avex. Those two
companies dislike ‘free music’.” This means that third party apps that are not
owned by the leaders will probably continue to struggle to find attractive
content on their platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">“KDDI, the second biggest
career bought KKBox 2 years ago, and KKBox launched in Japan, too. But it lacked
the freemium model because of the denial by Sony Music and Avex. Also, it lacks
brand-new J-pop songs. How can you win without weapons?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Enomoto, who is also the
strategy consultant for music service for the Avex Group and Sony Computer
Entertainment, also shared on the history of music streaming in Japan, its
various business models, and his take on the trends of music streaming in the
near future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Could
you provide a brief history of music streaming and their respective business
models in Japan? Which models have worked, and which have failed?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The first music streaming business
was in 1998 by Motoharu Sano, the pioneer of J-Rock, who held a live-streaming
event. In 2000, Spaceshower TV (the top music TV station in Japan) launched
Beatrip.com, which held a special live program of major artists on a
weekly-basis. The goal of Beatrip was to offer a VEVO-like service, but the
advertising model couldn't support the music web service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Sony's Music Unlimited made the
second wave of music streaming services in 2010, a paid-subscription service
like Rhapsody. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Then, the mobile carriers
entered the music subscription business. Their idea was, when you subscribe to the
cell phone line, if you subscribed to their music service at the same time, you
could buy a brand-new cell phone at a discount. That was how D-hits, the music
streaming service of NTT DoCoMo (the top carrier in Japan) got more than a million
paid-subscribers in less than a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What
kind of challenges did app developers face in bringing content onto their
platforms? How did they convince Japanese record labels who are well-known to
be very protective of their content to place their catalogs with them?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The digital music revenues have
continued to decrease since 2008, the year of iPhone 3G. Before the coming of
iPhone 3G, Japan's music industry saw considerable success in Chaku-Uta, the
music download service available only on cell-phones. The success was huge
enough that iTunes failed in Japan, and that made Jobs consider if Apple should
launch its cell phone business, i.e. the iPhone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Later, however, the combination
of iPhone and the YouTube app destroyed the Chaku-Uta business, and so the
industry in Japan desperately needed an alternative plan. They chose the
paid-subscription model. The revenue of paid-subscription model rose quickly.
The growth-rate in 2013 was over 500%.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">But I must say
paid-subscription service is still niche here, especially since most of younger
generation don't even know of their existence, because they are mad about free
music streaming on YouTube and <a href="http://www.nicovideo.jp/index.php">Nico-Nico</a>, which is even more popular than
YouTube.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Another reason is that you
can't find brand-new J-pop songs on paid-subscription services, because major
labels are afraid of the possibility that people won't buy CDs if they supply
new J-pop songs via streaming. The market share of CDs in Japan is over 80
percent, and the average price of the CD is over JPY2,200 (USD22). The average
revenue per capita is over JPY3,000 (USD30), which is #1 in the world. So they
feel that subscription fees (JPY980 monthly) can't compensate it. The bad thing
is, this calculation is true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">What
is your take on why peer to peer sharing of music has never really taken off in
Japan? After all, it was the revolution of Napster that forced the music
industry to change itself outside of Japan. </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">There are issues of illegal P2P
usage in Japan too. But it has made less impact in comparison with the rest of
the world. In 2002 when Napster and Kazaar boomed, only 6.4 percent
of people used P2P in Japan. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">It is mostly because the
post-pc era had already occurred in Japan since 1998. i-Mode is 9 years earlier
than iPhone. If you asked the young why they didn't use PC at that time,
they must have said, "PC is not cool, it is for business use." </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The young became huge fans of the
cell phone in late 90's. They started to enjoy downloading music via cell phone
since when Chaku-Uta service launched in 2002. Then P2P started in Japan. As it
were, the solution came first and the problem came next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Amongst
the different apps, which of them has a focus more on indie artists and smaller
labels?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The structure of music
industries in Japan is very unique. There are over 30 "major" labels
in Japan, most of them are in fact indie labels on the global basis. So every
service is full of indie labels' music in Japan, compared with the global
market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3e0040; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Name
top 3 trends on the future of music streaming in Japan that you'd expect to see
over the next five years.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The first one is <a href="http://lifesradio.jp/">Life's Radio</a>.
It is the Pandora equivalent in Japan. Like the Music Genome Project of
Pandora, Life's Radio gathered over 50 musicians to build up its music
recommendation engine for years. The quality of the engine is as excellent as
Pandora, but it lacks the ad-model for same reason I explained above. When the
time comes, it is planned to expand other Asia markets with the engine, which
works best with J-pop & K-pop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The second is the possibility
of the combination of hi-resolution downloads with on-demand streaming. Recently
Hi resolution Walkman has been a hit in Japan. They topped instead of iPod and
the like for months. It resulted a great growth of <a href="http://mora.jp/">Mora</a>, Sony's music download
service, whereas the global sales of iTunes music have decreased. And as I
said, the huge growth of subscription services includes Sony's Music Unlimited.
Guess you can buy hi-resolution music at a discount if you are the subscriber
of Music Unlimited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The third point is Spotify's
coming into Japan. It means the acceptance of freemium model, which I believe
the most critical point for the popularization of music streaming service. But JPY980
(USD10) monthly won't work here, because it will mean another crash of the highest
revenue per capita. So Spotify will need some big change of its pricing model
if they get the permission from Sony Music etc. It is very difficult for Daniel
Ek, I guess.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-59958898674919359422014-06-12T10:06:00.000-07:002014-06-13T00:12:59.688-07:00“Respect your manager, just as he respects you, because he takes on the same risks as you do,” says Syaheed of Bedsty Artist Management.<div class="MsoNormal">
Whether you are an established act or an upcoming artist, engaging a good
manager is probably one of the most important things you need to consider in
building your musical career. Certainly, while hiring a manager doesn’t equate
success, a great manager knows when to play different roles at different stages
of your career, including opening doors, pushing you to level up your game
while giving you a reality check.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">But
what should artists consider before hiring a manager? As Syaheed of Bedsty
Artist Management explains, “</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Make sure they understand you, and make sure they
understand what you need to do. It’s a two way street. The manager is only as
good as the artist. If the artist sucks, even if the manager has all the
contacts in the world, he’s not going to be able to do much. You must have a
manager that respects you, but you must also respect the manager, because we partake
in the same risks as you. We are not going to get on the train with you if we
don’t like where the train is headed. Of course, there are many types of
managers, so pick one that understands you, your music and your vision.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMQLlqyVHRXGFRx3m6PwDrBLgN68XjmEKPqVNGsNqpeU8zK29-J-MvuzNmDOgjFnlep4h2ldaaDup-a2w7JtUXTD2DUVB0madynGjiMpr2kTMuOVzc_gHYmuFgiHtXYiyixJclYkoqn4B/s1600/W5ikk76T_400x400.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMQLlqyVHRXGFRx3m6PwDrBLgN68XjmEKPqVNGsNqpeU8zK29-J-MvuzNmDOgjFnlep4h2ldaaDup-a2w7JtUXTD2DUVB0madynGjiMpr2kTMuOVzc_gHYmuFgiHtXYiyixJclYkoqn4B/s1600/W5ikk76T_400x400.jpeg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Syaheed, Director, Bedsty Management</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">With four unique acts Sheikh Haikel, Wicked Aura, Sezairi, and Kevin
Lester (now known as THELIONCITYBOY) under his care, Syaheed is a partner,
visionary, mentor, parent and strategist all rolled into one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This year, some of his biggest achievements include signing a major
label record deal for Sezairi on the back of producing RoomToBreathe series on
his YouTube; signing a landmark development deal for THELIONCITYBOY with
Apl.de.ap's BMBX; turning Wicked Aura around financially to make possible their
next record; and having Sheikh Haikel re-enter the Malaysian market, appearing
on Maharaja Lawak Mega - with a weekly viewership of 1.5 million viewers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He added, “A manager only truly becomes a manager when he has things
to manage. At the very early start, the manager is a promoter and talent
developer, but a manager also has all these other little functions and roles
too. Once the artist becomes slightly more successful and in demand with more
clients seeking for him, then the true manager roles starts to come in; because
you’re managing the information in and out, delegating where necessary, and
finding the partnerships where necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So at the start, you will probably need a person who is more promoter
and talent developer more than a manager, but of course unless he’s a friend,
you’re probably seen as a commodity with so many other artists out there, and
you probably need to pay a bit of money or cut him in. Meanwhile, if you have a
best friend-type of guy who has ideas and can help you out, rope him in!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MBIA interviewed Syaheed to share his thoughts on what makes a great artist
manager, his relationship with his artists, his marketing strategies, and in
particular, the long and hard efforts put behind THELIONCITYBOY which
eventually caught the eyes of Apl.de.ap’s team and offered him a label deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did you get started as an artist
manager?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I
stumbled into it. I really wanted to get involved with the band SIXX that Kevin
Lester had started. Back then, I was producing Hip Hop & R&B music and
was pretty successful at it. But handling live production for a band was not my
immediate strength. I really wanted to see this band make it because they were
so good, so I literally willed myself into their fold by making myself very
useful by utilizing the relationships I had already in Malaysia and Singapore
to get them seen. I landed them a spot on Sunburst KL Festival. From then on,
it evolved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I then realised I was pretty good at it. I felt I was adding even more
value as a manager then I would as a producer. I had learnt a lot hanging around
established Malaysian artists and their managers and that was my education, a
class I am still attending <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Describe what kind of manager
you are. Are you a promoter like Simon Fuller? A mentor like Jon Landau
(managing Bruce Springsteen)? A partner like Albert Grossman (with Bob Dylan)?
Or an autocrat like Tom Parker (like how he visioned and shaped Elvis)?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'd imagine I'm a hybrid of all four - playing different roles to the
needs of my artist. If I had to pick one, I would believe I am a partner in their
development, a part of the process. But one thing is consistent is that I
always let my artist have their creative freedom, giving my two cents when
needed, but they would have control of that. I just lay the facts and manage
the expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">How do you manage
their expectations?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Every artist has this dilemma. They want to do their art, but they also
need money to survive and hopefully excel. They expect to make money from doing
what they want to do. So managing expectations would be in the form of pointing
out the bigger challenges and opportunities on a short and long term basis, and
weighing for them the consequences of putting out music that would only serve
themselves emotionally but not necessarily connect with the audience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Do you face this
problem with your own artists?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">All the time, and it’s fair, because music is such an emotional product,
especially to its creator, but there are artists that are slightly more
business savvy and pragmatic and know how to balance that. But it gets a bit more
dangerous if the artist does a certain type of music and expects to do really
well when in truth the music may in fact be very difficult to sell. So that’s
when I need to manage expectations, so that they don’t get completely let down.
It’s also partly why we are still quite broke (laughs), but we’ve come to a
consensus on what they are comfortable with. After all, I’m not managing a
K-pop group where we have to stick to a certain formula. I believe my artists
are talented. Maybe they would be more respected when they are dead and gone than
when they are alive, like Van Gough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It’s like a parent-child relationship, where you are constantly shifting
and adjusting, and getting them out of their comfort zone to try new things and
evolve. Some artists are open to adjusting but some are stubborn. But it goes
both ways. I’m not always right, because if I was, I would be more successful
than what I am now. I learn more from every mistake than from my good fortune.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are you a road manager?
Business manager? Legal advisor? Or all of the above?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Again, a hybrid of all three. I've played all three in different
stages of my career. I needed to, because I had to learn it - from scratch. You
could say I believe in starting by washing the dishes, or in the mailroom, and
earning my place and proving my worth. I have to add I am not legally trained –
I just read the fine print, and understand it enough to break it down in layman
terms.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These days, I have a great friend and partner in Aboo, who is
basically our Bedsty Artists' road manager. He is fantastic at what he does so
I know our guys are well taken care of when they're on the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your biggest
achievement as an artist manager?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For me personally, it’s being sustainable while doing it. We could do
with some growth so I can build a bigger team to amplify what we want to do
even further, and that’s the goal now. But to be at it year in and year out is
pretty dope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are some of the biggest
challenges you face as an artist manager?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Resources: Time & money. We never have enough of either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As an artist manager, I've focused entirely on the development of
Singapore artists, original Singapore music artists. And that also means
breaking stereotypes on how dope they truly are. It’s the mindset that
"local" is not good enough that is my biggest barrier. So to overcome
that, I find every opportunity possible to get my artists outside of Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><u>On hiring interns</u></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Very often, these interns whom I work with want to be artists and musicians themselves. But I don’t have the heart to tell them that, “no, your talent is here” instead. Every person deserves to sail their own ship, and if they do find that their path is in management, it’s a bonus. Just like me, I started out as a music producer, stumbled into artist management, and only decided later that I wanted to focus my efforts here.</i></blockquote>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What makes a good artist
manager? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had a discussion with Denis Ladegaillerie, CEO of Believe Digital on
this actually. He told me that the role of the artist manager is the most
complex role in the entire music ecosystem... you need to have an appreciation
for talent, be able to spot it well and help the artist develop, be informed of
new opportunities and technology, be a risk taker as you are dependent on the
success of your artist, understand legal intricacies that affects the artist
and the deals that come, have business acumen and manage resources to make it
profitable for your artist and you.. you name it, it goes on. And obviously, I
agree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Any difference between
managing a band versus an individual artist?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Definitely. With a band, there are more personalities to deal with.
Income wise, there will be more mouths to feed, but fund raising is also
slightly easier. If I need ten thousand dollars to be raised, I can ask ten
band members to reach out to their network of family and friends for a thousand
each, which on the other hand can be much more daunting to a single artist to
get that same amount.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">The four acts under my care have very different directions, deliberately
too, because I don’t want one act to cannibalize another when it comes to
opportunities. There’s also egos to manage, because they are all competitive,
and they all want to succeed, which is a good thing. But I don’t want them to
feel like my capacity has been compromised because I favor one over another,
because I don’t. I have a professional relationship with all four of them, and
we have a friendship just as much, and we take care of each other’s families.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What do you look
out for when signing an act?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">My baseline is that they have to be able to do fantastic live shows. If
they can’t do great recordings at the moment, never mind, but you really have
to be entertaining when you’re on stage. All my acts can achieve that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBde_8kLaNfAN1pqbDEKpBK8X6zoT2gKUFVIkFxeztMp9Z-6b6ySjICrUgm8_v9P6gi9xXYFDJHBZzfWK7tI9VxW_Z1vLrZkoIx-rbzpgkrHRPXvxcfv-lJd2KfRUnGqfnlKW51OfG4Bh0/s1600/haikel+1.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBde_8kLaNfAN1pqbDEKpBK8X6zoT2gKUFVIkFxeztMp9Z-6b6ySjICrUgm8_v9P6gi9xXYFDJHBZzfWK7tI9VxW_Z1vLrZkoIx-rbzpgkrHRPXvxcfv-lJd2KfRUnGqfnlKW51OfG4Bh0/s1600/haikel+1.tif" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheikh Haikel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Sheikh Haikel educates me on that as he’s a top notch live performer.
His presence is second to none. Wicked Aura – a no brainer. It’s such a shame
folks haven’t yet come around to experience their full band shows as much.
Sezairi – I hope after Music Matters, everybody who came to watch went away
just mind blown because he just raised the bar, and he’s only just getting
started.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Why I got involved with SIXX was also because they’re an energetic and
infectious band. They have to sound and look tight. Now, even as a soloist, when
THELIONCITYBOY goes overseas to perform, he would see some of the very best
acts there and think, “How do I compete on this level?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">So pushing him out of his comfort zone was part of the process. He is a
really hungry guy, and if something went wrong during the show, he gets more
upset than anyone else, and he would be the hardest person on himself, and I
would be the one instead to ask him to chill. I guess it makes it easier for me
as a manager, because he’s extremely self-driven. On the flipside, if I need to
give him feedback, he would listen, and it would be up to him to digest that
process. But with all the artists to a certain degree, they appreciate what I
say or don’t say, and we have a mutual understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Do you wear
different hats for different artists?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Yes. With Kevin it has always been partnership role, because when we
started on the journey, we were really insignificant, and we evolved and grew
together. With Sezairi, it’s more of strategy and positioning him differently. I
would like to think I have come to a point that I fully understand his musical
sense to know where he would like to go with his journey. With Haikel it’s very
interesting because I’ve learnt a lot from him, just as much as he has entrusted
in me in shaping things for him these last 4 years. He would share how he would
do things, his preference, his set and sequence, and so on, and at the same
time he would turn to me and ask, “So what is your take?” He would consult me
on his ideas, and for someone as senior as that, he’s mentoring me as much as
I’m giving back to him. He has plenty of ideas, and from my end it would be, “Which
of these ideas make most business sense?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">With Wicked Aura, creatively they are pretty much set, but it was a matter
of reviving them financially. So it was cut, cut, cut, let’s not have this and
that, let’s do this instead, and put them back together again, so that they can
carry forward and work on the project that they have been planning on for the
longest time. And I’ve heard the raw recordings and it is amazing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJExF4C0sU0pAPGH4tc7jcXnKm9Ul90tyKqvek0W6okvOCG8vMFVRbB2KZDgXrebgKZrzbKYf8tVxKMRAf2H4jdKOkF3b0NpaWACIF7RrZarc9sgP5kL90OuEszmQhKh7KQrDrVUEkvL_/s1600/Wicked+Hi-Res+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJExF4C0sU0pAPGH4tc7jcXnKm9Ul90tyKqvek0W6okvOCG8vMFVRbB2KZDgXrebgKZrzbKYf8tVxKMRAf2H4jdKOkF3b0NpaWACIF7RrZarc9sgP5kL90OuEszmQhKh7KQrDrVUEkvL_/s1600/Wicked+Hi-Res+1.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wicked Aura</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">How do your
artists remain financially sustainable?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Our paychecks come in spikes: there are months when we make money, and
there are months that we don’t, but as long as they are continuously producing
good music and great performances, we can definitely expect that we can keep
growing. When we are in production mode, it’s a challenge to find funding, so
we need to work out how we can spread out our resources evenly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Make no mistake. All four of them – they are the best in what they do,
but our economic situation means that even at that level, they all struggle
financially. Wicked Aura is healthy, but I cannot get all thirteen members to
commit full time to it, so they have other jobs, because there’s simply not
enough money for each person to earn a decent salary for them to commit 100%
full time. So there’s a dedicated structure and understanding that if we need
to activate Wicked Aura, there’s a priority for everyone to come together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Sheikh Haikel is a different case. He has regular gigs, he’s on Okto, he
has started a wonderful school at Balmoral Plaza called School of Music, and we
would try to find ways to fund his next album. It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario.
We want to commit more time, but hey, where are we going to find the money?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">There are government grants that can help. But we look at it as help
rather than the first place to go to, because from my point of view, if at
anytime they decide to switch that off, and we are only reliant on one source
of funding, then we would be in deep trouble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Wicked Aura already has a model that was generating some cash, but not
in a way that I wanted them to, because they were not playing as a full band,
but as a percussion troupe. Now we are in the midst of transitioning them into
a full band, but they could still make money performing at corporate events. After
all, they were the ones to make Batucada performances popular during corporate
events, but with so many similar acts coming up - and these are the same acts
which they helped to mentor and grow - they are now competing for the same
business, and Wicked Aura will need to do something different. And because
Wicked Aura is at this level, we will not reduce our price, even if it means
accepting fewer shows, so everyone needs to bite the bullet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">I suppose this
ties back with how you build them as a brand.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Yes, in the performance space, your value is measured by how much
entertainment you can bring. Usually it’s by word of mouth – that you guys are
the best – and also pitching them actively to event organizers. I may not have
the time to put in as much effort as I want to, but to overcome that, we work
with various booking agents to refer them back to us. Every single live show is
advertisement for the next gig. In Singapore, it’s all about how entertaining
you are. There are times when we turn an event down because we can’t reasonably
achieve a good sound from that show, so we had to respectfully decline. If we
are going to do a gig that doesn’t sound good, that’s going to do us more
disservice than anything. So maintaining that kind of standard would help us
get the next gig or show. Very often, our potential clients see us on YouTube
or live and then decided to hire us.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgqf4R5hDlCcTCZWR2g6ukrd8Do-v5HRgKZQGmgaliQ3R4B5BX0LvmEAhcFrbaR4Jqk0Mo0HY3Tgia6bUTqAy8YBEToj-NMX64B3ny5hAmIQyScBFwanwQ5do1gvVxlmTnAORFqCj0Y1w/s1600/Sezairi+Profile+Photo+01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgqf4R5hDlCcTCZWR2g6ukrd8Do-v5HRgKZQGmgaliQ3R4B5BX0LvmEAhcFrbaR4Jqk0Mo0HY3Tgia6bUTqAy8YBEToj-NMX64B3ny5hAmIQyScBFwanwQ5do1gvVxlmTnAORFqCj0Y1w/s1600/Sezairi+Profile+Photo+01.png" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><u style="background-color: transparent;">On Sezairi</u><br />When Sezairi first came to me, I told him that unlike with his previous arrangement, there is no safety net. There is no magical funding machine behind me. We had to start from scratch. After considering carefully, he took the leap with me. Sezairi is now on a completely different path. It doesn’t matter that he was a Singapore Idol any more. Sezairi has proven that he has the talent, capacity, charm, stage presence and creativity. If we open the right doors, I truly believe that he will be something legendary. He is not an artist that can be easily copied. He’s not just a musician, he’s not just a singer. He is an artist. He’s got a wonderful voice. His tone and style is unique. He can straddle between the English, Malay and Indonesian markets really well. He has the ability to appeal to the mainstream market, yet he also has an edge that the indie folks should appreciate as well. He’s got it in all these different areas, the challenge now is to take those ingredients and make it seen to his current fans, so that they love him more, and also to a new audience so that they can discover him.</i></blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">What is your
marketing strategy?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Our strategy is to refocus on the fans, using every opportunity to
engage them and reach out to new audiences, getting them excited and to support
us. For example, for Sezairi, the priority is to change people’s mindsets of
him. He had an idea to take his music to really interesting locations and
spaces, and we did it with this in mind: refocus on fan engagement and have
them subscribe to him on his YouTube channel so that any future material that
he’s putting out, people can engage with him. We wondered why is it that
although he’s on TV half the time, he’s only had two hundred subscribers when
we started his YouTube channel. This means that even if he were to put out any
video, there won’t be much impact. So we had to start from scratch, pull his
audiences back to his own spaces. It gave him the ability to present himself in
his natural environment (as opposed to what people only see him as on TV), and
also engage his fans on a closer, more personal level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We produced our pilot with the help of No Average Joe, the one where he
was playing in the living room of his grandmother’s house. We did a total of
four episodes last year. In order to encourage people to subscribe to his <a href="http://smarturl.it/subscribetosezairi"><span style="color: blue;">channel</span></a>, we did teasers, created a hashtag to engage them, and gave viewers
goals to hit, like setting a target of 500 subscribers and promised to release
a new video immediately. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That was what we did for THELIONCITYBOY too recently. We started with
about 300 subscribers during Music Matters week, and we put a goalpost of 800
for JAMA. Never mind if we don’t hit the target, we would release it on 1<sup>st</sup>
June. But if we do, we will release it earlier and reward those people who have
subscribed. After that campaign we shot up to 560 subscribers. Not so bad for
one week’s work. For THELIONCITYBOY’s <a href="http://smarturl.it/subscribeandpyco"><span style="color: blue;">channel</span></a>, every week since last month, we
dropped a new song. Sometimes it comes with a video. It may not be a full
length music video, just a teaser or jif image for fun, so that they could be
shared.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Currently we are shifting away from Facebook. Instagram is still very
strong, but Instagram is quite hard to grow because it’s not an immediate sharing
type of platform. What we try to do is to build a central point, which is the
artist’s website that will aggregate content from YouTube, Instagram and
Tumblr, which are our points of creation that feeds and populates the website.
Twitter and Facebook are outpoints for communication and sharing. If folks
follow us on YouTube and Instagram, technically they get the best of
everything. We are also trying to build our mailing list. That takes a bit more
thought, because we want to give more value to the user rather than just
sending them updates.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Who manages the
social media?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Some of the artists are more hands on in execution, but I think a lot
about the strategy usually. The whole point of social media for us is to create
and facilitate conversations. You want people to not only converse with us, but
also to each other. That’s the ultimate goal – for fans to talk to each other
and doing things for us, with us. That’s what they do for the very popular
artists. Currently, it’s still heavily driven by us, pushing out content
consistently. Sezairi is very good at it, THELIONCITYBOY content keeps getting
better, Sheikh Haikel is always on Instagram. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Our current project is for Wicked Aura to synergize everyone.
Individually they use these social media points, but they all don’t post to
Wicked Aura’s accounts for now. They thought that the Wicked Aura account must
only have official Wicked Aura stuff. I said, “No, no. Whatever rubbish and
nonsense that you’re doing on your own, throw it into the Wicked Aura account
too because it is who you are.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Do you practice
putting a budget to promote your campaigns? How do you decide when to spend and
how much to spend?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">It depends. I decide by looking at how much impact it can make; if that
campaign can potentially reach out to 10,000 more people than we could before.
For example, if Sezairi or THELIONCITYBOY is going to be on TV, or Haikel is
going to drop something out; if there is attention on the project like if
there’s a picture of them with another famous artist, so you can target not
only your fans but also the fans of the other artist. It’s not about hijacking,
but about creating conversations. Why were they pictured together – get fans to
talk about that. Then it makes our artists and our pages more socially relevant
in whatever algorithm that exists in the underbelly of these social networks,
so you can come up more in search in future. Rather than posting for the sake
of getting 1000 likes, which is not the goal, we want to seed the conversation,
to share that moment with more people and fans so that he gets more exposed.
Even if you were to get a question like “Who’s this guy?” That’s good enough,
because he took notice, and hopefully he’s inquisitive enough to find out more.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><u>On maximizing resources</u> </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I have this theory which I share with everyone: because we have so little resources, we really have to maximize its impact. If I had $50,000 to buy a billboard ad, I wouldn’t choose to spend it on placing my ad on Ion in Orchard Road. I would choose to spend it on a billboard in the middle of Times Square, New York city where I can gain more eyeballs, and even take a photograph of that and send it back to the media press in Singapore and create a buzz on its own.</i></blockquote>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Could you share with us Kevin Lester's journey to being signed to BMBX and what role did you play in this whole journey?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
It’s never a single moment that results in outcomes like this. It’s the 6 years we've put in together, investing in the music we create, the journeys and tours we broke the bank on to get overseas, to get better that gets you noticed, and respected, and worth other people investment in you, with their time, with their money, with their support.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTj3AYxysQRMxmqFzHK2e4NMqkLWwyszqu7VkdiVbAFJDiMXEB0VLh0I2qOzxPGltuCMCtIQPCqC4cRIW1bnjwehsWIrPlZG6pB-0MRA4RYuBaSMDeC93HjPZKLO0-steWlnPzzy5g5-K/s1600/Kevin+Lester+-+option+00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTj3AYxysQRMxmqFzHK2e4NMqkLWwyszqu7VkdiVbAFJDiMXEB0VLh0I2qOzxPGltuCMCtIQPCqC4cRIW1bnjwehsWIrPlZG6pB-0MRA4RYuBaSMDeC93HjPZKLO0-steWlnPzzy5g5-K/s1600/Kevin+Lester+-+option+00.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Lester, now known as THELIONCITYBOY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><u>On THELIONCITYBOY</u><o:p> </o:p></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>At each of his live performance, his fans would be there, but about 80% of the crowd has not seen him before. Regardless of that statistic, every time he performs, the crowd just goes bananas and it becomes a party at the end of the day, so there’s always that impact. He may not be part of the current Indie Rock trend, but the indie kids still like him. And they follow him on his socials thereafter.</i></blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I already have heard of BMBX previously because when they were working
on a charity project for Typhoon Haiyan victims, they worked with JD from Pop
Shuvit, whom I knew. Then I got a call a few months ago. They told me that they
saw Kevin’s stuff, and have been sharing it with the whole team and everyone
loves what they have been seeing. This was just after Overdrive had been
released. They said the feedback for Overdrive was very positive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THELIONCITYBOY has been to the US four to five times already. The
first time was April 2012. We managed to get a couple of small shows linked up from
a friend, Fiona Bloom, and that was his first couple of performances in New
York. Subsequently, he performed at A3C (All 3 Coasts), a top hip hop festival
in Atlanta, and moved on to CMJ (College Music Festival) in New York, and
things were picking up. In 2013, we went SXSW (South by Southwest, Austin) and
CMW (Canadian Music Week, Toronto), took a break, and this year he went back
again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As they say, and especially in the music industry, it’s very important
that first, you show up. The more you’re there, the more people take notice.
Showing up was half the job, and he was showing up at all these different
places. He was doing very good shows, and had this little thing going on. We escalated
our efforts with his EP Everything You Love, You Hate, released in April 2013
via Vertusent Music Group/Sony RED. By May, he had his new track called PYCO
(Put Your City On), which he wrote and produced out of his love for the
football team, the Lions XII, just before they won the Malaysian Cup. He first
performed it at Music Matters in 2013. It generated some buzz and later in
January, when it was used in the promo video for the football team, it won many
people over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With each solid song created and produced, there would be a strong
idea or visual concept behind it, and each song would be released as a single
about every 4-6 weeks, shared on YouTube, topping Deezer Singapore charts,
shared on Spotify and other channels. The idea was to create so much content
consistently that more fans will start to take notice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I believe, that was also how BMBX got interested. They looked at the
content, the music, the videos of him performing live, and they saw the
potential he had. They wanted to invest in South East Asian artists, and we
were in the right place, in the right time, doing the right things. And now the
goal is to take it further, by developing him as a regional force. This
includes putting resources behind him, getting interesting producers that we
probably not have access to, to work with him, and this will help him expand
creatively as an artist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ultimately, THELIONCITYBOY was engaged in the deal right from the
start, because this is his life. My role was to make sure that we cross all the
“t”s and dots all the “i”s when the deal seals. He has to look at it from “Hey
this is my life, is this right for me? Do these people have the same vibe as me?”
Ultimately it was his decision. Even if I were to convince him night and day to
do it, at the end of the day, I would still hand the case over to him to make
the final decision. Going back to the first point, and that’s why it’s a
partnership between us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The way I see my artists is that they are the value creators. They are
the reason why all of us have jobs, right? And there’s a difference between if
you’re an artist versus a musician. If you’re a musician, you’d still have to
rely on the artist to make sure that you have a job, because it’s the artist
that create the value, the fan following who would pay tickets to come through
the doors. That’s why artists need to have that high level of control over
their destiny. But the best artists would also know that there are some technical
and legal burdensome things they would rather let folks like us handle.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><u><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On staying independent</span></u></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even after signing the (BMBX) deal, we still hold a mindset that we
should never depend solely on one party for support. There must be a way which
we are working and giving just as much as we are receiving. It’s in everybody’s
interest to make Kevin succeed. If I find funding sources to support this, I
would bring it to the table too. It’s a two-way contribution.</span></i></blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">About Syaheed<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Syaheed is a central figure in the entertainment
ecosystem in South East Asia. He has produced award-winning music, launched
long running event franchises, and grown the careers of artists like Sezairi
and THELIONCITYBOY.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Other than his role as Director at Bedsty Artist Management, Syaheed is
also Country Manager & Trade Marketing Manager for Believe Digital and Vice
President, SGMUSO Council for The Music Society, Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">For more
information on Bedsty’s artists, please visit <a href="http://bedsty.com/">http://bedsty.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">This interview was conducted by Emily Haw. Reach out to her on Twitter @emilyhaw<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-53123407061377476492014-05-21T23:44:00.001-07:002014-06-13T00:17:37.038-07:00Speech by NMP Janice Koh at Music Matters 2014<div class="Section1">
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">ON THURS 22 MAY 2014</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Distinguished guests, ladies and
gentleman, a good morning to all of you. May I first take this opportunity to
give a special welcome to all our friends who are visiting Singapore. It’s
really wonderful to see so many music artists, producers, managers and thought
leaders from the industry, both from here and abroad, at <a href="http://www.allthatmatters.asia/main/" target="_blank">Music Matters</a> today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Thank you, Jasper, for the
introduction, and the invitation to make this welcome address. It is indeed a
great pleasure to be part of this prestigious event. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">I have spent a good part of the
last two years or more as a Nominated Member of Parliament, representing
Culture and the Arts in Singapore. As an actor and arts practitioner for over
two decades, working in theatre, television and film, it is a privilege to play
this role in helping to shape the development of Singapore’s art scene. But
today, I’m going to talk about Singapore music, and in particular, Singapore
English-language music. I’m not from the music scene, yet I feel I have
journeyed a little with the music industry over the last two years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="page2"></a><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">This journey began in January 2012,
interestingly enough, at the old Parliamentary Chamber, which had been
converted into a performing venue at The Arts House. I was at a forum attended
by a house full of freelance music artists, promoters and producers. They had
gathered to discuss the state of the music industry in Singapore and the need
to speak with one collective voice. I was probably the only non-musician in the
whole room. That many talented Singapore musicians and indie bands were still
largely invisible in mainstream media simply floored me. How do we even begin
to talk about a sustainable music industry when there is so little awareness of
homegrown music amongst Singaporeans themselves? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Barely a few months after, at the
2012 Budget Debate, I gave one of my first speeches in Parliament about the
need for a broadcast quota in Singapore. It was the first of many speeches and
parliamentary questions raised on the issue of music development, and while the
journey towards change has not been easy over the last two years, I can safely
say that as a result of deeper consultation with government and advocacy on the
part of industry, a significant amount of effort and attention is being placed
on music development in Singapore today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Government has played no small part
in this process by promoting dialogue between music makers, broadcasters as
well as other industry partners, and there have been encouraging signs that
some positive changes are beginning to take place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">First. Radio has stepped up and
listened. In this age of Youtube, social media and new digital technologies, I
believe radio is still important. Culminating from meetings that were catalysed
by Music Matters, Mediacorp radio stations have been playing 1 song per hour on
English radio, and re-launched <a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Lush-995-s14775/" target="_blank">Lush 99.5</a> as an indie station, dedicated to
supporting this cause with its “Lush loves local” hashtag and with regular
programming of Singapore-made music. It may not be enough. But for now, it’s a
good start, and we hope more radio stations will come on board. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Second. We have been asking for
greater consolidation within government agencies and a strong vision that would
take a holistic view of the music industries’ needs. I believe they are
listening, with recent news that the National Arts Council may transition to
become the central agency to administer all music grants. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">9.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Third, on copyright protection. Increasing online
piracy is a global problem, which adversely affects the creative sector. In
response, the Government is intending to amend Singapore's Copyright Act to
enable rights holders to protect their rights more effectively against websites
whose primary purpose is to offer infringing content. Alongside this, efforts
will be made to reinforce the public's understanding of and respect for
copyright in general, and to promote better availability of legitimate content.
The music industry in Singapore has shown strong support for these objectives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Finally, music export has continued
to be an intrinsic part for industry development due to the relatively small
size of Singapore’s market. We welcome back Deon, Caracal and Kevin Lester from
their recent shows at Canadian Music Week (CMW). Canadian Music Week is an
important platform for us in the music event calendar, and with many Singapore
artists regularly being invited to perform there highlights the ongoing
interest in our talent.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="page4"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">11.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">We’re also beginning to see
industry success for Singapore artists. Sony Music Singapore has recently
signed three acts - <a href="http://bedsty.com/sezairi/" target="_blank">Sezairi</a>, <a href="http://www.wearetrick.com/" target="_blank">Trick</a> and <a href="http://www.gentlebones.com/gentlebones/" target="_blank">Gentle Bones</a>, whom, I understand, will
be making their appearance in the programme later. <a href="http://cosmicarmchair.com/" target="_blank">Cosmic Armchair</a> was recently
signed to Belgian EDM (Electronic Dance Music) label Alfa Matrix; <a href="http://wormrot.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Wormrot</a> was
recognised as one of Grindcore’s Top 10 bands worldwide by OC Weekly; <a href="http://www.monstercat.net/" target="_blank">MonsterCat</a>’s debut album ‘The Violet Hour’ reached Number 1 on iTunes, and local
labels such as <a href="http://www.darkerthanwax.com/Home" target="_blank">Darker Than Wax</a> are building a strong presence internationally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">12.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">Many of these developments would
not have been possible without the music industry coming together to speak with
one voice. This happened two years ago, when the Music Society, Singapore or
<a href="http://www.sgmuso.org/" target="_blank">SGMUSO</a> was born on this very platform at Music Matters. We know that industry
associations have always played a big part in promoting music development in
countries like Canada, Australia, the UK and the US, and it is no different
here in Singapore. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the
founding members of SGMUSO and its current team, including Graham Perkins,
Syaheed, Mike See, Danny Loong, Kevin Matthews and Sarah Sim, and all its 820
members, who have come together, and put their vested interests aside to
tirelessly push for the promotion and advancement of Singapore-made music. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">This week, over 100 members of
SGMUSO have been given free access to participate in the Music Matters
conference and the exclusive Music Matters Academy that begins tomorrow. This
year, the Academy has been expanded to include all artists performing at Music
Matters Live, which will enable a greater opportunity for learning and
collaboration. For this, I’d like to thank Jasper and HP for their kind
support.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">14.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">The Singapore music industry has
made some good strides, but I believe we still have a long journey ahead of us.
Deeper, more sustainable efforts are needed if we want to transform what is now
just a Singapore music scene into a Singapore music industry. This can only be
achieved if key stakeholders play a part to ensure the wider accessibility of
Singapore-made music. For a start, I’m proposing three ideas: First, a radio
broadcast quota to help build an audience and jumpstart the demand for
homegrown music. Second, a strong export strategy that can tap into the
commercial and soft power potential of our music talent in international
markets. Third, a central agency to promote excellence, support the needs of
the music industry and develop a strong vision for everyone to work towards.
Hopefully, as I mentioned earlier, one of them is being looked into right now –
so, one down, two to go! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.05pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">15.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">The government has said that it
cannot do this alone. Well, I have no doubt that with sustained efforts from
industry professionals and associations like SGMUSO, to promote and advocate
for Singapore music, we will get there in good time. Singapore is young. But I
believe we can make our music a part of the lives and memories - not only of
Singaporeans but music listeners worldwide - and that, one day, like many
countries all over the world, we too will have a strong music heritage to look
back upon, and be proud of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria;">16. On that note, I wish each and
every one of you a wonderful and productive time at the conference. Thank you!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><i>Published with permission</i></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-20865505213328230732014-05-08T04:14:00.001-07:002014-06-12T10:11:11.708-07:00Producer Roland Lim takes part in 3 month NAC-sponsored attachment programme in UK to help local emerging bands and artistes.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The <a href="https://www.nac.gov.sg/arts-you/for-everyone/youth/overseas-youth-arts-attachments">NAC Youth Arts Overseas Attachment Programm</a>e is an initiative that is part of the
National Arts Council’s on-going efforts to develop youth arts capacities in
Singapore, and is managed in collaboration with <a href="http://artswork.org.uk/home"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Artswork </span></a>– which is UK’s national youth arts development agency with
25 years of experience. The programme offers the opportunity for participants
to embark on an immersive learning experience at a mix of established UK youth
arts organisations. Upon return, participants are expected to contribute to the
youth arts landscape by developing or facilitating opportunities for young
people to be engaged in and through the arts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Through
participation in the attachments hosted by relevant and established youth arts
organisations in the UK, there will be opportunities to network with
international counterparts and learn from first-hand experience. The aim is to
facilitate knowledge transfer for the benefit of Singapore’s arts and youth
communities, including those marginalised.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This year’s recipient
in the music category is Roland Lim, a young producer/ mix engineer who has
produced multiple hits in Australia, Singapore and across Asia. At the age of
26, he produced and mixed his first major label album for Australian metal band
Make Them Suffer’s #1 charting (iTunes Australia) debut album 'Neverbloom',
which also peaked at #12 on the ARIA Australian Charts and #74 in the Billboard
200 and was released under RoadrunnerRecords/Warner Music (Nickelback,
Slipknot, Opeth).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">His production
work has won numerous awards, including Best Instrumental/World Music Award [In
Each Hand A Cutlass] at the VIMA Awards 2011, as well as Noise Singapore Song
Of The Year Awards in 2009 [For This Cycle] and 2010 [Run Neon Tiger] and most
recently four #1 chart hits with Pop rockers The Summer State, Villes, Tujuh
and Gentle Bones in 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">MBIA spoke to
Roland in an exclusive interview to find out more about his intentions on
applying for the internship, what he plans to learn from the programme, how it
would benefit other emerging musicians in future, and of course, his own
journey as a musician.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zwq87jrncUJb6p55XEBUFVJBocJea2emGq4GqRHtNfv6_Rd6wVvWBx_XtKLojqzlPVW1fVxXfJyQiZntvO3XtFdCotwGcC8D9YudiiBNt_iCNYRA2KgGeoaa_F7S-NGmhwVA8MfvYxJF/s1600/C34C1375.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zwq87jrncUJb6p55XEBUFVJBocJea2emGq4GqRHtNfv6_Rd6wVvWBx_XtKLojqzlPVW1fVxXfJyQiZntvO3XtFdCotwGcC8D9YudiiBNt_iCNYRA2KgGeoaa_F7S-NGmhwVA8MfvYxJF/s1600/C34C1375.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roland Lim, recipient of NAC Youth Arts Overseas Attachment Programme </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I started
producing music about 10 years ago in Australia. I fell in love with the craft
of making records when I stepped into my first recording studio to record my
own band. The place was like my church. I really wanted to helm the console,
the board, and help bands create an amazing sound. That’s where I started my
journey in music. I didn’t study music. I took a Bachelor’s in Marketing and
Media, but I was playing in a band, and when it came to our first demo, our
drummer had a contact to a very good studio, so when I first entered the studio
it was like a life changing experience for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Before
Australia, I only played piano for a bit. My parents forced me to learn an
instrument, and I didn’t like the piano, so I started playing the guitar in a
band instead. We were doing okay, and had some good gigs, and playing with some
big bands. And because of my first experience in the studio, I thought that I
was suited to be in the studio more than playing the guitar on stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Back then, I
didn’t know what a producer was, and for me I simply started out as a recording
engineer. It was only when bands started labeling me as a producer then I
started getting more confident as a producer. In those days, there were more
internships. I was in a country where internships were encouraged and I could
meet people and work for free, and anyone would welcome an extra hand, just to
move stuff or even get coffee. I wouldn’t call myself a coffee boy, but I was
probably one of the last few batches of those who made coffee that kind of
thing. I don’t think it happens as much these days. That culture kind of died.
I was lucky to be able to sit in with producers, and sometimes since they are
busy with the big stuff, they would ask me if I wanted to work on the single
track of a smaller project, and I was happy to be able to receive these
opportunities. From there, I could work with different people and practice a
lot on my skills. I spent 80% of my time recording at home and only 20% at
university, and was very close to failing sometimes. It was sort of a double
life: I was going to school from 10am – 6pm in university, and 8pm – 2am at the
studio. I was very lucky to have met a friend’s friend who’d just built a
studio in a garage himself for ten months, but did not know how to use the
software. He offered my friend’s band to record there, and they asked me to
record them using this space.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The further
I’ve moved into my career, the more focused I’ve become as a producer’s role; I
would have other people record for me, and focus on things like sound effects,
song writing and arrangement instead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I started with
Metal, because I was in a heavy rock band. At that point in time, I loved
listening to metal a lot, as I was an angry young kid who had to be relocated
to a new country due to failing in the Singapore system. My prelims were pretty
bad, with 28 points, although I did ok for the finals with 12 points. My
teacher in Singapore said I had no hope, so I started studying really hard. My
parents also suggested that since I was doing so badly in Singapore, and we’ve
some inheritance from my grandma who had passed away, we can chip in some money
and send you over to Australia. They probably didn’t think that I can cut it
out in Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Picking up the
guitar was easy because I had many friends who were great guitarists and were
willing to share tips with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">When did you have your first break?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That was when
I was recording a metal band called Dyscord in Perth. That was also the first
time I got to use a recording studio. Getting into the industry or finding a
place to work up from was really hard. At that time, I really wanted to carve
out something in my music career, but coming from a traditional family, it
wasn’t something that I could openly reveal to my parents. So I was just
working on whatever I could find on the side and see where it takes me. I think
this sort of mentality works better for us rather than declare that I wanted to
this and that, pin all your hopes and dreams on it, and if you fail you would
get all depressed about it. I honestly think it’s a more realistic way of
approaching making your hobby as a career. Some people call it the “Two Trains
Theory”. You are doing something already, you can’t just jump across because
the other train is way behind. You should work on the second train and get it
to speed up to match the speed of the first one, then you can cross over. That
was what happened for my career. I was juggling my time in university and in
the studio, and only when it started working out then I decided to do this for
a living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Did your family support you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Coming from a
traditional Chinese family, they would show their love and support in a
different way, like asking if I needed money or help in other things in my
life. I didn’t understand their way of love previously, but now that I’m older
and maybe not as angry and retarded as I used to be, I’ve really come to
appreciate their support, like how they let me use their place to convert into
a studio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I came back in
2007, and experienced quite a bit of a culture shock. I’m pretty sure I rubbed
a lot of people the wrong way and pissed off a lot of people in the scene
because in Australia, people are really upfront and very blunt. If someone
didn’t play well, you’d just tell them it’s pretty bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The exposure I
had in Australia served as a good base for me, even though I had to start from
scratch again in Singapore. People heard my stuff and asked, “Who did this?” I
remember posting on S.O.F.T. and the comments asked if this was a local band,
so the stuff that I did in Australia helped to convince people of my work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What are the common issues that new emerging bands and
artistes face?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Our local
bands don’t do enough to build a fan base from people who are easily
impressionable. They try to impress fellow musicians more than potential fans.
They must learn to take a step back and see from a consumer’s perspective. For example,
some of them may think their one minute guitar part is awesome, but it would be
way too long for a normal listener. That’s a classic example of what a producer
needs to do. A musician may have a wide range of skills, whether is it playing
or programming, but he should not let that overcome the song. All the sounds,
instruments and production aspects have to serve the song, which is what a lot
of musicians are unable to separate themselves from. One may think his riff is
so cool and insists that it must be included in the song, but in fact, it may
not be helping the song itself as it is simply making it draggy and boring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What are the challenges that you face as a producer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One of the
main challenges is to convince bands that production involves a bit of songwriting
and arrangement. We also need to convince them that as producers, we can
provide musical input that can make the song better. A lot of them may not understand
the concept of producing. What I observe is that many of them are worried about
being “over-produced”. They think that they need to sound as true to
themselves, but the level at which they record that sounds as close to themselves
in the jam room does not hold up against a world standard recording. For a long
time, I’ve always pondered about this, and finally I realize we always hear
comments like “The band sounded great live, but then the recording doesn’t feel
as good.” I only cracked it a few months ago to be able to verbalize the reason.
When you listen to a band live, the sound is coming to you at a loud volume, it
encompasses you into their world and you feel you’re part of the music. When
you’re listening to a band on headphones, if you play exactly the same thing
and it doesn’t sound phenomenal, it’s because the musician has failed to bring
them into their world. So the job of the recording is different from a live
set. The recording has to have musical hooks and soundscapes to entice and lure
the listener into the musician’s world. When you trap them in there, then they
start loving the music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Similar issues
for singer-songwriters. When they play live, they just bring an acoustic guitar
or piano with vocal, but the recording will have much fuller arrangement with
strings and drums, which may not be possible to recreate during live. The point
is, they should not do try to do that. For the same song, there is a radio
format, a recording format and a live format, which are all different. But of course there are artistes who manage
to successfully replicate the same thing in the various formats, but musicians need
to be aware of the different listening experiences a consumer goes through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Our bands need
to try to reach international standards that, like it or not, are already set
by others, and it has to be achieved consistently. So our challenge as a new
and growing market is to ensure how our shows and acts are consistently great.
That’s how we can build a culture around it – what are the things that can
attract people to keep coming back for the experience. The impact is much
limited if you only do it once or twice a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What made you
apply for the NAC Overseas Youth Arts Attachment Programme?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I was already
helping a lot of the young bands with regards to marketing, performance and management.
They come to me for help and are very willing to learn. I definitely can
understand what they are going through because I was once a band too. What was
difficult is that I love producing more than anything, and I think that’s my
main key skill. When I help them in other aspects, it’s through advice and
experience. It’s not well planned out or properly executed. It’s not a solid
marketing plan and it’s not integrated or thoroughly thought out because I don’t
have enough time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So when the
opportunity came, I thought, “Hey I’m already doing this in my small capacity,
but it’s just that I don’t have the time or resources to do it in a more
structured way that is more impactful.” Moreover, one of the main things that
attracted to me to apply for this was that it provided the opportunity for me
to come back and partner NAC to spearhead programmes that can help these young emerging
bands. There are so many different aspects of music that I could move into. The
three months will give me some time off from recording work and focus on what I
can learn from there. I can’t do everything myself whether is it media grooming
or singer production or live stage grooming or marketing and branding. I might
be able to cover all aspects, maybe poorly, or I could focus on a few. The
ideas are not fixed and I have not decided yet. I may just focus on a few
aspects and do them myself, or I may take the whole lot and find people when I’m
back to collaborate with. In Singapore, the music industry is rather
fragmented, and to pull everyone together will be quite a mammoth task. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We </span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">understand that your
internship focuses on learning project management and music marketing. What do
you hope to achieve from the internship?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Planning is
one of the most important things that I’m trying to take back. You know with
musicians, no one likes to plan. No one likes to do the paper work or admin
work, everyone just wants to have fun and be cool. Planning is not cool.
(laughs) But that’s one of our strengths as Singaporeans. We are hardworking,
we are studious, we pay attention to details. The trick is whether we can incorporate
these strengths into music making. With these strengths, we can create a solid
plan, and from there, it’s about collaborating with others and we will definitely
have a good chance to succeed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Most musicians
started making music as a hobby, simply because they love music. But if they
want to take it to the next level as a professional, that’s where planning and management
skills come in. That is also where I want to hone myself. If you want to lead or
convince people or influence the scene, then you have to be good at planning,
good at managing people, and good at communicating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The programme hasn’t
been planned in concrete yet. It’s still quite flexible. The two main takeaways
I want to achieve are project management and music marketing, because that’s
what the organization is good at, and it’s also what I lack. But along the way,
I would want to also pick up other skills like production and songwriting. I’m
supposed to come up with a list of areas that I want to focus on after meeting
all the mentors within the first two weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Why music marketing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">That’s what a
lot of bands lack. They do not know how to market themselves, because no one is
comfortable marketing themselves. But if someone gives you ideas, or gives you concrete
imagery to show you how you can brand yourself, and if you’re agreeable with
it, then it’s doable. Many bands here when I ask them what they think of
themselves, they would hold a self-defeatist attitude and think they are not
good enough. But if you can tell them that they have the potential to head in a
certain greater direction, like Singapore’s next Jason Mraz or something, at
least we can give them some confidence and ideas to work their image towards.
It could be something as simple as not wearing that boring T-shirt when
performing on stage. Be creative. You’re selling art and entertainment. You’re
selling fun. So be fun. Give people a reason to be happy, because making music
is making people happy, even if it was metal or angry stuff, because it’s an
outlet of expression and to feel good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Another aspect
that I would like to focus on is mentoring. It’s different from a job, where
people pay me to push them really hard to deliver a product. Mentoring is about
inspiring people and encouraging them. NAC wants me to co-develop a few youth-centric
programmes with them. The purpose is to foster the growth of the music scene. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">How would you achieve scalability and sustainability?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">To be honest,
those are questions that I don’t have good answers to now. I would have to
think hard about these two issues. Sustainability is always hard. Everyone has
their own way of achieving sustainability. Like how Eric Ng was saying, you can
make a sustainable career in music, but you might have to be prepared to do
this and that. And that’s how I would probably approach it too. If you want to
make it sustainable, then you have to factor all these things. You must be
prepared to work with other people, to be an artist to sell your music. As for
scalability, it involves many other organizations such as SGMUSO, or even the
labels, to see if we can have more dialogue and discussion with them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What’s the first thing you need to do after your UK stint?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The first
thing I need to do when I’m back is to meet up with NAC and share with them my
findings, and discuss with them what is the best steps forward. If all else
fails, I’m also prepared to do this on my own anyway. I hope to spend some time
to hold talks and master classes to help these artistes, with the help of
experts in the industry. Getting this grant is like a statement of intent, so
that people know that I have managed to convince NAC to provide some support,
so there is some backing or elevation of what I hope to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Also, it goes
back to planning. You can have the best intentions but if there’s no proper
structure or framework to follow, the results will be limited. So creating a
framework will help to fasten the process to avoid past mistakes or pitfalls
that earlier generations face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">So are there any existing bands that you want to help immediately?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">There’s
definitely some conflict of interest as
there are bands that I manage personally and I would need to sit down with NAC
to work that out. But of course, it’s not just helping the bands that I’m handling,
which will be too myopic, but to be able to reach out and encourage more young
people to learn the skills faster. When they learn these skills at a younger
age, they would have more confidence to stick to it longer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Do you think we have enough good potential artistes out there?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">There is
talent in Singapore, but the problem is craft. A mastery of craft takes at
least ten years of your work. So even if an artiste is talented, you must keep
perfecting your craft to apply your talent. What makes me sad is when I see
talent unfulfilled as well. Like you said, scalability and sustainability is
important, so the job is to provide these emerging artistes ample opportunities
for them to maximize their talents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">What do you think are some of the biggest challenges that new artistes
face?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I would think
the biggest challenge would be to convince their target audience to support
them. To achieve this, it’s all about
craft. Craft in presenting yourself, craft in songwriting - writing songs that are
relatable. I’m not a talented person myself, but I work a lot on tweaking
everything to get it right. I usually only start at 60-70% and I tweak a lot to
get to 80-90%, and it’s a painful process. But there’s a saying, hard work will
always be talent when talent doesn’t work hard. The day that I don’t work hard
and start lazing off, I would start feeling the pressure knowing that someone
is going to beat me. This sort of unnecessary pressure works for me, and for
some artistes, they will need to feel this way too to continually push
themselves and their craft.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Do they not work hard enough?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s not only
about working hard, but also working smart. Some people work really hard, but
they don’t understand the craft, and it’s no point. They also need to understand
the market by conducting market research. Google is a good starting place.
Building a fan base is another. Asking your friends. Asking third parties. Working
with a producer helps. Working with a manager or publicist helps.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Are you confident of getting people to join you on a long term basis?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Whether it’s
long term depends on NAC’s funding and support as well. So one thing is to
learn how to write self-evaluation reports, so that you can convince the
funding to continue. These are the skills that musicians lack in general. I’ve
already spoken to a lot of people, and the response that I got when I announced
the internship was quite good. The people I meet at gigs have been very encouraging,
and people from SGMUSO are also doing very good things on their own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">It’s great that NAC is willing to support programmes like that. But how do
you think that eventually these initiatives could be self-sustaining?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I think once
you groom up a good amount of talent, you form templates. The key thing to make
it sustainable is to build future stars who will understand the skill sets and
they go places, and they can help bring up the next generation of talent. Just
like how Usher discovered Justin Beiber. I hope the people like your Sun Yan
Zis and JJ Lins and Tanya Chuas who are doing well out of the country – when they
have some time, they can share their experience or groom the next generation.
We do need more financially sustainable stars, then we can study how they did
it and try to replicate that. What we always lack is some form of guidance. We
have phenomenal talents like Charlie Lim, Inch Chua, Monstercat, Caracal, Great
Spy Experiment, and many others, they still have their day jobs or they do not
have the time or skill sets to pass down yet. But their time will come, and I hope
they all do well. We also have mentors like those from Noise Singapore. It is
happening already, but from what I notice is that there is a gap to fill in
from one generation to another. The infrastructure
is there, but if each generation can help support the next, then the impact can
be self-sustaining and extended.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<i>This interview was conducted and transcribed by Emily Haw. Reach out to her on Twitter @emilyhaw</i></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-67496696202527588872014-04-29T03:29:00.000-07:002014-06-12T10:11:46.116-07:00Behind the Scenes with Kirk Degiorgio (Organized by SGMUSO)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Behind the Scenes with Kirk Degiorgio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">26TH APRIL<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">KYO</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">8PM<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moderator: Cherry Chan
(Syndicate)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtvaA3Md6aJVEmcKUT2H7930klpdFU7caqKUPeT98bgepcuEL4JQW-nUadJ0KUTCuEC9Vzhzn6MLYBymzdG8-cShQj3lXaYePP1Hmri9txCHW-_uiZMnaewtMjxe5F68Klpe4a6N9No3W/s1600/Kirk_Degiorgio_2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijtvaA3Md6aJVEmcKUT2H7930klpdFU7caqKUPeT98bgepcuEL4JQW-nUadJ0KUTCuEC9Vzhzn6MLYBymzdG8-cShQj3lXaYePP1Hmri9txCHW-_uiZMnaewtMjxe5F68Klpe4a6N9No3W/s1600/Kirk_Degiorgio_2010.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirk Degiorgio (2010). Source: Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Full transcript</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: I’m a producer and DJ, and have written articles
about Herbie Hancock. I’ve done many things, but everything I do is about
music. I started DJ-ing in the early 80s, playing electro when it first came
out in 1982. My friends used to breakdance – I couldn’t do that – so I was the
DJ. One of my good friends from my hometown, Ipswich, was a professional
footballer. Even though the wages weren’t like what they are today, you could
still afford to buy two Technics. So we used to go to his house, and he would
let us practice, and that’s how we learnt to DJ, with two decks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: When
did you start getting into producing?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: The same guy bought a Korg drum machine, and he
did not know how to use it, and nor did I. I did not touch any other equipment
for seven years, then I was invited by some more people from Ipswich, the Black
Dog guys and Plaid, and they were break dancers in my hometown, to play with
them. I went to the studio, and they had an 808 drum machine, mixer, sampler,
and synthesizers, and that was when I first started trying to learn how to use
a sequencer on a computer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: As I
understand, Plaid themselves can’t read music, and neither did you, so it’s
quite interesting especially for those of us here who can’t play the keys. What
was the process like for you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Firstly, in electronic music, when the first
synthesizers were designed, they were designed without traditional keyboards.
They had unusual touch controllers. Not only was it about a new electronic
sound, it was also an untraditional way of creating music. So I was able to
justify not being able to play an instrument like a traditional keyboard and
just use sequences – no shame in that – I also think that it is to the
advantage to anyone to learn a bit of music theory. I have taught myself some
things on music theory. The biggest thing that I hear people ask me is that
they can make a loop, but that’s about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So
when it comes to arrangement?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Exactly, and a lot of that is to do with music
theory, to expand that loop into a full arrangement and adding other stuff. I
think it comes down to knowing a bit about scales and how you can add things
that will fit the loop.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Since
we are talking about music production now, a lot of people when they first
start making music, very often they will try to emulate the music that they
like. From there, how do you create your own signature sound?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: I definitely have that process. I began by
imitating Detroit techno records, and I think creating your own sound comes
naturally. Someone at the Red Bull Music Academy, who is James Brown’s music
director, said that the history of innovation in music can be traced down to
bad memory. Everybody is trying to emulate somebody that they really like, but
they forget or they get it slightly wrong, and that’s how you create your own
unique sound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: When
you write, do you sit down and go like, “Oh today I’m going to write techno.”? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Sometimes with techno, I would start with a
particular bpm. I never sit down thinking that I’m going to do a melodic track
today or I’m going to do a heavy, loopy kind of track. Never. It just goes
wherever the music takes me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Once
you finish the track, how do you know it’s good? A lot of producers will start
on a track, and they might get it down to arrangement, but they keep meddling
with it.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Again, that is something that is very hard to
explain, how you know when a track is finished. For me, it’s usually when I
think the track is too busy, and there’s too many things going on and too many
distractions so you start stripping it back, and that’s when you say, ok, if
you start adding more, it’s too much. Also, when there’s not enough elements,
you know that it’s not finished.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: When
you were first starting out, do you send your tracks out to peers or people to
get feedback?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Yes of course. I didn’t send them to other
people, I sent my first tracks straight away to Underground Resistance. I got a
fax a week later from Mike Banks saying that they loved my tracks, but
Underground Resistance is for Detroit Underground Resistance artistes only, but
we passed your tracks to Carl Craig and he would be in touch with you. I didn’t
think it would be true, but Carl phoned me and said that he loved the tracks
and that was my first release.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Since
we are talking about getting in touch with labels, for young producers, what
are the questions that they should be asking? How should they even be
approaching the labels?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It’s much more difficult now. There’s almost too
many ways that you can approach labels. Obviously, when I did it, Underground
Resistance probably had the address on the label itself. These days, you can probably
send it to somebody’s Soundcloud. I myself receive so many emails or Facebook
messages with download links, and I would say that the best way is maybe to do
it yourself, to be honest. Nowadays, it’s so hard. Maybe for the first release,
do it yourself or with some friends, because if it’s good, DJs like myself will
find it and it’s better when the label approaches the artist rather than the
artist going to the label. That was also how I did it. I had more tracks, and
thought that I was just going to do it myself. I think that’s the best way.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So you
had your own label, did your own promotions?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: We didn’t even do any promotion. During those
early days, I didn’t know what promotion was. This was 1991, and all I cared
about is making music and put it out. All I needed was money to manufacture, do
the artwork, find a distributor, and that was it. No promos, I didn’t even send
them to magazines for review. They just bought it and reviewed it anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Ok.
But since nowadays the market’s quite different. I think with technology as
well, we get a lot more music, just like how you receive a lot of download
links. What do you look for in track?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Again, I have a very individual taste. I’m
finding the same for other labels as well. I get asked to do EPs for labels,
and they have very particular taste. In the old days, maybe labels will take a
lot of my tracks. Now they are like cherry picking instead, they are more
particular than before, because there is so much stuff out there, and labels
have to have some kind of definite sound, whereas when we started out, we
released a whole lot of down tracks, club tracks, home listening tracks,
ambient tracks, now the vinyl market, especially for other professional DJs,
they are looking for something that they know will keep playing in the clubs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So
it’s a good label for producers to have their own little label, and write for
certain labels that they want to get onto?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: I would make that the second stage. The first
stage is to try to do it yourself and some friends, and get a buzz going on
your label. Then you find that you will be approached. That’s how I found some
of them on my label ART, which is mainly to support new artistes. One of them
is a new young Dutch producer called Stefan Vincent. He had one release. I
really liked it, and contacted him to ask if he had any more tracks, so that’s
how it works. We do check things, I do anyway, and I like to work with young
guys as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: For
many new artistes, they sometimes get caught in a genre or find it hard to
switch genre without losing their current fans. I was talking to an artiste the
other day, and he basically started out with a lot of love songs, but he really
wanted to diversify and experiment with more styles. How would you mange this
sort of situation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: I’ve done everything from hard techno to pop,
and I think it’s because no matter what style I do, I have a sound, and I think
it comes across when I DJ as well. I think you can start doing that when you
find your definitive sound. You can then apply it. Say the guy with the
ballads, if he wants to do more experimental stuff, he could still apply some
of the musical techniques used for ballads and incorporate them into more
experimental things as well. When I do different styles, it still sounds like
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: You
have a lot of different names under different projects.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Yeah, I’m trying not to anymore. Now I just put
it under my own name, for about five or six years now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So
that’s not advisable these days?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Well, the thing is, we did it in the beginning
for legal reasons, because it enables you to release under different names for
different labels, because if you do it under one name, you won’t be exclusive.
In those days, that was the normal thing. You sign with one label for five
albums, and that was it. You couldn’t write for anybody else. So doing things
under different names was one way to work, and I think techno and house
producers pioneered that approach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Back
to the RBMA shows, which spans a huge variety of genres from jazz to Jimmy
Hendrix to 70s movie scores to techno,
which is an amazing collection of music. How do you go about manning the shows?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Since I was eleven years old, I have been
obsessed with music. It’s all up here. It’s all digitized now, it makes it so
much easier. I digitized all of my vinyl collection. I just got so many ideas
for shows that I can keep going and keep going. The latest one is a two part
electric blues. It’s Muddy Waters, Johnny Walker, Howlin’ Wolf, that kind of
stuff. It’s never been played on RBMA radio, so I’ve done four hours of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Cherry: How long does it take to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It takes a long time, so they’d really
appreciate this, and I love doing it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So
with touring, producing the music, running the label, creating radio shows,
what’s your secret to time management? I asked that question because a lot of
us here tend to hold a day job, and at night we would do music, and there’s
just so many things to do, from promotion, to creation, and networking. How do
you decide on your focus?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: You won’t believe this, but actually I’m quite lazy
(laughs). I do all this stuff, but I’m a lazy person. I really don’t know.
Working nights?(shrugs) I think it’s attributed to the fact that I do this and
nothing else. I’ve done nothing else since 1994, I started making enough money
making music to leave my job at a record shop. I was signed with R&S
records. My label is doing well, and with DJ-ing… It’s been quite hard for some other people
who I think are very talented, and they say to me, “I never get the time”, but
I would say to them, “Do you love the music or not? If you do, leave your job,
and just do music.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Is
there any particular focus that they should be doing first?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: The most important thing to survive as an
artiste in electronic music now is DJ-ing and performing. To do that, you have to have some kind of
musical profile. I would say, making the music, making a name for yourself, and
if you are a good producer, kind of work out how you can transform that from
the studio into a good live performance. Only DJ if you are a DJ. There are so
many producers and for some of them, it might be impossible for them to do a
live performance. Their studio technique might not suit a live performance, so
they DJ instead, but everyone is a DJ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Yes. Because what you write in the studio
might not work for the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Exactly. And there’s equipment. There are some
people who have so much equipment that unless you have some kind of touring
crew with you, you couldn’t really perform it as it should sound. That’s the
most important thing financially for a musician to survive at the moment is the
live performance, because there’s not much money in releasing records.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: What’s
the most exciting live performance that you’ve seen recently?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It’s a band actually. I don’t know if anyone
knows the American band called Midlake. They were amazing. Their music was
Americano, in Austin Texas, so they had influences from Joni Mitchell, and
maybe Crossby, Stills & Nash, but more up to date. They had synthesizers as
well, guitars, drums and harmonies. They were amazing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: How
about electronic music? ‘Cause it can get quite tricky, when it comes to
performing.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Moritz von Oswald. I saw the three of them at
Fabric. Moritz was nervous. They scheduled him in the middle of the night, and
he said, “This isn’t going to work.” It’s quite a deep thing that he was doing,
but everyone loved it. It was one of the best things I’ve seen recently, how he
managed to pull off quite deep, but not necessarily full on dance music in a
club. It was recently he had his illness, a stroke, and he had to sit to
perform, but the show was fantastic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: You
make and play a lot of different types of music, but more for techno. What
attracted you to techno?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It had an energy, and the links to funk music,
which I liked, like Funkadelic, James Brown, those kind of bands, it had that
kind of black music element, and my history is black music, funk, soul,
electro. One of them is Juan Atkins. I had his Cybotron record as a kid, years
before I knew what techno was.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: Do you
have any advice for musicians when dealing with media? Especially when they
start putting their music out there, they start to feel vulnerable when they
get bad reviews. In your years of experience, how do you deal with this sort of
situation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Completely ignore them, whether it’s good or
bad. It’s just somebody’s opinion. Never take any notice of them (laughs). Most
of the time, they have only probably listened to it once, they have to think of
something clever (to write). I have never enjoyed reviews, even if they are
really good and they give you five stars – it doesn’t mean anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: What
about working with collaborators?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It’s not my preferred thing actually, because
I’m not a musician, so I have my own weird way of making music and I prefer it
if I’m on my own. Doing The Beauty Room was a real learning process. I learnt
that it’s more other people’s egos and personalities that are much more
difficult to manage than the music side of things. The music, people can
understand and it just comes naturally, but you get all kinds of feedback, like
“My instrument isn’t loud enough in the mix” or “There’s not enough reverb on
my vocals” or something like that. It’s all about egos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Cherry: But you do have some nice releases which
features collabs like The Beauty Room…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: I think I’m quite tolerant. But I feel more
relaxed when I’m on my own. Right now I’m working with another artiste, on her
new album, and I’m really doing it the way I prefer, and she takes time in the
studio and sends me tracks, and then I work on them and send them back. It kind
of nice because I can really take my time, experiment a bit more, and it works
well because the technology allows that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Cherry: A bit
about Ableton. You are pretty much one of the first artistes to start using
Ableton as your DJ set in 2002?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: Around that time. I don’t know how many of you
remember that the late 90s, maybe a bit earlier, when CDJs first came around –
I hated them. You put a CD in, and it would either spit it out because it
didn’t recognize the tracks and I couldn’t get off using vinyls after so many
years, so I just felt like it was going to run away. So CDJs are not for me,
but I wanted to do something different. When Ableton first came out, I was
looking to do a live show. It was called Ableton Live, so obviously it was
geared towards live performances. I bought the software. The first thing I
noticed was that it had a yellow cross fader on the channels. Cross fader is a
mixer thing, it’s a DJ thing. And I realized, hang on, this thing recognizes
where the beats are. If I put a track here on A, and another one there on B,
maybe I can mix and you can switch A on B. I thought, “Oh my god, it works.”
I’m not beat matching. This is weird , then I thought “Hang on a minute. Maybe
I used the cross fader, I can put a loop on track number three and place it
underneath them and mix them like three deck mixing. Or maybe I could filter
out the kick drum of that track and put my own kick drum on track four.” And
then I knew the future of DJ-ing. It was right there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I did some practices, and I also took it with vinyl.
For the first couple of times, I was mixing vinyl alongside with Ableton, so it
did look weird to the crowd. Then, I decided to just take a laptop and nothing
else. The only negative comment were from a few other vinyl DJs. The crowd was
like “Wow! What’s this? How are you doing this? How are you mixing three or
four records? How did you put the melody from one onto another?” They were
really open minded. Vinyl DJs were like, “You don’t need headphones? You’re not
mixing? That’s cheating.” This was just something different. Some people like
Surgeon or Ritchie Hawtin picked it up, but this is my boast. I emailed Ableton
saying I don’t know if you meant it for this, but I have been DJ-ing with it.
And they said it’s the first time they’ve heard someone just using it for
DJ-ing. They said it was truly interesting, and I kept sort of giving them
little ideas. The really big acceptance of it came when Sasha started using it
as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Cherry: So it has become quite common to use it for
DJ-ing now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: It’s not as common as Serato and Traktor, but
yes Surgeon still uses it. What you see now is that a lot of people are using
Ableton to do hybrid DJ-ing and live shows as well, whereas I use it solely for
DJ-ing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Floor: How
important was the scene and community to the development of your career?
Because in Singapore, we tend to have a more limited market. How would you deal
with that?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s really important actually. The way we got
together was in record stores. Obviously that’s disappearing these days, but
people now have their equivalent online. I think music forums… I surprised
there’ not a more dedicated one. I mean you have Resident Advisor, obviously,
but it’s not a tight forum. There used to be a one called Little Detroit I
think, but once Facebook came on, it killed all these little ones off. I think
social media is the equivalent of how we used to do it. We used to meet at
record shops, and just stand at the counter and be the guys talking about every
new release, and the guy behind the counter said, “Buy this, buy that.” That’s
how we did it. Those days are probably gone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Floor: Do you
have any opinions on the iPad apps scene?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I only use the iPad for controlling. I’ve only tried
the Lemur controller, and I’ve messed around with Animoog, which I really love.
But I find touch controllers quite difficult. It’s why I prefer to use an APC
Akai controller. I like to slam faders and have that kind of tactile thing.
I’ve seen live DJs use the original Lemur and they tend to do things very
gradually, so I haven’t really used the iPad much. I don’t have a media deck or
anything much yet, but it makes sense because they are going to be so powerful.
It’s just like having another laptop I guess. So I’m going to watch it, because
there are a lot of innovative things that don’t make it to the computer for
some reason. Is that something that you’re involved in?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Floor: Yeah, I’m exploring that. I think the current
iPad Air is at a performance level that is suitable for live and for studio,
with the interapp audio and Audiobus 2, there’s labels that built around iOS
music and I think with the multi-touch gestures, it can really expand its
potential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: With the gestures, I think that could the way to
get over the tactile problem. They could become more sensitive and you could do
those dramatic gestures when you DJ. You need those things for the crowd. (laughs)
Surgeon uses Faderfox. Those little things, they are too small for me. If I did
that, it would end up somewhere in the dance floor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Cherry: One interesting app is Konkreet Peformer:
after you load in everything, you can port the screen onto your visuals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Kirk: One of the things I like about the iPhone, is an
app when you have the headphones with a little microphone, and when you play
the music, it would change as your environment changes. If you’re running, it
would sense your body movement, and the music would get more intense, so it’s
really interactive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Floor: You use
Ableton for DJ-ing. Do you use it for production as well? Do you start with the
beat first, or a melody first?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I don’t follow a particular rule, but it helps if you
start with a certain bpm. I usually start by having a kick drum just as a
reference, and then it could be adding more drums and working on drums, or it
could be a bass or melody. I don’t have any methods, and I don’t save any of
the sounds, because I usually use a modular synth, once you’re on touch the
sound is gone anyway. I save the Ableton sessions in case I’m going to take it
on the road, I don’t have a library of sounds. If I come up with a bass on
Reaktor, I don’t save them. I don’t like saving sounds because I don’t want to
use them again and again like a formula where you become lazy and say “Oh yeah,
I liked that bass sound that worked in that track, so I would just use that.”
That could work for some people. They might have a big hit, and might want to
do something similar, but that doesn’t really inspire me musically. I like to
come up with new sounds for each track.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Floor: How do
you make your live performance physically interesting?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s down to visuals at the moment. I can’t see any
other way with electronic music. When I saw that Moritz show, the visuals were
the only thing to look at, really. I think that’s where new technology would
come in and be able to sync visuals with bpm. I’ve used this guy, who doesn’t do
visuals now because he’s gone pretty big, signed on to Rush Hour, so now I need
to do my own now, as he’s too busy DJ-ing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">Floor: Any
favorite program for visuals?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">No, I do everything with Final Cut, and you can sync
it to Ableton. I would pre-render it, and it would probably be synced somehow. I’ve
done TV work, so I know about scoring and having key points. It’s going to be
an old school approach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">BEHIND
THE SCENES</span></b><b><span style="color: #141823; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A brand new SGMUSO initiative, is a series of
workshops/talks designed to give members exclusive access to key players in the
music industry. Our special guests will provide an insider's perspective with
crucial insights on a variety of relevant music industry matters.</span><span style="color: #141823; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<br />
<b><span style="background: white;">KIRK DEGIORGIO</span><br />
</b><span style="background: white;">A cornerstone of UK
techno, Kirk Degiorgio (aka As One) is one of the most sought-after
mixer/producer/DJ in today’s eclectic dance music scene and has been tirelessly
delivering Detroit’s original message to British crowds for years. Regarded as
a heavyweight producer with a unique electronic sound that combines elements of
jazz, soul, techno and funk, Kirk’s also lectured extensively at Red Bull Music
Academy and is a famed user of Ableton.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Kirk Degiorgio Red
Bull Music Academy lecture:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
</span><a href="http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/kirk-degiorgio--planetary-folklore" style="cursor: pointer;" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://<wbr></wbr>www.redbullmusicacademy.com<wbr></wbr>/lectures/<wbr></wbr>kirk-degiorgio--planetary-f<wbr></wbr>olklore</span></a><span style="color: #141823;"><br />
<br />
<b><span style="background: white;">CHERRY CHAN</span><br />
</b><span style="background: white;">A pioneer in the
Singapore electronic music scene, Cherry Chan’s accolades includes championing
Singapore's first all-girl DJ night- PopMyCherry and co-founding the FFF Girl DJ
Bootcamp and Syndicate.SG, In 2010, Cherry was handpicked to attend the
exclusive Red Bull Music Academy in London. In that same year, she co-founded
Syndicate, Singapore’s first audio-visual label aimed at growing a culture of
visual & sound making, encouraging audience exposure to original
experimental content.</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background: white;"><i>This session was transcribed by Emily Haw. Reach out to her on Twitter @emilyhaw</i></span></span></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-10999627448900942252014-04-08T04:44:00.000-07:002014-06-12T10:12:05.634-07:00"It is possible to make a comfortable living being a musician," saysEric Ng, Chinese music industry veteren.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As part of The Insider Series, which
comprises of a series of sharing sessions by industry veterens organized by
library@esplanade last week, established producer-songwriters-arrangers Eric Ng
and Jim Lim shared their journey in the Chinese music industry, their
experiences and insights on what it takes to enter, survive, and ultimately,
flourish in the music industry today.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFJE1Dmjt_e8FyJMK5hxm-SkAlzhQX0Z1OCEohi6gzLkE-PRrlOVihKoB-tAk1MzdhvxHY534g0gh-1iGJJx-pQG6qlkCdcilb__mfsXTxJUbBYtDnrpbmRDErLIudRHumjXiveUrBc2d/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRFJE1Dmjt_e8FyJMK5hxm-SkAlzhQX0Z1OCEohi6gzLkE-PRrlOVihKoB-tAk1MzdhvxHY534g0gh-1iGJJx-pQG6qlkCdcilb__mfsXTxJUbBYtDnrpbmRDErLIudRHumjXiveUrBc2d/s1600/photo.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jim Lim (left) and Eric Ng speaking at The Insider Series</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If you are an aspiring musician, here
are the main takeaways from the two hour session punctuated with jokes and
laughter:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Be
humble and open, and always be willing to learn. As a musician, learning never
ends.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Be
encouraging and helpful to others too. That was the culture that Eric and Jim
were exposed to when they first started in Taiwan.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Everyone
works with a different style: You can choose to do everything yourself, or you
can choose to work with others to cover your weaknesses</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">If
you are just starting out, find friends who can help you, for example, to sing
on your demo.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Remember
that the music business is, after all, still business. Don’t take things too
personally. If you receive constructive feedback to amend your song, change it.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Songwriting
levels the playing ground for all musicians. If you want to be recognized and
valued as a musician, start writing your own songs.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">If
you want to be a hit songwriter, first start by having a mainstream mindset. Write
hits that will work commercially, even if they may not be your personal
favourite.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">It
is possible to make a comfortable living being a musician.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">However,
being a musician is never a straightforward route. Hence, it’s important to
know when to let go, and always have a positive mindset. Manage your own
expectations.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Learn
to sell yourself. Musicians are like door-to-door salesmen. Learn to convince
others of your own value.</span></li>
</ul>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Want to know the details of the full
session? Read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: I’m a music producer, music
arranger. I started off as a guitarist, I’m also a keyboardist, I also play a
bit of drums, bass, and I started this company Funkie Monkies Production
together with Jim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: It’s the same for me. We play a
bit of everything. I started off as a sound engineer when I was seventeen. When I was in Secondary 1, I had a strong
feeling to do something in my life. Whenever I watched TV or listened to songs,
I was listening to whatever that was going on in the music arrangement. I would
hear the drums, the bass, the chords, the vocals, although I did not have any
music education at that time. So I thought maybe that was my calling, and what
I was good at. I started learning piano in Primary 1, and really loved playing
it. So I started with classical music first, and went on to pop music. After
that, I started doing music arrangements for my friends during the Xin Yao
times. My father bought me my first keyboard, the JV1000 and the MC500, which
was an antique music sequencing engine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: It’s like the abacus of music
programming. (Laughs)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: That was how I started. I did
lousy music arrangements free-lance, and I didn’t even know how to quantize.
Eventually these friends whom I was arranging for joined a record company. One
of them asked me if I was keen to continue arranging for them, and that was
when I first stepped into a recording studio for tracking. The first commercial
arrangement I did was sung by Ann Kok, a song called Nobody Knows. Eventually I
started as an apprentice in this company. As an apprentice, we are not
considered employees and they don’t really pay us. You could come and learn,
but you have to do stuff for us, like buy lunch, buy tea, and observe from a
distance away, and you would be scolded if you got close to the board. During
those days, they were still using the two inch analog tape. At that time, many
people went through the same type of apprenticeship, unlike now where there are
much better channels through schools which offer courses that you could learn
from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Life was fun. After school, I would
rush to the studio to learn as much as I could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: I started even being interested
in music only when I was seventeen. Before that, I just had no direction in
life. I didn’t know what to do, I had no friends. Every day after school, I
stayed at home and played computer games. I could press my right fingers quite
fast which later actually helped me as a musician because I could play the
guitar faster. At the age of seventeen, I saw some cool guys in school playing
the guitar, and they were playing Stand By Me. As I watched, I thought it looks
pretty easy and I could go back and try that, and from then I wanted to start
learn to play the guitar. Of course as with many kids of my generation, my
father said, “You cannot learn guitar.” So I went to dig up my savings, and I
had savings because I had no life (laughs), and I bought myself a cheap electro
guitar. It was fun, because it a passion. When you first start, you don’t think
about it. I’m not like most people, like Jim, where he had this vision that
this was what he wanted to do. I never had such thoughts, and I didn’t even
know that such a thing exists – that you could play and make a living. I never
bothered thinking about that. As I started playing, I made many friends, for
the first time in my life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I started jamming. I would walk into a studio
and ask if someone needed a drummer, and would play randomly, and that was how
my music education started in jamming studios. It was a quick transition. At
seventeen, I was jamming, and when I was eighteen, I was starting to do gigs
already, and doing them badly and almost for free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One day, some guy asked me if I wanted
to do Chinese music, I was like “Huh? Chinese music ah? Whatever. I’ll just go
and play.” I never heard Chinese music before that. After that, I started to
play in pubs and that’s where I knew Jim, because he was playing in this pub
along Tanjong Pagar called Strings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Later I went into demo producing, got
friends to sing on them because I can’t sing, and we had a lot of fun. None of
them asked for money. I also did some demos for them, and it was all a friendly
exchange. We didn’t really think about the concept of money when we were twenty
years old. Unlike nowadays, even kids who are sixteen would start thinking if
they could make a living out of this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fortunately I came to know this guy
called Steven, who owned a music publishing house, and he was pitching a lot of
songs to people like Ah Mei or Jacky Cheung. He heard that I wrote songs, so
he asked me to write for him. I gave him seven songs a week, and just focused
on writing a lot of content. Along the way, I met a lot of singers, and they
asked me, “Why don’t you just come to Taiwan and check it out?” One of them was
Ke Yi Min and the other was Peng Jia Hui. At that time, there was a big scene
there as it was the pinnacle of Taiwan music because there were no MP3s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I went there, it was really an
eye opener, because you can feel a very strong culture there. Don’t talk about
Taiwan, I just came back from Phuket yesterday, and when I was in Thai pub, the
crowd went crazy with every song and they were singing along to all the songs.
Does that happen in Singapore? (Silence)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: I think it’s because of the
language. In Thailand, everyone speaks Thai. I just came back from Japan too,
and over there, you can see many musicians basking along the streets, and there
would be people crowding around watching them perform. In Japan, everyone
speaks Japanese, but in Singapore, we have English, Chinese, Malay, etc, so the
attention is pretty much divided.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Yes, but that is also our
strength, because Singaporeans are exposed to a mixture of cultures all blended
together, and this is reflected in our sound. So back in Taiwan, I saw that
everyone was enjoying Taiwan music, and it was a very friendly environment to
work in because everyone respects everybody, even if they don’t mean it, but
they treat you very nicely (laughs). Even if the song sucks, they will say it’s
still ok. That was the culture that I was exposed to, and it really encourages
you, because if everyone were to tell you straight that your stuff sucks and
you should just quit, which was exactly what my teacher told me – to quit
school because I did not do well in school – it really makes you feel lousy. If
somebody gives you encouragement, then it will spur you on. When I first went
to Taiwan, all my songs were really horrible, but because through my demos they
could hear that I had some sense of arrangement, so that was when they started
asking me to be a music arranger. For those who do not know what a music
arranger is, an arranger creates a structure around the main melody that he is
given, and adds on instruments that will bring out the flavor of the song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I came back to Singapore, Steven
said that there were a few Taiwanese producers coming to Singapore, and he
would introduce me to them. Amongst those I had met were Benjamin Lim and
Michael Au, both of them were the reason why Jacky Cheung became so famous.
When I met them, there was no agenda, because they didn’t know what I did, but
they were very willing to help me and gave me advice. Benjamin started
listening to my songs and told Steven to get me to do some “stuff” for him. He
wanted me to listen to a certain melody and asked me to make a demo out of it.
At that time, I didn’t know what music arrangement was, so I thought, “Is it
because I can play guitar on this recording?” He said, “Yes, yes, just do it.” So I
went to program the drums, bass and played guitar on it, and I was quite happy
with it. After he heard it, he told me it was not bad, and told me which parts
to change, and I did. He then told me to
come to the studio the next day to do tracking. I didn’t know what tracking
was, but I just went anyway. It was a beautiful studio that is no longer in
existence. The studio was designed and built by the team that built one of the
Abby Road studios.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I used my keyboard to program the instruments,
and that was when I met this guy called Terence Teo, who was still using the
MC500, and he’s a very famous arranger who has done works for FIR, Stefanie Sun
and many others. He told me that I had to guide the drummer and bassist. I was
surprised because I thought I was just there to record my guitar. But he told
me, “No, you have to do it, that’s your job!” So I did. I went into the studio,
and there was this drummer called Gary, and he plays wonderful drums. He’s like
a machine with feel. So Steven told me to guide him, so I told him basically
what to do and we finished the track. After that there was a bassist called Andy
Peterson, and all of them are really top musicians. After I guided him as well,
we were done with the drums and bass, and I was getting excited because I
thought finally it was my turn to record my guitar. Then Steven told me to sit
at the board because he was getting another guy to play the guitar for me. That
was when my world crumbled down. (laughs) In my mind, I thought, “Steven you
idiot, asked me to do so many things and you’re not letting me play my guitar?”
He told me to just sit there, watch, and learn something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Then I saw this guitarist called
Jonathan Xu Hua Qiang, who wrote many great songs like Ah Mei’s Jie Tuo (</span><span lang="EN-US">解脱</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">) and is a very good
guitarist. He was of course much better than me, especially his tone. And that
was also the first thing that I learnt about showbusiness from Jonathan. You
can play one chord like that (demonstrates with little movement with his hand),
and you can play the same chord like this (dramatic action with hands playing
the guitar). It’s the same thing, but it looks so much better. He makes it look
so stylo, and makes people think that it’s very difficult to play, but actually
it’s very simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A few weeks later, I received $600
cash from Steven. I asked him what was it for, and he explained to me that was
for my arrangement fees. I was so amazed and happy because I made $600 for a few days of work and all I wanted during that time was to make $800 in a month! Furthermore,
the song turned out to be the first single of an artist called Zhong Jian Fen
Zi. It felt really great, because you’re walking on the streets and you hear a
piece of music made by you. That was when I decided that this is really
something I want to do, and I started noticing that there were many avenues
that I could go into, from songwriting, I could move into arrangement,
production, playing the guitar and touring with artists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: I think for Eric, you’re very
lucky because you met a lot of Gui Ren (贵人) who have helped you a lot along the way.
For my case, I didn’t have any help. After army, I was employed formally
by this company as an in-house producer. At that time, I didn’t know what was
producing. All I knew was recording and buying lunch and tea, and making basic
arrangements. Producing is very important, and a lot of people actually do not
know what producing entails. As a producer, you need to oversee a certain
project, which is not easy. You need to understand every single step, starting
from songwriting. A producer may not know how to write songs, but he will know
how to judge what is a commercial song, and which song will suit which artiste.
Producing also includes vocal recording, recording the singer, the backup
vocals, mixing and so on. So the producer has to guide all these people along
the way, so that the song turns out the way that he wants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There are many producers in Singapore
who do everything themselves. At that time, I was an aspiring producer who
wanted to do everything myself, because I was a control freak and the song can
only sound like the way I wanted. If it was done by anyone else, I would think
that it’s not nice and I would want to do it myself. Step by step, I learnt the
different aspects of producing, and it was a lot of fun during that time. I had just finished army, and the pay
was more than army, so I was happy already. The good thing about this
studio was that it was an in-house studio, and I could use it as much as I
wanted to. I could camp overnight in the studio and live there, which I did,
just to learn or figure a small little detail. During that time, it really
wasn’t about money making, but about the passion and interest. The whole
recording thing was new to me. I learnt piano and the guitar and knew what was
arrangement, but recording and mixing was a whole new ballgame to me. I was
enjoying myself so much with all the equipment provided to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Halfway through, I realized that I
wasn’t recognized at all. In order for people to recognize my effort, I have to
have a value. Most of the time, you would see the credits for the songwriter
and lyricist, hardly the arranger or mixer, so that was when I decided it’s
time to write songs. I started quite late writing songs, at the age of around
23, and through writing songs, people see your name keep appearing, and they
assume that you did everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I was 24, my boss asked me if I
wanted to be a singer. I told him no, because I wanted to be a producer. But he
told me that the easiest way for others to recognize my name was for me to be a
singer. He had signed two male artistes who were my friends, and due to some
contractual issues, he decided to cut costs and cut an album for us as a group.
Back then, there were many two-guy groups like Zhong Jian Fen Zi, Shan Feng
Dian Guo, Guang Liang Pin Guan, so my boss thought that maybe we should do a
three-man group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Although I didn’t like to be on the
front, I thought that I should give it a try if it could make me more credible
and get me more jobs. That was how Dreamz FM was formed. It was a great
experience, as I had the opportunity to go Taiwan. I stayed there for a year to
learn about production and know people there. The people I met weren’t as
helpful, but the overall culture was great. I got myself attached to this
producer named Jerry Huang Shu Jun as his assistant, and I learnt a lot from
him. I learnt that music production is very much about entertainment. During
those days, you had to learn how to entertain people, learn how to drink with
them, and from there I got to know and work with very good singers like Ah Mei,
who also helped me a lot, asking me to write and vocal produce for her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When I came back to Singapore, I was
much more equipped with knowledge as a producer. I started to source and groom
my own artists, produced the whole album and provided a singular direction for
them. Even up till today, I am pretty proud of one of the projects that I did,
which involved this artiste Shi Kang Jun. I found him singing at a karaoke,
and he had a very good voice, so I asked him if he was interested to go for an
audition. He decided to sign with us, and I produced a pseudo-British band
sounding album with him from beginning to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After all these experiences, I left shortly and joined Eric
with his Funkie Monkies. I realized that getting to know the right people who
recognized your value is very important. At that time, I didn’t care about
money, I just wanted to learn and do. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After I left the company, I realized
something was wrong. Firstly, my pay could have been better, because my other
producer friends were getting around two to three thousand per month. Another
lesson I learnt was that, with regards to songwriting, when you are signed to a
publishing house who will help you do all the admin and sell your songs, they
will have to take a commission from the amount that is quoted to the client.
For a beginner, the industry rate was that the writer will get fifty percent of
royalty. As you establish yourself as a writer, then you can negotiate for a better
rate. Be mindful of what publishers offer you before you sign that contract. It’s important that you know where your value is, and
it’s not only about passion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Arrangement provided a regular
income for me, but I also started to think about how I could step out and go
beyond being just arranger. I also noticed the same thing. Everybody only
bothers about the songwriter and lyricist, so I continued to keep writing
songs. As I was arranging a lot of mainstream material, it started to rub on me
on what the industry wanted, and I started to sell some of my own songs. The
first song I sold was to an old timer called Yang Ling, and my first single was
performed by Cass Phang. As I had come from a not-so-mainstream background, I
was still struggling to strike a balance in writing so that my songs that were
not too mainstream. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Later I got to know to know this guy
called Jonathan Lee, and he liked my stuff because they were not so mainstream.
He started getting me on board on many other projects, and one of them was for
Karen Mok. Her first and third single were my songs. Then he also asked me if I
was interested to co-write with his then-wife, Sandy Lam, who was working on
her own album. I flew to Shanghai and we wrote really fast. Up till today, I
don’t spend more than 30 minutes writing a song, and she is also the efficient
type, and in one week, we wrote seventeen songs, and one of them was called Zhi
Fei Ji (Paper Aeroplane), and it was written during the time when we were
supposed to take a break. I was playing the guitar, and we started piecing
together this song. That song turned out to be my first hit song. A lot of
people knew it, and because of that, Sandy also asked me to join her for a
tour, which included China, Japan and Malaysia. That was when I saw the
difference between writing a song for your own creative purposes, and writing a
song for mainstream appeal where I could see thirty, forty, fifty thousand
people screaming this song back at you when you are on stage. Of course, later
I also discovered that the royalties are also much nicer. That was the point I
decided, ok, I want to sell out, which is not a bad thing. I want to write songs
for that Ah Beng in the KTV. I want him to enjoy singing my song. I started
shifting my song direction. If you tune into any mainstream radio, most of them
are slow songs, and so that’s where I am going to concentrate on, and that was
where more of my songs started moving. I started working with Liang Jing Ru,
Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun, and it all started with having this mainstream mindset.
At that time I also realized that I cannot be the world’s best guitarist, nor
the world’s best arranger or producer, because there is always somebody better
than you technically. But when you write songs, you can never guarantee if the
next song can be equally good or be better. There is no standard for writing
songs. It’s like abstract art, picking elements from all over and making it
simple so that the world will sing together with you. So I focused on
songwriting, because songwriting puts you up there with everybody else. I was
Eric Ng, right at the bottom, and there was Jonathan Lee, right at the top, and
these two worlds wouldn’t have collided if not for songwriting. Songwriting is
a way where it really levels out the playing ground for everybody. Like how Jim
shared, there are people who can write a song but can’t even play an
arrangement, it really comes out of nowhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">But I also notice that there are
trends, and there are actually shapes and structures, or formulas in that
sense, that you can make a song memorable and catchy, even if the melody is not
nice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I decided that I was not going to
write songs for myself, but for others. So I had an agenda where I would write
five commercial songs and five songs for whatever else, and I did that for many
years. Of course, the commercial ones would get the furthest, but as a
musician, you also feel great when a song that is totally out of this world and
is non-commercial gets into an album and gives you that kick. One of these was
picked up by Ah Mei, which was a heavy rock song, and it was even used as a
single, and I got some royalties out of it. That was when I discovered the
power of songwriting. Everything revolves around it. Through our songs, people
looked for our arrangement or production, and if you look around in the Chinese
scene, 90% of producers are songwriters, because the Asian music scene is very
melody-driven, and if the guy understands this, they assume that the guy can
take charge of the whole song.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How did you
continue to hone your craft, after you did Dreamz FM?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: Life will be super boring if
there wasn’t anything to learn. I’m glad that in this music line, it’s a never
ending journey to learn. There are so many things to learn, discover and better
yourself at. Currently, I’m trying to hone my mixing. There was a period of
time I was into arranging deep house dance music, then I shifted to a more
band-sound arrangement. I just keep doing different things, including vocal production,
which is my forte. Vocal production is like 40% music and 60% psychology,
handling the artiste in the studio, which can be a very pressurizing feel for
them because they are not used to hearing themselves through the headphones.
Vocal production is something that I keep trying to improve myself on.
Sometimes it can be very aggravating, because you know how exactly how the song
is supposed to sound like, but the singer is unable to deliver it, so you will
need to find a point between your expectation and the singer’s natural ability.
I find it very challenging, to bring the best out of the singer, and not to
make him sound like you. Same for backing vocals, and I would try different
styles, sometimes spacing them far apart, or sometimes putting them close to
each other for a different effect. There’s a lot to hone in this industry, and
every day I’m learning something new. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Somewhere along the way, I
noticed that you can actually make a comfortable living out of being a
musician. What is considered comfortable, is of course defined differently for
different people, but I realized that you don’t need to be struggling to be a
professional musician, earning a comfortable pay not much less than your friend
who is drawing a salary from a nine-to-five job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I started thinking, how I could work
with people who could cover my weaknesses. I started to seek out all the top
musicians I know. When I did my arrangements or productions, I engaged all
these top musicians who are better than me to play on them, and if others heard
that this piece of music was top grade, it’s my credit. (Laughs) It was an evil
plan, and even today I work with them, including this top string arranger Bang
Wen Fu, who has done a lot of musicals. Unlike Jim, I don’t think I have so much
time to learn every part of production, but I want to focus on the things that
I think I can do well in, and just outsource the rest to the best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As musicians, whether you are a
gigging musician in a pub, or a songwriter, I realize that we are just door to
door salesmen. We have to let people know this is what we are worth, and there
are a lot of creative people who cannot detach themselves away from the fact
that this is actually business. When you can’t do that, you will get hurt for
all the wrong reasons. For example, after your client pays you, but later
remarks that it is not very good, and you totally blow up on him, it’s your
loss, because you may never ever get him again. Why would you want to burn your
bridges if he already paid you for your services? After all, I learnt something
out of it, and I wouldn’t have gotten the job if I had laid out all my strict
rules from the beginning. The balance is when it’s time for us to take action,
and when should you allow yourself to made use of and let go. When I submit my
songs, most of the time, the arrangement is 80% done, and it almost sounds like
the final product. There were so many times that I heard that they found
another arranger or producer, but when the song is released, I heard that the
final song sounds exactly the same as my demo. It happened a few times, but any
sensible person in the record company would have easily noticed that this was
happening, sooner or later, they would recognize you and wish to pay you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After one or two years of receiving $600
for an arrangement, I decided to put my foot down and started to charge more.
This whole business of being able to raise your own value is a difficult
balance. That was why I bought a lot of books to read to learn how to present
yourself and convince other people of your value. Like what Jim said, it’s not
just about the production. The whole business is about the psychology as well.
If you can convince a person that you’re worth something, maybe you may fail
with one person, but at the end of the day, if you really persist, I think
people will recognize you for it. For me, to hone my craft, I still only focus
on songwriting, because it still holds true to me the fact that I will not be
the world’s best whatever, but my songs have a place. I’m also always trying to
find out more ways to help people monetize from this business. That’s why I set
up Funkie Monkies, because I wanted to be my old boss, Steven, someone who
could bring about many people and form an army or team to have more leverage or
bargaining power. I set up Funkie Monkies so that I could also hone that part
of the brain, which was my business sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How did we
continue to move on in this industry?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Stay humble, stay open. Anyone
could walk up to me or Jim to ask how to do this or achieve this effect, and I
will definitely help you. This was the culture that I was open to in Taiwan,
unlike in Singapore. Nowadays, there’s nothing to hide. There’s Youtube, you
could find basically any information you want on the Internet. Sharing also
helps us to understand more about ourselves. We have already completed six
seven batches of song writing students, and we learnt a lot from them too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What is your
biggest setback?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: There is no one thing, but there
was a situation back in my old company that when people wanted to buy your
songs, they would give you a lump sum of money and give them the whole song.
The song belongs to them, and they will not pay you any more royalties. There
was once I wrote a pretty huge hit song during the late 90s, and when the
credits were out, it was under the artiste’s own name, but the truth is that it
was written by me, but I couldn’t say anything because I already agreed to sell
the whole song to them. I nearly cried when I heard the song on the radio and
the DJ mentioned that the song was written by him. Furthermore, the song was
also covered by another artiste, so it was not a setback, but I felt really
sad. From then, I told myself that I would never agree to such terms again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: When you want to make your
passion a career, it’s not a straightforward thing. When you ask most people
out there, they would think, “How is it possible?” Especially in Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So in the first place, if you want to
do this, you have to manage your expectations. If I wanted to be a doctor, I
know I would have to go to doctor school, graduate and become a doctor working
in a hospital or clinic. It’s a very straightforward route. It’s a difficult
one, but a straightforward path. But as a musician, there were many things
which we didn’t know or are unacceptable, but at the end of the day, as long as
you learn something from it, that is the greatest thing that you can receive
from any setback. If you want to do this as a career, you have to wire yourself
positively and move on. We have many emotional musician friends, and because they
were unwilling to let it go, they waste one or two years of their lives just
dwelling on it, or trying to take action, and in the end, nobody gains from
this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: Yes, I totally agree. It’s
important to have a very positive mindset, and always be humble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: On the things we wish we knew
when we first started out – the answer will be in line with what we will be
doing for the next 9 months. Recently, the government has started to be quite
supportive towards the music industry. We are working with MDA to train up a
new batch of songwriters. We started the first batch already, and it was very
successful. MDA funds up to 90% of the school fees. When we first started out,
we would die to have this chance. First of all, we don’t know where to go, we
don’t know how to do it, so it’s cool to see MDA, WDA and NAC coming in to give
grants, because it’s all musicians who are benefiting from this. That was the only thing I wished
existed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: I feel very happy that nowadays a
lot of things are more accessible and simpler for musicians, not only because
of the government’s support, but the scene is more vibrant because now there’s
a lot of things that you can do at home. You can record at home, you can do
music arrangement at home, you can mix at home. You will need to invest, not
it’s not much for a basic set up. During our time, it was so expensive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Now everyone says that the music
industry is doomed. But actually if I’m looking for something positive out of
the whole situation, I would say the playing ground for musicians has been
leveled, because you can just go on Youtube to reach out to an audience. Of
course, there are so many other people doing the same thing, but there are many
stories and successful cases of musicians making a success from non-traditional
platforms. Of course, during the good times during the 90s, there were the hit
bands or artistes, just as there were so many other bands that didn’t make it,
and the situation is pretty much the same now. It just makes the strongest more
prominent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q: How has
Singapore contributed to the Asian music industry?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: Singaporean musicians are very
different due to their influences. They have a very distinct sound or style,
and that’s why Taiwanese artistes like to employ Singaporean bands to tour with
them rather than hire from their own country. This is something I’m very proud
of. They recognize that we are able to do certain things in a different way. We
have a more western sound which they like. We are a very small country. We do
not have our own market to support our musicians, but we are able to export our
talents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Our export culture for musicians
is actually very strong, which is one of the reasons why MDA, WDA and NAC
always come in to support this area. If you ask any person in China on the street if they
knew who was JJ Lin or Sun Yan Zi or Ah Do, they will probably know them. I
would say in the top ten of the more successful artistes in Asia, especially
China, Singaporeans probably can make up two to three of them, and for such a
small population of Singapore, that is really insane. At the back stage, a lot
of hit songs are written by Singaporeans too. They do notice that we have
something special. Turns out that our disadvantage in the local music scene
because of language and the mixture of cultures has also become our advantage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q: With the
advent of MP3s, how have your royalties been affected?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Yes, MP3s have affected the
music industry drastically, but then again, it’s still more than $800 (laughs)
and there are many other avenues in the music industry. For example, karaoke is
a big culture in Chinese music. So even though people are not buying our songs,
they are still always dedicating the songs on karaoke. When it is released on
karaoke or on radio, it’s called public performance, and we get royalties from
that. Every year, we would receive a thick file from the society who helps to
collect our royalties on our behalf, and I could receive something like $30,000 in accumulated royalties for a big hit song that I wrote 11 years ago that I wrote in half an hour while I was cycling. If that song was
sung by someone like Jacky Cheung, maybe I could have been getting $100,000 or
$200,000 in the golden period of the Taiwan music scene before there were mp3s. But like what we said, we are not doing this entirely for money. As
long as we can survive, we are happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jim: A lot of musicians are feeling
insecure during this period of time because we are not earning as much money as
we did before when it was just CD sales. To me, I do not believe that music
will die. CD will die, but music will not die. It will just become something
else, and I’m just waiting eagerly what it will be next. When vinyl first came out, live performers
were afraid that they would be replaced, but apparently it became a positive
effect instead, because with vinyls, their music reached out to even more
people and as a result, people from all over the world came to watch them live.
I believe it would turn out to be a good thing, but I just don’t know what form
will it take, whether is it iTunes or Spotify, I’m not sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q: Taiwan’s
music industry seems to be going downhill. How would this affect you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Eric: Last year I did a project,
recording twelve of China’s craziest vocalists, from The Voice of China. As
soon as I was in the studio and started recording, it was totally insane
because the quality of what Mainland China’s music has become, whether it is
the singing or the songs, I wondered what Taiwan was going to do now. But the
way I see it is that, it will only make everyone stronger, including Singapore.
Nowadays, if you want to be a Singapore singer, you just have to go watch the
Voice of China and you know you have to work your ass off. Of course, pop music
is not just about technical ability, but this would generally raise the level
of the entire music industry. For Taiwan, yes, their incomes and budgets are
all dropping, but I see that they are also going to turn into like Singapore,
which is export-related. They are aggressively trying to push their artistes to
China as well. If they were to only circle themselves around Taiwan, then it
would not be as comfortable as it used to be, but now they are combating it by
exporting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Q: How to
sell my songs?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A publisher is like an agent or
manager for a songwriter, because if your songs get played on radio for example,
someone has to collect the money for you. That’s the role of the publisher’s
job. The second is that the publisher is able to inform you what songs are
needed for which singers or artistes, so that you are able to cultivate or
improve your songs. There are three main publishers in Singapore. One is
Universal, one is Ocean Butterflies, and one is Funkie Monkies. If you are
interested, you can send in your stuff, and we will see how we can help you.
How it works for us is that we don’t sign a whole big group of writers like how
some publishers do. For us, when a writer approaches us, we first analyze if
70-80 percent of the songs are marketable. I’m not talking about arrangement
quality or the production, but whether this song is good enough to be pitched
out. With that in mind, we will consider signing the writer under our
publishing department. But if we find that this person still needs grooming,
that’s where the school comes in, where we teach them to better their melodies
and more complete that people would enjoy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">About the Speakers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eric Ng<br />
<i>Songwriter, Arranger, Producer, Music Director</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">A highly sought-after Songwriter/Arranger/Producer, Eric has stamped an
indelible imprint on the Asian pop scene since the late ‘90s. He has created
career-defining hits for artists such as A*Mei, Sandy Lam, Tanya Chua, Jaycee
Chan, and Ming Bridges. He has also performed extensively as a session
guitarist for artists such as Sandy Lam and Emil Chau, staging shows all over
the world from Taiwan, China, Japan, Malaysia, to London, America, and Canada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">As an entrepreneur, Eric founded Funkie Monkies Productions, a music
production house that aims to groom the next generation of artists. Never
resting on his laurels, he moved into movies and musicals, and he was the
composer/music director for productions such as “The Voice of China” film ,
Singapore hit movie <881>, and Lao Jiu the Musical. Amidst his many
commitments, Eric teaches songwriting at FM Pop Music School in hopes of
helping aspiring musicians take a step closer to their dreams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jim Lim<br />
<i>Singer, Songwriter, Arranger, Producer</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">A multi-hyphenate in the Mandarin Pop industry, Jim’s career began in
1992 as a studio engineer. Equipped with a range of instrumental skills, he
quickly became a self-sufficient musician who wrote, arranged, mixed, and
produced his own songs. In 1999, he formed the band </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">梦飞船</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">, Dreamz FM, and produced and co-wrote all 3 albums of Dreamz FM. The
band attained recognition not just in Singapore and Malaysia, but also in
Taiwan and China.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1999, he co-produced the National Day theme song “Together” sung by
Dreamz FM and Evelyn Tan. The following year, he was commissioned to write the
National Day theme song, “Shine on me”, which was performed by Jai Wahab and
Mavis Wee. In 2004, he joined Funkie Monkies Productions, and has since written
and produced for many A-list artists including Stephanie Sun, Fish Leong,
A*Mei, Nicholas Teo, Jacky Cheung, and Show Luo. He has also toured with Wang
Leehom, JJ Lin, A-Do, and A*Mei as a backup vocalist. Jim is an ardent
supporter of local independent artists/bands, having produced albums for Serene
Koong, Jones, and Rui En. He currently heads the Vocal Recording department of
FM Pop Music School.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>This session was transcribed by Emily Haw. Reach out to her on Twitter @emilyhaw</i></div>
Emily Hawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676878326665364009noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-30388091991808870072014-03-27T09:41:00.000-07:002014-06-12T10:12:20.836-07:00Founder & former CEO of Ocean Butterflies Billy Koh sets up “rights management” company.<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
Singapore songwriter, composer and music producer, Billy Koh is one of the most
instrumental and influential figures in the Asian Chinese-Pop (C-pop) music industry.
Founder & former CEO of <a href="http://obmusic.com.sg/" target="_blank">Ocean Butterflies</a>, Billy transformed Ocean
Butterflies Music into one of the leading independent music powerhouses in Asia
for the last 20 over years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURHlVj8iCJGg2zoenS5qdmyiDvYFS0Ez3Ymw7GMCUyXADclDLc9z70YMVstwoS-4begobJJDVQigTaDOWdqBAXpkXpJndblL9O3PnRs-j3mUJia3a-1xiLAumWuZTGEroxhoR8UrRd-Y/s1600/Arms+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURHlVj8iCJGg2zoenS5qdmyiDvYFS0Ez3Ymw7GMCUyXADclDLc9z70YMVstwoS-4begobJJDVQigTaDOWdqBAXpkXpJndblL9O3PnRs-j3mUJia3a-1xiLAumWuZTGEroxhoR8UrRd-Y/s1600/Arms+s.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In his
30-year long music career, Billy has produced more than 200 albums for singers
from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China & the
US. He is best known for discovering & producing many successful Asian acts
including Kit Chan in 1994, A-Do in 2002, JJ Lin in 2003 and BY2 in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2014,
he quit as CEO of Ocean Butterflies to pursue his new business, <a href="http://amusicrights.com/" target="_blank">Amusic Rights Management</a>, a rights management business that exploits the “publishing rights
of a musical work and all other rights resulting from the reproduction of it”.
In particular, Amusic focuses on digital marketing of music, using an
investment/ revenue sharing model with artistes that it works with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
reached him to find out what exactly Amusic Rights Management is and how it
works differently from a traditional music publisher and record label.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGvjSdF7SN60J3V7WaUSNYd1GeYFkzncClhIiFHQRcYNOV5gqiF3A0YMztd1bUtbgf-loxeTg6nb4O5O5CwTf2c-9y_YBuBgms5vRYWKlcLHCW3xT56arrcnB5TYxXm7-8h26o0q-7k8/s1600/Biz-Model.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGvjSdF7SN60J3V7WaUSNYd1GeYFkzncClhIiFHQRcYNOV5gqiF3A0YMztd1bUtbgf-loxeTg6nb4O5O5CwTf2c-9y_YBuBgms5vRYWKlcLHCW3xT56arrcnB5TYxXm7-8h26o0q-7k8/s1600/Biz-Model.png" height="260" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Amusic Rights Management business model.<br />Source: http://amusicrights.com/about/company</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What have music publishers and record labels failed
to do in the current state of the music industry and how does Amusic seek to
improve or work differently?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">In digital platforms, music is
uploaded sometimes not by creators but users. Large flows of content are mostly
"self-driven" instead of pre-selected by editors in the old days.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">It'll be much more effective to administer copyrights
of songs and sound recordings together via metadata encoded as a thumbprint of
the digital tracks. Amusic does exactly that, and this is what I mean by a "rights
management" company, where it invests and markets music as one. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">The artists and producers are free
to decide who they want to work with and they are pretty much their own boss. They
don't need to be tied up with the majors, whose once powerful and exclusive
physical distribution networks have now become obsolete. Heavyweight artistes
like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Linkin Park all have their own music companies. The
major labels would only sign distribution deals with them. These majors have hardly
created any music content themselves any more for the last five decades.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">As digital platforms matured,
especially in the last five years, music companies who really create, produce
and own music can now go to digital platforms themselves, bypassing the majors.
Moreover, the majors do not own any digital platforms, especially not in China.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amusic’s
core business is in the digital realm but certainly not the only business</span><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">. We are also involved in offline activities, such as helping
clients pitch their songs for ads or placements in TV or film too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Amusic
doesn’t sign any artistes. It only works with the artistes. The artistes will
employ or own his/her management company which decides what he wants for
his/her career. The management company will then work with Amusic Creative Team,
an A&R expert arm of Amusic Rights, to develop the repertoire of the
artists. Amusic Rights is responsible for the quality of the products & taking
care of the investment of the products including marketing it digitally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
internet has levelled the playing field for all big and small companies to be
able to gain a foothold in the fragmented music market, because even with
smaller investment budgets, a substantiated level of awareness and interactive
personalization can still be achieved between artistes and fans. So from an
artiste's perspective, instead of working with a major label using cookie
cutter "template strategies", they have the freedom to work with
different partners via a modular business model to customize a plan according
to their needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What does it take for an album to be successful,
other than making sure that the product is of high quality? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">High
quality can only guarantee a long-lasting listening pleasure if the song even
has a chance to be a hit in the first place. But how can a song be a hit? Well,
that's what A&R for. It's a matter of harnessing and capturing the best of
the humanities, fashion, social, aesthetic, emotion, culture, life-style
etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How are listeners consuming music now, particularly
in China? In such a big but fragmented market, how do you ensure that your
songs and artistes are heard? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Listeners in China consume music
mostly through the internet, be it on PC or mobile. Marketing is about
capturing focus within a specific time frame among all the rest of the
competition. Using creative ways to capture attention can be the first step. However,
once the crowd is pulled in, the interest level in the content will decide if
the mass would want to re-generate it and amplify its reach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In another interview, you mentioned about how the
future of the music industry would and should be looking at how to maximizing
its long tail. How do you think a relatively smaller company like Amusic can
achieve this? Also, what are the advantages of being small? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the
older days, most people do not have access to the old hits that they wish to
recall as most players for the yesteryear's carriers or physical formats are
not available any more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now with
random accessibility provided by the digital era, everything can be made easily
available by uploads generated from the users, not creators. Good music which can
withstand time is in the long tail now. It's always easier to make a one-time
hit than a long lasting hit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of course,
there's no guaranteed continuous success, but a good music team that has proven
its acts which can last at least a decade or more must certainly possess some
kind of know-how within. It's a science, not a miracle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Being small
allows us to be independent, integrated & interactive, especially in the
internet age. This will make every elite work for himself. It's more incentive
driven and it cuts down all the nonsense of unnecessary meetings and reporting
of the majors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In recent years, many music industry professionals
in China have given up or left, due to paper thin margins and a lack of a
strong and cohesive ecosystem amongst the major players in the industry,
including telcos, internet operators, music labels and the government. How do
you think this is changing or improving? What more can be done?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the
legislative level, for sure it needs to speed up, especially when China’s
economy is reforming towards growing their own innovation driven industries
rather than staying merely as the "world’s factory". Again, we must
not take any present copyright practices for granted. Let's see it this way,
what exactly are "copyrights"?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Copyrights
do not exist by virtue of God. It's a result of negotiation between creators,
co-workers, platforms, media, traders & end-users. There needs to be a fair
deal so that the business model can be sustained. In the last 20 years, we
witness how the internet has digitised all media industries. Music is no
exception, like it or not. I'm open for new negotiation for a new music business
model as long as creators receive enough to make music a good living. It need
not be the same way as during the old school days but it definitely needs
everyone to sit down in a round table to discuss. Everyone, not just the
westerners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you think would the future of the music
industry in Asia be like, particularly in China? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
priority now is to build super strong content and make an influential
impact first. We need to create a super strong demand then the money, format and
business model will surface naturally. In China, a new format that you never
could have imagined will emerge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stop
predicting and start working, on-the-ground not under-ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
future is a land that we've never been.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<i>This interview was conducted by Emily Haw. Reach out to her on Twitter @emilyhaw</i></div>
musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-21012772353634726132014-02-19T03:38:00.000-08:002014-06-09T21:06:08.028-07:00Timbre Group’s Co-founder Danny Loong’s take on Singapore musicians: “We may not know enough about ourselves, but I truly believe that we can be world class.”<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Once a
musician himself, Danny was bandleader of one of Singapore's most traveled, and
widely regarded by the media and critics as one of the best bands in Asia,
Ublues. The band performed in countries such as Australia, Spain, Italy and different
parts of Asia. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Ublues
received critical acclaim in USA at the "International Blues
Challenge" in Memphis USA in 2003 and shared the same billing with James
Brown, Bob Dylan, John Legend at international festivals. Ublues was also the
first Asian band to be invited to perform in the prestigious music festival in
Byron Bay, Bluesfest in their 20 years history. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Danny
is a passionate advocate of not only Singapore music but music from Asia in
general. During the interview, he spoke strongly of how his experience as a
musician had shaped his vision of what Asian musicians can achieve amongst the
challenges they face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfVz85OMZgsDM8ZRgCBvtiSpDJMvrNQnu2vyBPrhUY5B9GC6b6SyJCc6ffmE_e-ZA9ssTMJMDUZ_j6IUtGryUKAnvDGjBP9R05Bfcq6sOfsHiQndVrwSJJ0VTb_5lWtNuGzlWDnvza8g/s1600/2013-Danny-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfVz85OMZgsDM8ZRgCBvtiSpDJMvrNQnu2vyBPrhUY5B9GC6b6SyJCc6ffmE_e-ZA9ssTMJMDUZ_j6IUtGryUKAnvDGjBP9R05Bfcq6sOfsHiQndVrwSJJ0VTb_5lWtNuGzlWDnvza8g/s1600/2013-Danny-20.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Loong, Co-founder of Timbre Group</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">“In
Western countries, very often many of them are surprised that we speak good
English. And to be honest, if Gangnam Style did not achieve over one billion
views, do you think the West would care? It’s a challenge to change their
mindsets, but it’s not impossible. We only need a torch-bearer, not even
necessarily from Singapore, but from Asia, to make it in the Western market so
that we would be fairly judged for the quality of our music, and not be
distracted by our ethnicity and its stereotypes.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">During
my experience in Australia, we managed to change some mindsets there, and even
if it was a few hundred people, it was worth it as hopefully, that could
translate to thousands or even more.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Danny
with partner Edward Chia, started <a href="http://www.timbregroup.asia/" target="_blank">Timbre Group</a>, a holding company with a
diversified portfolio of music lifestyle brands creating an eco-system of
holistic and synergistic range of businesses. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Over
the years, Timbre has proven to be a successful business model in the music
industry, expanding from food and beverage concepts such as the Timbre chain of
live music restaurants and bars to key large events Timbre Rock & Roots and
Beerfest Asia, eventually vertically integrating into event and artists
management, as well as a music education arm, with Timbre Music Academy and
Junior Academy of Music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Danny
and Edward were both conferred the "Tourism Entrepreneur of The Year"
award by the Singapore Tourism Board at the Singapore Experience Awards in
2010. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">How was Timbre started? How are
the roles split between Edward and yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I
was a full time musician, starting with a band from West Australia in 1999
after graduating. That experience as a musician was very important in shaping
his thoughts to set up my own place, which eventually happened with Edward.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Since
I was 18, I’ve always wanted my own place. But I wasn’t that serious until we
disbanded in 2004. When I was playing in Australia, we were the only
Asian-fronted band, and it was about promoting the music from Asia, as we stood
out in the scene that was dominated mostly by white musicians. In 2001, I came
back to Singapore with the band, and were based here for three years promoting
the album and playing at various shows here and overseas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Thanks
to the eight years I spent as a musician, it developed a drive within me to
build a brand name like Timbre as a force to promote Asian musicians, Asian
music, and also help guide the bands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I
eventually met Edward in 2003 when he was running youth arts organization, Arts
For Us All, and he invited my band to play at his events. We kept in touch, and
talked about the idea of having a place, and came across the Substation, which
was the first important step to what it is now.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Edward
is the Managing Director, while I am the Chief Creative Director. Together with
my team, we play A&R role, artiste management and creative role and develop
our musicians and bands, making sure that the listeners come back and to
maintain the brand’s main objective to uplift and support Singapore musicians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What were the challenges when
musicians faced back then? How about now?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Ten
years ago, there wasn’t much of a live scene. There were a few places but it
wasn’t a huge thing. Not many musicians were releasing albums as compared to
now. Back when I was a musician myself, it was very tough for us, but we still
did pretty well, and represented Singapore to play in many countries, such as
Australia, Spain, Malaysia, Barcelona and Indonesia. And that experience also
shaped the vision for the business of what I hope Singapore music could grow
into.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">In
the past, being a musician was not looked upon with any respect. There was a
strong stigma against musicians and anyone involved in the arts. Being in the
arts was not seen as a valid profession, and the stigma still holds today,
although it’s not as bad now. It was a bit disconcerting and disappointing,
because the reason why I came back from Perth was because of the <a href="http://app.mccy.gov.sg/Portals/1/Summary/Publications/Renaissance%20City%20Plan%20III%20(Bk%201).pdf" target="_blank">Renaissance City Plan</a> report released by the National Arts Council which unveils details of
Singapore’s Arts and Cultural Master Plan for 2008-2015, which got me all
excited. But a renaissance cannot start if the people do not regard arts as a
crucial part of culture development and the social glue that gel people
together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Through
the years, I realize that (arts development) was done in a very pragmatic
manner, and it seems that we may have forgotten that many legends in the past
like Eric Clapton or Elton John who were struggling artists before they made it
big.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">When
I returned, I wanted to help uplift the music scene, but it all starts with
changing mindsets, and that was a huge hurdle. The lack of this cultural
mindset was alarming, because if we claim to be a first world nation like Japan
or Canada, we need to cultivate culture and arts at a whole different level,
and this is a very important part of the ecosystem of the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">In
order to build the software or heartware of the country, we have to build trust
and confidence in the youth and let ideas just blossom from a ground up level.
That was the drive when Edward and I set up Timbre, which was to empower young
people, and to build their confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What is Timbre's strategy in
creating a sustainable audience for your acts? How do you attract new customers
and retain old ones? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Our
customers are mainly between 18-40, anyone who likes live music and hanging out
with their friends. At Timbre @ The Substation, you would always see groups of
friends coming together. We also make sure that the ladies felt comfortable and
safe at any of our outlets, as Timbre has a more wholesome and safe image.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">At
the different outlets, Timbre’s basic DNA of holistic dining experience with
entertainment can be expected, but each outlet has its own charm. Timbre @ The
Substation would be more rock-n-roll, louder and edgy, with more original
showcases featured, due to its location near Fort Canning which live concerts
are held, which is part of this entire sub-culture image that The Substation
projects.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Timbre
@ The Arts House would be more acoustic, laid back by the river, and because most
of the customers are from the Central Business District, the repertoire would
have to be different, including classics<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>songs from the 80s.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Timbre
@ Gillman would have a more romantic dining kind of vibe and great for group
celebrations like birthdays, and we also have a lot of families with kids
heading there as well.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
also have Switch, which attracts a different group of customers, who are
similar to the crowd at Timbre @ The Substation but they also enjoy listening
to Mandarin or other Asian music. There are many who enjoy listening to Bruno
Mars as much as Jay Chou, and this can be seen in their playlists.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">When
we first started, we had the help of many bands who brought their own fans to
Timbre. We are thankful for that as Timbre @ The Substation wasn’t exactly the
easiest location to find, and even today we have people calling us to ask how
to get there.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">At
that time, it was also the start of the rise of social media such as blogs,
Facebook and later on Twitter, which helped to spread awareness, especially
amongst our younger customers. We’ve also had strong support from the media
like The Straits Times, which published cover stories and articles about us.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Throughout
the years, we realize that Timbre has become a place where people like to come to
celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, marriage proposals and
anniversaries. That’s where our bands play a very big part in interacting the
customers and being part of the whole experience, and not just engaging or
entertaining them through music. Inevitably, we become part of their lives, and
that kind of branding takes effort, because we’re dealing with very personal
events like wedding proposals, which we cannot afford to screw up. Every event
is a customized experience, which sometimes I’ll personally handle, and all
details are thoroughly looked into, right down to which song they sing on
stage, whether they will do a dance after the proposal and so on. We listen to
their requests and try our best help as much as we can.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
also invested in technology to improve our dedication system, which allows
customers to make their dedication requests through SMS, which would be shown
on screen. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">How would you describe the live
scene in Singapore now?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Ten
years ago, the clubbing scene was bigger than live music; there weren’t many
options for people to go to, but thanks to the growing popularity of acoustic
singer-songwriter types like Jason Mraz, and popular Youtube performers, more
people like to enjoy live music these days. We see more live band venues coming
up, which are great, although there may be saturation in the market now. So
it’s all about quality, and the genuine personal touch that our bands and
service staff can bring to the audience which sets us apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Why did Timbre go into music
education too?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
look at Timbre’s business as an ecosystem, where all the subsidiaries would
complement and support each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
have about 60 students currently, and two schools, Timbre Music Academy and
Junior Academy of Music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Obviously,
music education is a synergistic fit, because not only are our musicians are
qualified to teach, they could also promote the classes during their gigs at
Timbre, and it empowers them to create an additional revenue stream for
themselves other than performing. We teach the same things as other music
schools, but the key difference is that our students immediately have a
platform to practice and perform live in front of an audience which we think is
key to their music development.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">That
is when students can truly learn about showmanship and how to deal with
nervousness, how to prepare themselves before going on stage; tuning up and
working with other people, and a whole lot of other things which are learnt on
the spot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
have the facilities to have our students play with our instructors in a live
setting, and some of the students are doing very well, playing happy hour gigs.
We also work with partners like the youth arm of NTUC, nEbO as well as our
universities and polytechnics to train them and give them a showcase
opportunity at Switch and Timbre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Could you elaborate on the
A&R and management role that Timbre undertakes? How are they marketed and
developed?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
would do talent spotting, sign them, develop them and mange them for corporate
events and hopefully get them to record an album, going to markets that will be
interested in them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The
instructors are empowered to look out for potential students, and given their
recommendation, I would have a listen, and we will consider signing them. We
have already signed a few artists under our artists management arm, one of them
as young as 11 years old. We are hoping to promote her in Taiwan some day for
the Mandarin market.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I
truly believe that some Singaporean artists are or can be world class. There
are many Singapore musicians who tour with the biggest Asian names like Zhang
Hui Mei or David Tao. I think we don’t know enough about ourselves, and we tend
to undertake too much of a self-defeating attitude towards ourselves. So what I
want to do is to empower people to start thinking that yes, they are good
enough. Personally, if I didn’t go through performing at Barcelona and Spain
and all the other places, I would not have possibly known that as well. We sold
our albums, got invited four times by Bluesfest at Byron Bay, who eventually
became our partners for Timbre Rock and Roots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">We
have good quality musicians who need to dream and think big, and we just need
the audience to change their mindsets and be a little more positive. Together
we could make this work.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">How would you propel your
artists to be successful in Asia?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">In
terms of the Mandarin market, of course it would be China, Hong Kong and
Taiwan. As for English music, Australia has a lot of potential, and it all
comes down to perception. We will work with partners on the ground who believe
in such collaborations, like West Australian Music (WAM), a society that
represents many musicians over there. They hold a festival and award ceremony
every year. More importantly, there has to be a cultural exchange, just as how
there is a lot more potential for Australian bands to come over, if the bridge
is built without any prejudices or stereotypes. We brought three bands over
last year, and this June they will bring three bands over here. This form of
cultural exchange could start something hopefully big in future, whether is it
through a major label, or through a music society, or through the arts and
culture departments of government, and that’s what we want to do, which is to
give back and help build a strong music community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I
think there is a lot more potential for Mandarin speaking and singing artists
because they already have known Singapore, and have a good impression of
Singapore because of the likes of Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin leading the way.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Of
course, we would need to have quality songs, quality production, and we are
heading in the right direction. I have heard from producers in the US and UK
who have given praise for our production quality. Secondly, we would need to
find the markets that can accept our music, which is the tough part, but it
helps if our artists are marketed right and professionally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Do you think Timbre's stable of
artistes should perform more covers or more of their own original material? How
do you balance both?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">I
always encourage my bands to write their own songs, as that is one of the best
ways to improve themselves. However not every band writes songs, and we
recognize that every band is different. A band like 53A does that, because they
write their own songs and release their own albums. About 10% of Timbre’s house
music nightly is originals, and we also have designated events such as
Singapore Originals and worked with events like Singapore Writers Festival to
organize production and projects, which encourage creativity and showcase
purely original works. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Audiences
now are reacting more positively to originals, as their fans look forward to
the bands playing their own music. Thanks to social media and portals like
iTunes and others, the bands can build a fan base and release their own
material.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">The
audience base may be small now, but they will need to keep things going, build
their portfolio, so that they would even be ready when they venture overseas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">What do you think would be the
future of Singapore and Asia's music scene would be like? What are the top 3
trends that you'd predict.</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">While China has become such a
big influence, we have to be aware of how China consumes popular music, which
is still a case study for many, but its sheer size cannot be ignored. It’s huge
but fragmented, and the question is how we can penetrate it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">As for Mandarin music, there
could be a revival of classic rock bands, as I observed that in Beijing as well
as Taiwan, there is a huge underground rock scene there. I like rock, so it
would be nice if the next big thing is a band with a huge rock sound. I also hear
that they are also into blues, jazz and even exploring into funk, so there
could be a potential for such niche genres there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Coming back to Singapore as a
market, I hope to see more original music being played, whether is it live or
on radio or digital platforms like Deezer, which promotes local content. SGMUSO
lobbied for mainstream radio to increase play of local content, and now we have
about 1 song per hour. In my opinion, it’s not enough, but at least it’s a good
start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: x-small;"></span></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">About Timbre Group<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Timbre
Group was founded with the social mission of developing the Singapore music
scene through the talent cultivation of local musicians, and growing
sustainable audiences for them. Today, the Group has evolved into a holistic
music lifestyle company with a diversified yet synergistic portfolio of
businesses ranging from food and beverage, concert and festivals promotion and
music education. It currently comprises six live music restaurants and bars,
two international festivals (Timbre Rock & Roots and Beerfest Asia), a
pizza restaurant and delivery service, an artist management agency, and two
music academies. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Timbre Group’s Portfolio of Brands <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Timbre
• Switch • 12-inch Pizzas & Records • Barber Shop • Timbre Catering •
Timbre 12-inch Delivery • Timbre Music • Timbre Music Academy • Junior Academy
of Music • Timbre Rock & Roots • Beerfest Asia</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">www.timbregroup.asia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Community Involvement<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">Danny
Loong is also<br />
- a member of the Arts & Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) committee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;">-
Vice-President of Singapore Musicians Society (SGMuso) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"><i>This interview was conducted and transcribed by Emily Haw. Follow her on Twitter @emilyhaw</i></span></div>
musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-31791700357486782112013-10-16T01:00:00.000-07:002013-10-16T01:10:52.377-07:00Here We Are: Documentary Film on Singapore’s Growing Music Scene<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recording studio engineer by degree, Daniel Rucerito never
expected that he would one day become a filmmaker. Three years ago, Daniel had
viewed a few locally produced short films that depicted the more negative
aspects of the music industry in Singapore. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As much as he could appreciate and
relate to those films, he felt that there needed to be a more positive and
collectively cohesive film that demonstrated the better side of the local music
scene as a whole. The result? A 90-minute documentary titled “Here We Are” that
sets out to globally expose Singapore's rapidly growing music scene, featuring
many live band performances as well as interviews from artists, recording
studios, media outlets, government sectors, band managers, producers and other
affiliated organizations as they explore and discuss the various mechanisms
that are sparking the current music movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTR-LpY29qsKvonCkVRXKyBEme8hq-zhTSft0dh8U7ACnuCYits8mJlUFT7XfPhWKBNIkU3z3hKNyJNzdVLf5L2dozgnlJgAaVqROMPq4lTp0Yaa9oRMFf_9VudC-5tiPCCb0RJ8D0Hvo/s1600/1000x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTR-LpY29qsKvonCkVRXKyBEme8hq-zhTSft0dh8U7ACnuCYits8mJlUFT7XfPhWKBNIkU3z3hKNyJNzdVLf5L2dozgnlJgAaVqROMPq4lTp0Yaa9oRMFf_9VudC-5tiPCCb0RJ8D0Hvo/s320/1000x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Edited from 12 interviews, 15
different live artist performances and several music video clips, “Here We Are”
dives into the heart of the local music community and provides inside
perspectives on where the Singapore music industry may be heading to in the
very near future.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/C-hrf3N2o6E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Daniel had
never ventured into film prior to spearheading this documentary, but that didn’t
stop him from making a statement that he wanted to put out. He had been a
musician since he was a small child and has always had a deep passion for
music, so he knew that he had to create this film despite his inexperience in
filmmaking.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: What were some of the
challenges you faced making this movie? </span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The greatest challenge was overcoming the hundreds of times
I told myself to put the film aside due to various difficulties I was facing
throughout the project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I created this movie during my spare time and nearly single
handedly. In addition, I had faced numerous challenges on various levels. Some
were personal (family and health related) while others were technical (software
bugs and computer crashes). Due to the obstacles, it took about 14 months to
complete.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: How was the
production funded?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the beginning I had actually asked a good friend if I could borrow his camera equipment. He agreed and also
helped me to shoot some footage. After a few shoot dates, he had other
commitments and couldn't continue to assist me. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That's when I had to save up enough money to buy my own
equipment, which took a little bit of time. At the end of the post production
phase though, the National Arts Council had awarded me a grant that helped to
offset my financial investments for the film.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: What do you want to
achieve with this film?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'd like to achieve a few things with this film. Firstly, I
want to help establish Singapore as a global destination for original music. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Secondly, I'd like it to increase the fan base for local
artists by attracting fans from the Western part of the world, as I feel they
would be more receptive and appreciative of their music in contrast to the
local culture here.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lastly, I want this film to help inspire others to become
more active in the local music scene in a way that will benefit it unilaterally
amongst the community.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What was your opinion of Singapore’s music
industry before you made this film? Did it change after it was completed?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before I made this film I felt that there were a lot of good
things about the scene here in Singapore with the biggest factor being the
amount of musical talent that some of these bands and artists possess. Now that
the film is done and released, I feel that the scene has positively grown even
more in various aspects since then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: How is the response
to the film so far?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The response for the film has been good thus far since I
made it available online a little less than a week ago. Since then it has
received over 1,500 views on YouTube without any marketing efforts other than a
few Facebook posts. It has 46 likes vs. 4 dislikes, so that's definitely a good
indicator that it is being well received. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 5pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: How do you intend to
further promote the film? How will it be distributed?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have already begun contacting college radio stations in
the US in efforts to line up some interviews so that I can further promote the
film to their listeners. I plan to do the same thing for promoting it in Europe
and Canada as well.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I've also shortlisted some potential film festivals, but not
sure I'll be able to go down that route since most of them require a financial
deposit upon application and I'm not currently in a position to support that.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As for right now though, I think that the main focus will be
distributing the film through the various social networking platforms
available.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q: </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Which are the top three areas that you
would like to see improvement on Singapore’s music industry? How do you think it
could be achieved?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1. I'd love to see proper spaces being made available for
bands and artists to hone their song writing and live performance skills. Where
I'm from in the US, bands play in basements or inexpensive warehouses that can
be rented bi-annually. They can practice with their own equipment at anytime of
the day or night. It's a space they can call their own and it allows them a
better ability to grow as an artist because of it. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. Further mentoring from established industry professionals
in various areas such as music journalism, artist management, studio recording,
song writing and producing in order to further elevate the local talent to an
international standard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3. Have the public acknowledge that music is an important
factor in the balance of life and that being an artist or musician is a real
profession that should be paid accordingly. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think that all of the above can be achieved if we continue
to work together without bias within the local music community. I'm very glad
that SGMUSO has formed and come together because they have already made some
good headway with various initiatives to elevate the music industry here
although there certainly is a lot more that needs to be done.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Q:</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<span lang="EN-US">What is your vision of the future of Singapore’s music
industry?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I see the Singapore music scene
establishing itself as a real player amongst the global music community and
receiving the appreciation it has well deserved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">---------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Here We Are”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Guest Starring:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steve Lillywhite, Leonard Soosay,
Syaheed, Dylan Ely, Kevin Mathews, Jasper Donat, Willy Tan, Elaine Ng, Roland
Lim, Graham Perkins, Clarence Chan and James Woo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Featured Performers:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A N E C H O I S, ShiGGa Shay, Inch Chua,
Kevin Lester, Sezairi Sezali, Charlie Lim, Achilous, We The Thousands, The Sam
Willows, Monster Cat, Charles J Tan, Rudra, The Great Spy Experiment, These
Brittle Bones, In Each Hand A Cutlass, Flawed Element, Zahidah, Caracal, The
Cave, Nicholas Chim, I Hate This Place and Aarika Lee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-51241526840819281192013-10-09T08:23:00.000-07:002013-10-09T23:03:43.287-07:00Tips for artists/bands: How to best make use of your Spotify, YouTube and Deezer platforms<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Missed the SGMUSO Open
House last Saturday? No worries, as we have captured the tips dished out by the
panel on Digital Distribution.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HCxMZyJ9L82R-xNis1ELQs4QdbeIdMkb5z-zhJdtNk2Q7lJ-epKNiNbg3db-fu4yfQLSpCPDueFwD095dKnKpil_IO8QIBPQiLOmbyCeQbcHpTbkAPFtsqStJW699PQv016UMfRJYGM/s1600/Photo+5-10-13+3+31+48+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HCxMZyJ9L82R-xNis1ELQs4QdbeIdMkb5z-zhJdtNk2Q7lJ-epKNiNbg3db-fu4yfQLSpCPDueFwD095dKnKpil_IO8QIBPQiLOmbyCeQbcHpTbkAPFtsqStJW699PQv016UMfRJYGM/s400/Photo+5-10-13+3+31+48+pm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Panel (from left):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tan Chee Meng (Spotify)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Arica Ng (YouTube)<br />
Sylvain Delange (Believe Digital) - Moderator</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dana Inthaxoum (Deezer)<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: How can an artist best make use of digital
platforms such as Deezer, Spotify and YouTube?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Deezer, if you work
with a digital distributor, you can use Deezer4Artists, so that you are able to
see where your audience is from and which country listens to your music. Then
you are able to create a promotional campaign targeting those countries. You
are also able to customize your artist page on Deezer, and you can upload a
banner or status or share exclusive content, and this content is also monetized.
You are also able to link your social media platforms easily to your Deezer
artist page, so that you are able to connect to your fans easily.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spotify<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nowadays you have a
lot of power and control over your channels, but with that comes
responsibility. It is extremely critical to control the metadata that you tag
onto your content. It goes back to how you are positioning yourself and who
your target audience is going to be. Think about the entire process, if you are
including neighboring markets like Malaysia, Indonesia or even the Chinese
market, what do you then tag on your metadata, because it will affect how your
content comes out on the platform. For example, if you are an indie rock
artist, and you tag #indierock, then are you going to compete with all the indierock
bands out there? Or are you going to tag #Singapore and be seen with all the
Singapore musicians and bands out there? Think about how to tag the information
that goes with your music, not just on Spotify but across all digital channels.
It is not glamorous or fun, but extremely critical in order to get your content
filtered up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>YouTube<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tip number 1: Go to
your YouTube channel, click on Analytics, three key buttons that you should be
familiar with. The first is “Audience” which means which country do they come
from. If you are writing in Mandarin, figure it out whether you should be
tagging in traditional or simplified Chinese. Secondly, think about whether you
need hanyu pinyin. And for those who are writing in English, I would still
encourage you to think about where your audience is coming from, because that
would determine how your voice would be. Look at who is viewing your content,
as that will determine your language set, and go figure out their age. That
would determine whether your banner should look gothic or like something from
Disneyland. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tip number 2: Look at “Sources”, which refers to
where did your audience come from before they found your content. It could be
from a website, Facebook, or anywhere. And if it was from a YouTube search, you
can click on the button and view what are the key words that they had input to
find you. If you have money, then you can buy Adwords to advertise yourself. If
not you can add this information into your metadata or description, because
that is where people find you from.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tip number 3:
Annotations. This button is highly important for you to use, because sometimes
your songs are a bit long, and you have a prelude of about half a minute, and
it has to be that way because it could be an OST (original sound track). So
there’s a button that says “Skip right straight into the music”. Just Google
“creative use of annotations”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These tips may not get
you to your 10,000, but as the Chinese saying goes, “Opportunities are given to
those who are ready”. You need to do all that I said to qualify as ready. Right
now, even if I spent a lot of money to have 1 million people to look at your
channel, they might not stay, so you will need to beef up your content first.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: How often should artists put up new content
to ensure that the audience stays and subscribes to the channel? On YouTube, we
could put up more videos. But on Deezer and Spotify, what could we do?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spotify<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To keep the user
engaged on your artist profile page, you could start by creating playlists, of
songs that inspire you to create new works, songs that you listen to when you
are on the road. This helps the audience understand who you are and your
inspirations and where your creative moments come from. We have tools such as
the Spotify play button that you can embed onto your own websites, Facebook
pages to reach out to your fans. Depending on which stage of your music career
that you are at: for new artists,
you will need to create a lot of followers on your profile page, as they are
your online fan base. Go to Spotify.com and find out more about how you can use
widgets to reach out to different platforms so that you can build your profile
and retain your audience.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You should use Deezer4Artists
to post any exclusive tracks for your fans only. You could also create
playlists. You can also email Deezer to inform us about your exclusive content
on your homepage. Outside of Deezer, you could also share your links on other
platforms, just like Spotify.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot of our users are
searching for playlists, so the name of the playlist is very important, because
it would reflect what kind of content you can find in the playlist. The
playlist can also be used as part of the buzz around a new album as the
audience will get a sense of what the new album is about.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: Does building other content such as
playlists or behind the scenes videos have any impact in the number of streams
or digital downloads of the album to be launched one month later? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>YouTube<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes it will work, but
this strategy will be more suitable if you already have a following. So we have
to get down to the basics. You have to treat your users not like your fans, but
your friends. I learnt this from a DJ with ten years experience. He said, “When
you go on air, do not say <span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">你们好</span> (hi everyone). You
should say <span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">你好</span> (hi, you).” It’s all about creating a one-to-one
relationship and dialogue, because digital distribution is about one-to-one
multiply by a million. Digital platforms allow you to talk to one million
viewers at the same time, but it does not give you the privilege to say “Hi
Everyone” because you are (probably) not at that status yet. That is the voice
of traditional media and how major labels operate - Three months before you
launch the album, you do a shout out, but the caveat is that when you do a
shout out, there’s people listening to you. So you need to first always be
there. You do not have the luxury of hiding for three months doing a
pre-launch, launch and post launch. You need to be on your YouTube page every
single day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: How often should we update our platforms?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>YouTube<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We encourage our
partners to create programming for their channels. There’s a few things you can
do: you can comment, add to the
playlist, publish new content, or do a hangout, which is like holding a live
concert. Creating a new playlist should be done once a week. Releasing new
content should be done once a week or every two weeks. Commenting and keeping a
dialogue should be a daily affair. As for a Google+ hangout, do that once a
month. Adhere to your programming. If I were an artist, I would place a banner
that commits, “This channel will release original Chinese music and we will
have a concert the first Friday of every month. We will do a collaboration for you
which will be released every Tuesday.” This is my consumer promise to you when
you subscribe to my channel. That would be the frequency, but first you need to
make it into a promise.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: Does exclusive content increase the number
of streams? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
20% of Deezer’s team
recommends music every week. The fact that we have music editors all over the
world, they talk to each other and it makes it very easy to spread the word
about the new release.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spotify<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The psyche of the
music lover has not changed over the years. The thrill of discovering a new
sound or artist that you like, and also the opportunity to be an opinion leader
to show off what you have discovered. The landscape will be constantly shifting
but the psyche of the music consumer remains the same. Think about it from that
point of view: the technology is here to help you, but fundamentally we are all
human and this is where the real connection will be. Treat them as your friend,
as a fellow music lover, think of what they would like to find out from you. On
Spotify we have what we call Commentries, which is like a director’s cut on a
DVD. As a music lover, I want to understand what goes into the creation
process. Such content may not drive a huge volume of streams, but if you knew
the story behind how the collaboration was made, this would engage them beyond
the music.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: Would you only work with artists with say, a
minimum of 10,000 subscribers or 1000 likes on their Facebook page?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, in fact, we work
with a lot of emerging artists. Through our music editor’s recommendations and
CRM, there has been successful cases of emerging artists to become number 1 in
another country. We do not look at how many fans you have currently, we are
really into music and would be happy to promote good music. If you want to
share your music with us, just send us an email or tweet, or talk to our music
editors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: If I were a musician to get my music out
there, is it possible to do it without video?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>YouTube<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
YouTube first started
as a video company, but today over 65% of the content being consumed is
actually music. Video is a very important element. It goes back to the question
of how do you define fame. Without the video, would Psy’s Gangnam Style be what
it is today? My guess is probably not. So I would say, we have moved on, and
video is an important component, simply because of the way we consume music
now. We do have producers who only want to put their music out there, but what
they have chosen to do is to execute it through collaboration. Because if you
want your music to be consumed, it is not about self gratification, it’s about delivering
your music in a format that people will find easiest to consume. If it’s video,
it’s video. If it’s with vocals, it’s with vocals. If it’s with lyrics, then
let be it with lyrics. So there are producers, but usually they will need to
collaborate with others. So it depends on who you are and what you lack.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can actually talk
to a label or a distributor. You can also access DIY websites to upload your
music and have them distributed on digital channels.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Streaming is
complementary to other forms of music consumption. You cannot forget that you
have to create playlists, and you have to do some merchandising, you have to
make vinyls. Use digital channels such as Deezer as a tool to discover music,
but engage them at every other level with your 360 degree marketing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spotify<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It goes back to what
kind of music you are making and what kind of musician you are, and whether a
visual would really help. And what do you think your audience would like. There
is a full suite of tools, but it does not mean that if you were to use video it
would make you a superstar. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Believe Digital<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It could be as simple
as using your artwork on the video. Keep focusing on what you do best, and if
it’s music, let it be music. But if you want to put all your chance together, if
you want to make the most out of your content, you will need to make a
collaboration, try to find a friend who can shoot a video of you doing an
acoustic and try to be everywhere and make use of these platforms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Be part of the
ecosystem. Reach out to every channel out there. Deezer users will probably
remain as Deezer users. Same for Spotify and YouTube. There is also the group
of people who love to discover sounds on Soundcloud, and you may want to reach
out to them as well. It’s all about knowing your audience. Obviously you would
be more successful on some platforms than others, so understand the analytics,
know where they come from, and what brought them to your page and build your
own strategy after understanding your fans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: As an independent unsigned artist or band
who has just recorded my album or single, how do I get my content out there on
these channels (especially Spotify and Deezer)?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Believe Digital<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will have to look
at your entire strategy. It’s easy to sign a deal for a single or an album, but
after that, what’s next? Do you already have a team of people who are helping
you make your name famous, build your audience and your image? Are you working
with a label, with a budget to do a little bit of promotion, or do you want to
hire people to do that? Do you want to do everything directly, and if you can
do everything directly, it’s a good start. But if you just want to focus on
your music, and need some help to ensure that it’s going to be viewed and
listened to, you could even consider going to a small record company to help
you. No matter what you do, don’t be isolated. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: Any interesting demographics that you can
share about your platforms?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spotify<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have a catalogue of
about 20 million songs, out of which about 70% are being consumed. There is
content for everybody, for every age group and demographics. We are very new to
this part of the world, so it’s only the early tech adopters who will use it a
bit longer, but there isn’t any specific demographic that jumps out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Deezer<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People listen to
different types of music in different countries. In Thailand, people listen to
a lot of local music. In Indonesia, people listen to a lot of music in Bahasa,
including religious music and a lot of rock music. In Singapore, people listen
to a lot of foreign pop, although we are trying very hard to push for a lot of
indie artists. It’s interesting to see that for many countries, they are quite
supportive of their own local music, except for Singapore.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Q: Do you foresee in the future that musicians
will move away from releasing full length albums or even EPs and market
themselves solely through singles?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>YouTube<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This has been a
question that has been discussed and debated over and over again for about
eight years. The fact is, we do have statistics that the sales of singles are
higher than albums, but going back to the story of the music itself, there is a
reason why the sounds flow from track one to track two and so on. There is a
completion, and eventually, your goal is not only to have one single, but is to
have a full album or story. But a single can be an easier way for you to go to
the market to test things out, rather than testing with 10 songs, perhaps you
could test with one and combine later. It is part of the marketing strategy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It depends on your artistic
vision. If you have a full story to tell, then you will need to have that LP.
But for a pop artist, you may go for the two singles, followed up by a ballad
or whatever is suitable. So know yourself, what you want to exchange with the
world. Are you a live band? If you are, then obviously you need more than a
single to have a concert.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-2434667747175299922013-08-12T11:25:00.000-07:002013-10-16T17:23:58.354-07:00“Developing an artiste is like building a brand,” says Belinda Ang,
manager of regional artiste Joi Chua 蔡淳佳.<!--StartFragment-->
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Ever
wondered what is the role of an artiste manager? How is it different from being
a mere promoter and what it means to manage an artiste’s career? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">To find
out, we spoke to Belinda Ang, artiste manager of Joi Chua</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">, a homegrown songbird
from Singapore who has delivered hit songs including </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10pt;">陪我看日出</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">, </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10pt;">有一天我会,依恋,庆幸有你爱我,</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">and </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10pt;">隐形纪念</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">.
Joi was also nominated for the Best Female Vocalist in Taiwan's prestigious
Golden Melody Awards in 2008. Together, they conceptualized, marketed and
released an independent EP "</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 华文宋体; font-size: 10pt;">视</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 'ヒラギノ明朝 ProN W3'; font-size: 10pt;">界</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 华文宋体; font-size: 10pt;">观</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">
PERSPECTIVES" in Singapore & China in late 2012, and the album topped
the charts more than 93 times, with 300 Top 3s and countless Top 10s over more
than 500 charts in China alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">During the
in-depth interview, she shared on how a manager could value add to the entire
process, how she succeeded in maximizing the limited resources she had to create a
successful launch for Joi’s latest album, and her vision for her artiste. Even
though she is unpaid, Belinda still puts in up to 70% of her time in this job, because she has absolute conviction in her artiste and friend, Joi Chua.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">“I always
think she can be better. And why I chose to dedicate myself to this role is
because when I told her, 'Hey I think you can be better,' her reply was,
'That’s what everyone says.' So basically many people said the same thing to
her but they would just say it as a passing remark. No one stepped up to say
that they wanted to do something about it. At that split moment, I decided that
I didn’t want to be one of those people, because it wasn’t a passing remark,
because I truly believe in what I see in her, and this was further affirmed
when I saw her perform on stage, for I felt that I was so lucky to be working
with someone like that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenCFDXy31HiFRkdDRzaNzxH6od4mGGJSp3ZG4sNnfhvtNrdGjp83yTG9TC-UGyoyf0Js9_ivbYr80fo3k-NiUh4Mx_f93cPRSspNhgw14vrVRS8cLj2ArB9iAfH3X28-wP9l2Qm_NHBQ/s1600/bel_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenCFDXy31HiFRkdDRzaNzxH6od4mGGJSp3ZG4sNnfhvtNrdGjp83yTG9TC-UGyoyf0Js9_ivbYr80fo3k-NiUh4Mx_f93cPRSspNhgw14vrVRS8cLj2ArB9iAfH3X28-wP9l2Qm_NHBQ/s400/bel_01.jpg" width="300"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belinda Ang, social media consultant and artiste manager of Joi Chua <span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">蔡淳佳</span></span><!--EndFragment--></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Describe your relationship with
Joi. How do both of you work together?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">My
relationship with Joi is quite unique in the music circle today because we are
exclusive. I do not manage any other artistes. It’s more like the relationship
of the manager and artiste back in the ‘80s where it’s one to one. There are
pros and cons, but this allows me to focus on her career. Apart from managing
the label, there is also the career management portion. A lot of managers these
days do not manage careers. They manage gigs, and it’s up to the artistes to
market themselves. They are more like agents and earn commissions in between.
They don’t manage careers because it’s more like a start up, and you never know
when your ROI is going to be. Agents these days make a living connecting
artistes to gigs and are more concerned with monetary returns. They are also more
likely to manage a label and sign artistes under the label. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">I have been
managing her for three years. We started out as Internet friends. We knew each
other on Twitter. Later we met up at Warner Music and became fast friends. At
that time, I had a full time employment. After six months, she mentioned
briefly about the potential of working together, so I planned towards my
independence. It all quite a destiny thing, because I was her first Internet
friend in 10 years, as it was not usual of her to make friends online. At that
time, I wasn’t even her fan, and wasn’t familiar with her songs. It was only
after knowing her that I realized that a lot of the songs that I know are sung
by her, because a lot of her songs were in TV dramas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">How were you involved from the
conception to release of her self-funded EP “</span></b><b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 华文宋体; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文宋体; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">视</span></b><b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "ヒラギノ明朝 ProN W3"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "ヒラギノ明朝 ProN W3"; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">界</span></b><b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 华文宋体; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文宋体; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">观</span></b><b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">
PERSPECTIVES”?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">I basically
cover the entire discipline of the traditional label, apart from the music
production. We had partners in China, which were newly established, as I wasn’t
originally from the music industry. It was my first time working on a music album. Although I studied film in China previously,
the music industry and the movie industry are totally different. Moreover, China
changes so quickly that a lot of the contacts that were established previously
are not around anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">How did you make inroads into
China’s music market?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">There was a
lot of work done in establishing contacts in the earlier part of the year
before we successfully knew who are our partners. Fortunately I’m a social
media consultant, so that’s my strength, and social media is my primary form of
networking. Every night, I would spend time deciding who I want to talk to. I
talked to as many people as I could, and I flew to China in May, just to visit
the social media companies in China, because with very limited resources, no
manpower, no label in China, it is quite difficult to do an onground launch. So
our only and fastest avenue was through the Internet. And with so many web
companies in China, or main social networks like RenRen. Sina, Baidu, they operate
very differently from Western social media owners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">I flew
there to say hi and to understand their business operations and how they could
support us and what are the resources available. I also spoke to some managers
in China, and strategized my launch from there. We launched on Sina Weibo
exclusively for 48 hours, and the deal came together with free placements of
banners and picture links on the other sites that they owned including Sina
Music, Weibo Music, Sina News, and it was quite a challenge negotiating for
those placements which otherwise would have earned them revenue. Because of our
exclusive terms and special relationships that we and our partners had with
them, we were able to garner many featured spaces. It was purely a digital
launch during the first phase. They linked to the music sites in China. Sina
owns their own music site, just as Baidu and QQ too. So we need to provide exclusivity to each of these
giants so that they do not discriminate you, because if you only work with one
of them, you may end up discriminated and they may not play your new songs. We have to be fair to everyone and give each owner a different form
of exclusivity, for example, to keep different images for different sites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">How did the launch turn out?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We topped
the 24-hour charts in Sina, we also topped many other radio charts. In China
there are the live charts and the 24-hour charts, and ranking is measured by
the number of listens within that specific time frame. To be honest, anything
can be bought, including listens, so to be able to achieve that kind of results
with zero marketing budget, we were quite surprised and very happy. But we knew
that we could do more if we were under a label. There will always be tradeoffs
for that. Without resources from the label, we are forced to become more
creative, and we were fortunate to be able to find partners who were passionate
enough about your product to work with. Our partners are also not paid. We all came
together with a vision and the same passion. The entire team worked 24/7 just
for a vision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What was it like working with
your China partners?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We were
working with DP Music, which is a small independent label in China, but they do
work with some big names, promoting concerts for Sandy Lam, and they have been
around in the market for a long time, previously under another label and
eventually they came out and started their own company. They see our vision,
and they are as passionate about Joi as I am, so they committed the entire team
to the project. This meant that the owner had to feed the entire team without
profits in mind. They worked on the project for close to 9 months: we started in May 2012 and only
finished the China promotions only in November. Their specialization is in
A&R and promotions. They helped us cover a lot of on-ground work, including
sending our songs to over 800 radio stations, clearance with publishing because
foreign companies cannot claim publishing rights in China hence a local
publisher is required. We worked with them to clear legal requirements. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Contrary to
the thought by most people that there is a lot of piracy in China, actually all
the major online sites that you see are legal, but there is an entire process
of clearing your copyright, and every platform requires a unique clearance. In
China, there is no one-stop service, because they are not united, so even if
you are from the publishing house, you still need to go to each media owner
individually to clear the rights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">There are
agents who have access to X number of companies, and you need to pay these
agents. If you were to go through agents, you would be able to distribute your
music but we
would prefer going to media owners individually so that we can negotiate for marketing
resources or better placements in the different platforms. We might talk to
their marketing staff and not the distribution staff. But of course, it is a
very tedious and long process, and I was burnt out. It took me six months to
recuperate from then! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What was the biggest challenge that
you faced?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Publishing
rights were the biggest challenge and it was the one thing that took me a
really long time to understand. There was no mentorship or help out there on
understanding publishing rights. Publishing rights differ from one country to
another. They are different in different platforms. Contracts come in all
shapes and sizes. I asked a lot of questions, begging them to explain to me
what the clauses meant. Clearing the rights for CD, digital and via a
thumbdrive had different implications. We had to authorize our publishing
rights to our partners in China, and in turn, they had to authorize the rights
to the local platforms, and the distribution had to be cleared through the
COMPASS equivalent in China.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Joi is a
writer under Warner Chappell (WMC) Taiwan. WMC will clear the publishing rights
for the writers for Joi Music, and Joi Music will authorize the rights to WMC
in Taiwan. WMC handles our distribution in Taiwan. Joi Music is a label that
Joi started which handles production and artiste management. I manage the
business part of Joi Music. The company is set up for
accounting purposes and collect royalties. It also allows us to better
structure our contracts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What are your thoughts on consumers
buying music?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">If you are
not a fan, you will not spend a single cent to buy music. Even if music was
within reach in legitimate digital platforms, you would simply download it for
free. But if you are a fan, even if I charged you $100, you would still buy it.
So we were willing to spend quite a bit in creating a box set for Joi’s EP. It
included a lyric book, a thumbdrive, a set of 7 cards of quotes that were
written by Joi on perspectives of life. We wanted to make it a collectible for
fans, something that adds value to them. We chose the thumbdrive because of a
few reasons. No point using a CD because nobody uses this format anymore and
they would simply rip the tracks off and put them into their phones or mobile
players. The thumbdrive was in a shape of a pair of spectacles, which links
back to the concept of “Perspectives”. inside the thumbdrive we included an
entire suite of content: the mp3s, ringtones, SMS message tones which were
recorded with her own voice, lossless formats for the tracks, exclusive videos
that has not been exposed, desktop wall papers, iPhone wall papers, Facebook
covers, Weibo backdrops and more. So when the fan receives the package, it’s
very big and exciting for them. The great thing about selling the box set to
fans is that they don’t leak the content out. The content was so confidential
prior to the launch that we hired our own line of production because other factories refused to sign an Non-Disclosure Agreement. It’s definitely more
expensive, and I deeply discourage anyone from following so. But I was stubborn
because it was my first album. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We had a
run of 3000 copies, but each copy was sold at a premium price. My point of view: music should not be cheaper, it should become more
and more expensive. The difference lies in adding value. If a Starbucks Frappuccino
can be sold for seven dollars, or an empty notebook can be sold for forty
dollars, I don’t understand why you can’t buy music for more. I think the only
difference is that there needs to be a re-education into the entire system.
Music formats have changed, but the re-education does not come overnight. No
one thought that we would sell a single copy, and although we did not manage to
break even, I think we need to start changing the perspectives of people. It’s
how you add value to your fans. It’s not about how you should price your music.
Music is a product on its own, but people don’t sell products, they sell
brands. Yes, there are instances that good music can go very far, but how often
do we see that? We also see terrible music going very far. Why? It’s because
they have terrible products but good brands. And if the good brand comes with a
very good product, then the sustainability is longer. If I were to sell you an aluminum
can with cola inside for 10 cents, you still wouldn’t even buy it, but if it
had a red label outside that says Coca-cola, I could sell it to you for a
dollar. I come from a branding background, so I deeply believe in creating
brands, and I see Joi as a brand; all her songs are products. So creating an EP
or box set is basically packaging the product, but it needs to bring up my
brand, that’s why I’m spending so much effort in it. Joi feels the same way,
but obviously it’s quite painful for her because there is a lot of money
involved! haha<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We sold the
box set for USD28, exclusively online from her website www.joichua.com . In China,
we worked with the e-commerce sites to sell the box sets at RMB149 each. We
kept the quantity very small because we did not expect it to sell like hot
cakes, especially at such a high price. I’m very grateful that there are many
supporters from Singapore, and surprisingly we had orders from Japan, Spain,
Australia. So the great thing about doing your own distribution is that you get
to know where your fans are from. The interesting thing is that the box set was
selling at USD28, but the postage to Japan was USD30, so the total for that box
set was USD60, and they still didn’t think it was expensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What is it like managing Joi
without the backing of a major label?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Prior to
our stints in Singapore, no one thought that, without a label, we would not be
able to step out of Singapore. Most people would think, why don’t you sign with
a major label, especially since there are labels coming to her? But she has
certain insistence with the quality and ownership of the music. She wants
better control over her music. So when she were to join another label, that
would be part of what she would negotiation terms. Joi is not a 18 year old
girl, so she is at the part of her career that it is time to make decisions for
herself. Although running her own label would be a lot harder, especially since
we did not attempt to find investors or VCs. We wanted to work with brands but
did not have the time to do so. There are some business decisions that weren’t
the smartest to make, but we did not want to compromise the quality, and that
was the one agreement we knew we had. </span><br>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span><br>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We clearly understood that you could not
have one EP and, boom, you make it big. Brands need to be built over time, but
at least we have started somewhere. For me, if I’m going to invest X dollars to
create three songs and launch it for Singapore’s market, the cost is going to
be the same even if I include the China market. So I might as well create the
album for 3, 4 ,5 markets. Similarly, if I’m going to spend three months
marketing the album in market, might as well spend the same time marketing in
several markets. So it doesn’t make sense to be localized, especially when I
know that the local market it small, and the sad truth is, we do give more
respect to musicians who make it out of Singapore. It’s the truth that a lot of
us don’t want to admit, but that’s the truth. However, we do not compromise
with the Singapore market. We work very closely with the local media, and to be
honest, I’m really touched by the local radio stations who have given us a lot
of support although we have nothing to offer.</span></div>
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<br></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What were your considerations
when deciding which market to focus on promoting her album?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Because of
time and resource constraints, I was making my bet on either focusing on Taiwan
or China. I could only choose one of the two. The reason why people go to
Taiwan is because if they are popular in Taiwan, they would be able to sell in
China. So to me, it does not make sense to go to Taiwan, because the end
destination is still China. We actually bypassed the entire Taiwan for this
particular launch. A lot of people think it’s quite silly because many of the
music awards like </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">金曲奖</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"> are all based in Taiwan, but the ballgame is very
different in Taiwan as compared to China, and I had more confidence in China
because of my previous experiences and personal network there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">My
experience in doing business in China is more robust than my experiences
dealing with the Taiwanese. The Taiwanese and the Mainland Chinese are quite
different when it comes to business negotiations. The way they communicate is
different. When I communicate with Mainland Chinese, the experience is a lot
richer. When they speak, I am aware of their
communication nuances. But I don’t understand the Taiwanese. They are faster,
smarter and quicker than Singaporeans. Both countries are. But if I cannot
guess what they are trying to say, I’m definitely on the losing end. On the other hand, the Mainland Chinese have a lot of respect for Singaporeans, and they
love working with us because we are a man of our words. Their perception is that
Singaporeans are very organized and systematic, we mean what we say, and we are very honest folks. So when they are talking to us, they
try to do that as well. Personally, I am more at ease dealing with the Mainland Chinese
than the Taiwanese. Hence, I feel that I would have a better chance in dealing
with the Mainland market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Of course,
it’s also because the Taiwan market is very saturated. Its population and media
would be limited, as compared to China, which is so huge that there are no
rules to it. No rules seem to be a bad thing to many Singaporeans, but it’s a
very good thing for business, because you can create your own rules. There will
be gaps and loopholes which are opportunities that you can use to penetrate the
market. Even if you cannot make it to the top 3 stations, you can always make
it to the fourth, fifth and sixth station because there are over a thousand
radio stations there! There are so many ways that you can plan to succeed in China,
whereas in the limitations of an island-city, there will always be
monopolization. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">As an artiste manager, how did
you bring out the best in her? What was your value add?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The success
of artiste depends on how the manager can make things happen, so you would feel
guilty if you are not working hard enough. We analyzed the gaps based on whatever was
established earlier, and we recognized a few flaws that needed to be filled,
including the need for people to recognize her face. Her songs are popular in
China, people recognize her voice but we found that there was a lack of
recognition of her face, and it’s a very big problem for artistes. Her previous
songs have been used in many dramas, even in Taiwan and China, so we did not
have to re-introduce her songs, and we could use the songs as a penetration
point, but people don’t know much about her: what she does, what’s her
background and her personality.</span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Hence, we tried to
arrange for promotions or work that she had the opportunity to talk about
herself, and not about her voice or the songs. We also structured our press kit
in such a way that it focused all towards her perspectives of life. Most of the
interviews that we did were focused on her personality. We capitalized stronger
exposure on magazines for visibility. We had some magazine coverage such as
Cosmopolitan and covers on a few other local publications. However, we did not have time for TV because TV promotions were
blocked off in slots. TV recordings are usually done back to back in three
days, and they would do record all the episodes for the month in one shot. But
our previous promo schedule did not allow us to make it for TV, so it is
something that we are hoping to do in the months to come, together with events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Our partners
in China are very well connected to the media, but no company should be
totally dependent on their partners. I created an entire list of DJs and I talk
to them every night on Weibo during that period to ask them if everything was
ok, and whether they have received the songs, and asked if there was any help
that they needed, and they came back saying, “You know what, no other managers
have done this.” It is the type of connection that you create: through the
familiarity of the connections from our china partners, coupled with the level
of personalization through the effort you put in, then they are more willing to
push your songs, and when they play your songs, they would say a little more
about you. When they need a favor like recording a radio ID, they would just
come straight to me, and I would get it done for them. These are very small
favors, but it’s very important to show sincerity, especially when you are not
a diva, people don’t come begging at your knees, but at the same time, you are
not a new comer, so we are somewhere in between. The DJs know her, but we just
wanted to humanize her a little. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">How do you arrange her promotional
work?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">When we
travel, it’s always starting with Beijing first, because that’s where all the
major media companies are. Shanghai houses the major fashion brands, so you
need to know what you are up for, then you would plan your route that way. When
we plan our route, other than Beijing, we would also plan some work in other
cities, and the other promotions that are alongside those work. There are
hundreds of media platforms in Beijing alone, and two weeks are not even enough
to cover Beijing alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We try to
promote her material with movie companies, but a lot of them have exclusive
relationships with labels, so it’s a little tougher, unless the director happen
to like her song so much. This is a totally different track to take, and it
also depends on how much time I have! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Any advice for someone who’s
interested in becoming an artiste manager?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">A manager’s
job is actually full-time, yet I do not invest 100% of my time to her career,
just as she doesn’t either. I have my own company to handle as well, partially
because of bread and butter, and partially because of my passion (as a social
media consultant). But if you wanted to be a manager, you would really have to
be whole-heartedly devoting 110% of your time in this, because there is so much
networking and conceptualizing to do. I spend a lot of time thinking,
strategizing, and talking to people. You have to buy the air ticket, fly over,
and just spend the time renewing yourself with the market and your networks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">For anyone
who wants to embark on a career managing artistes, there is a lot of thinking
involved behind. Artistes are usually more passive, you cannot expect them to
go out and meet these people, so that’s why she hires a manager for all this. I
need to make those visions come true. Whether an artiste performs well
depends a lot on her team. An artiste’s report card comes when he/ she performs
on stage, but that passageway to the stage is a long route that depends on the
efforts of the entire team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Building
relationships need time. It’s the same for all businesses. You don’t create
your networks when you need them. Create your networks before you need them.
You can’t have an agenda then go meet people. They would be more willing to see
you. When I went to visit the social media companies in China (Youku, Sina,
NetEast, Baidu), I simply brought my bakwa (roasted pork) and pandan cake to
them just to say hi and simply just understand who I’m talking to and how we
can help each other. You need to add value to people, and even if you don’t get
to work with each other, never mind, in the end you get to know a friend. And
if you ever get to work together in the future, you wouldn’t be strangers by
then. Today, many of the business contacts that I have are people whom I got to
know from ten years ago. Trust is also built with time, and hence networks need
to be built ahead of time, and not when you need it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">In
Singapore, people are generally brought up in a system to follow, and not to
lead or initiate. Yet in the entertainment industry, there is no system, and
you have to create it. So you will need to be flexible and versatile. There are
many musicians with ideals and dreams, but are not willing to work hard enough
to fulfill them. If you’d to compare ourselves to those in China, you would
feel so guilty and absolutely embarrassed. If anyone were to step up to say
they are willing to learn this, I would be happy to teach, but I can tell you
it’s not easy at all. You carry bags, clear the shit, do the things that the
prince and princesses in Singapore are not used to doing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Locally,
there are simply not enough talents to support these musicians so that they
could concentrate on honing their craft. I feel that musicians should be left
to do what they do best. They should not deal with things like accounting, book
keeping, or drafting of contracts. They should share their ideas, then let
other people do it for them. </span></div>
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<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What is your vision for Joi as an
artiste?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Joi’s
vision is very simple. She just wants to continue singing to a lot of people
and she wants to spread her positive messages to them. I have larger visions
for her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">My vision
is to put her in front of an audience of 10,000 people. It’s not hard, but for
her, she is not ready yet. We want
people to come because they want to listen, not because of a marketing stunt
typical of that from a big label where concert tickets are given out to
sponsors. I want her to be a household name not only in Singapore, but also in
China and Taiwan. I’m not saying that I can make it come true, because for
every singer, at some point in time, they may need someone else to bring them
higher. I’m not saying that she needs to stick by me. Funding may be a
challenge, but It’s not impossible. I can’t tell you the odds yet, until I
spend time working on that part. I’m more of an idealist though, and as long as
I see there’s a potential, even if the chances are slim, I would still do it.
Opportunities are there for people who are prepared. Even if it doesn’t happen,
so what? At least you don’t ponder in your life, what if?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
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<b><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What do you think of the future
of the music industry in Asia? What are the top three trends that you’d
predict?</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">I may not have enough experience to make a very impactful statement
on this, but my take on the top three trends is:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"> 1. Digital
- the popularity of buying digital
music will increase with the maturity of the market. I feel that those who
don’t buy digital music yet is not because of its cost but because of the
maturity of the market, and that will improve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
2. <span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We
will all go back to the basics of A&R and conceptualization. People will
start to realize that it’s pointless making seven filler tracks and three good
tracks, and you’d rather spend more time on that three tracks, and that’s why
in Japan and Korea, EPs and mini albums are more popular, rather than full albums.
You can see that trend happening in Taiwan and China now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
3. <span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">There
will be more popularity on live performances. So people who can’t sing are
gone. People who don’t improve themselves will be taken over by the market.
There won’t be any more of the </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">偶像派</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"> Idol types. If you want to be in
idol type, you would need to be an </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">偶像实力</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"> artiste with real talent, so
there is a lot of stress on musicians trying to better themselves, and only the
strongest can survive. The market will become like what it used to be, it’s
going to narrow down, rather than expand. The expansion will come from your
Youtube stars and other options of entertainment, but if you are talking about
the music industry as a career, there would be a cleaning up of trash in the
market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br>musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-64180933567408144532013-07-06T11:04:00.000-07:002013-07-07T08:18:43.386-07:00Stock broker-turned-entrepreneur Alan Chan sets sights on investing in not just Kpop, but the “Asian pop” entertainment business.
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Singaporean Alan Chan had
been a stock broker for over 20 years. When he was first introduced to K Pop by
his daughter, coupled with the nudging of his Korean associates who mostly have
their own entertainment companies, he decided to invest in something entirely
different - the currently red-hot K Pop industry, and eventually became the
founder and CEO of <a href="http://www.alphaentkorea.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Alpha Entertainment</span></a>, which launched the five-member girl
group, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skarf-%EC%8A%A4%EC%B9%B4%ED%94%84/408649869191249" target="_blank">SKarf</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hK-NjQJek2a-6ww4TfSQWCkP38NajBM5vXvBM2bpqsWCcVY1cjlck6VW5i1J9yrK4G1GYi3VYuk_HLwDXyNFhLwNuqcPkk8Dqr1edPxbY1zlDjtabRsS7J5P0JVFyDn2nR8EsS5ER4E/s1600/LV+G3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7hK-NjQJek2a-6ww4TfSQWCkP38NajBM5vXvBM2bpqsWCcVY1cjlck6VW5i1J9yrK4G1GYi3VYuk_HLwDXyNFhLwNuqcPkk8Dqr1edPxbY1zlDjtabRsS7J5P0JVFyDn2nR8EsS5ER4E/s400/LV+G3.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5-member Kpop girl group, SKarf, formed and managed by Alpha Entertainment</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We spoke to the entreprenuer on what it takes to
make it in the highly competitive Kpop business, and though he may be
relatively new in the industry, he knows that in order to survive in the long
haul, he cannot simply just ride on the the Kpop trend, but to see it as part
of something bigger from Asia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HdixeiQbFcDCXTRLsP5Slg646DgjcaYQcXDGUCozQMnN-n7OiJJF7IFTNBZLok-rjGqQaMDzUqN48kEk2_jj-xZkKKPgiB-SKYwPWGsy2ELQAt4fKngXEshIKf0A_P6WiwOBFgTJZ_g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-07+at+1.55.29+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HdixeiQbFcDCXTRLsP5Slg646DgjcaYQcXDGUCozQMnN-n7OiJJF7IFTNBZLok-rjGqQaMDzUqN48kEk2_jj-xZkKKPgiB-SKYwPWGsy2ELQAt4fKngXEshIKf0A_P6WiwOBFgTJZ_g/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-07-07+at+1.55.29+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Alan Chan, Founder and CEO of Alpha Entertainment</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“(The Kpop wave) will
always be there like the J Pop and C Pop. It will tapper off from the peak.
That is why we will never focus just on K Pop. We want to be more Asian Pop
that includes J Pop, K Pop and C Pop,” Alan explains, and this is perhaps why SKarf
now consists of 5 members of different nationalities i.e. Singaporeans, Koreans
and Japanese. The company undertakes a glocalization strategy of the band
members in order to increase the group’s ability to adapt faster and reach out
to big Kpop markets like Japan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Describe your risk appetite. Is it more risky to
invest in the seemingly fickle entertainment industry or in stocks? How has
your investment worked for you? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been a stock
broker for more than 20 years and I know all about risks. To be able to enter
into K Pop by a foreigner is itself an achievement. It will take time but we
will see decent returns. Don’t forget, we have the best training director and
artistes manager in Korea working for us now. Together these two have trained
and managed artistes like TVXQ, SNSD, SHINee, SJ, SJm, F(X) and Rain.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You’ve started Alpha Entertainment since 2010. How has
been the journey like so far? What are the company’s major milestones? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is not easy to break
into Korea whether it is the entertainment or any other industry. They are very
closely knitted. So far it has been quite smooth. Different countries have
different cultures and ways of doing things. You have to adapt. The major
milestones in Korea I would say is the first Singaporean in K Pop and also
first Singaporean to host any TV shows. Winning The Raising New Star 2012
within 3 months of launch is also a major achievement. And of course the latest
appointment of SKarf by Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) as Global
Ambassadors. All these are recognition of what we have done so far.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Recruitment, training, production, marketing/
promotion, distribution: What is Alpha Entertainment’s focus and how does it
balance all this? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We focus on casting,
training and management. All other promotions will be taken care of by CJ, they
are our Global Distributors. Experienced staff is not difficult to find in
Korea. We have just setup a training school in Singapore and it is doing well. We
will probably focus a little more time into it. Financials will always be the
biggest issues. Just to launch a mini album can cost anything from US half a
million and this is expensed off. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You have offices in Singapore, Korea and China. How
has this helped you in expanding your business in Asia? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">China is a huge market
and it is near to HK, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Take for instance, the Luv Virus
MV on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz8FUdgTbz0" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Youtube</span></a> has about 120,000 hits whie in China’s <a href="http://www.yinyuetai.com/video/676687" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">yinyuetai</span></a> has about 1.05m
hits. That is about 10 times. We are planning for a Chinese album next year.
Surprisingly, SKarf has good following in South America as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What does it take for a Kpop group/ band to be
successful?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is a combination of
everything and of course luck. With SKarf, our next group will be slightly
easier. It is still a long way to where we want SKarf to be. It takes time but
will come eventually.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are the main revenue streams for a kpop band like
SKarf?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Performances and
endorsements.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SKarf first released a single, followed by a mini
album this year. Was this intentional to minimize risk? Why not a full album? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is not a practice in
Korea. Even those from Hong Kong now realize this. It is better to have 2 to 4
mini albums followed by a full one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How can SKarf stand out from the cookie clutter of Kpop
bands? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s in their concept and
songs. It is back to the early days of K Pop. Too many female groups are going
for the “sexy and aggressive” image. SKarf has to be different to stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other than SKarf, are there any other artistes under
the group? Previously in another interview, you mentioned that there were plans
to launch a girl group and a boy band every year. How has that worked out so
far? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That was our plan and we
still hold to that except that we need to make sure SKarf is where we want it
to be, among the top. This will make the launch of other groups easier. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you think artistes of other genres or
backgrounds could learn from their Kpop counterparts? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Must always work extremely
hard and continue to train even after debut. Forget about sleep and freedom.
You have now become a public asset and many youths look up to you for
inspiration and belief. It is never a smooth passage, learn along the way and
always remember your roots. There is no place for Prima Donnas.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-34533934182172260052013-06-04T07:50:00.000-07:002013-06-04T09:05:58.155-07:00TypeWriter: First Singapore band to perform at Liverpool’s The Cavern Club<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial;">Whether is it for a new act or an
established artist, </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">performing live these days is
an essential way to not only reach out to more fans, but also as a source of
income. Many artists or bands would love to be engaged for an overseas gig in
order to increase their exposure to a wider audience. However, touring costs
can be high, especially for overseas stints, and while there are grants available
from various organizations such as the </span><a href="http://www.mda.gov.sg/schemes/pages/MarketingAssistance.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Media Development Authority</span></a><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> and </span><a href="http://nac.gov.sg/grants-schemes/grants/market-and-audience-development" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">National Arts Council</span></a><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> to cover partial touring costs, many Singaporean artists and bands
find it a challenge to continue doing so. Nevertheless, it has not stopped
Singapore acts such as local powerpop band TypeWriter who are seasoned
performers from pushing themselves and exploring foreign territory.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">As how guitarist Patrick Chng
explains, “For an indie band like us, I don't think it's sustainable to keep
touring overseas because it is expensive and the grants or funding only covers
a small percentage of the cost. We did it for the experience and to see and
meet other musicians in their own backyard. We've definitely learned a lot and
it was an amazing experience. It has brought the band closer and opened our
eyes to a lot of things. You can't put a price on that.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKODNFX6nqud2_3YTO6PoLtPyNVd9YqUX4v0seF0Cfv47it9OnXzIav5RxBrT2pUWG3A0dOWdixJDetva25ruLcPnLz7RS3O99TLOFoWJHK7xptsh40aklcjOcVqsiPUkPyTia8P6AZf0/s1600/080513_silverbullet4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKODNFX6nqud2_3YTO6PoLtPyNVd9YqUX4v0seF0Cfv47it9OnXzIav5RxBrT2pUWG3A0dOWdixJDetva25ruLcPnLz7RS3O99TLOFoWJHK7xptsh40aklcjOcVqsiPUkPyTia8P6AZf0/s400/080513_silverbullet4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Playing seven shows in 12 days in the
UK, TypeWriter became the first Singapore band to perform at one of this year’s
International Pop Overthrow Festival held in Liverpool from 14<sup>th</sup> to
21<sup>st</sup> May. In particular, TypeWriter had the opportunity to perform
at The Cavern Club, where the legendary Beatles played in the early
60s as the club’s resident band.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We caught up with the band after
their return to share more on their “English Breakfast” experience. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">How
did the opportunity to play at IPO come about? Was there an intention to play
IPO all this while?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">International Pop Overthrow is a
powerpop music festival that's been around for over 10 years. We love powerpop
music and I think TypeWriter's music is aligned to the sensibilities of the
genre. When we came under KAMCO Music management last year, we talked about
playing overseas and IPO was a festival we thought would be perfect for us. So
our manager Kevin Mathews wrote to them to check us out and they wrote back
with an invitation to perform at IPO Liverpool.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">How
did you manage to arrange for the other gigs other than the one at IPO? Did you
work with a local agent over there?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We just wrote to a lot of people and
venues for the other gigs. It wasn't easy at all. We know a friend in Cornwall
who arranged a gig in Plymouth and Cornwall for us.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">What
was the whole experience like, especially since this is the first time for
TypeWriter to perform overseas? Was there additional pressure? </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We went without any expectations as
we knew that we're totally unknown in the UK. Let's be honest. I don't think
anyone in the UK will be excited to watch an unknown band from Singapore. The
pressure that we put on ourselves was to perform well at every gig.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">How
did the audience take to the band's music? What was the size of the crowd like?
Did you have the opportunity to sell your music or merchandise there?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We were pleasantly surprised by the
response. Apart from Liverpool, most of the places we played at were small
venues averaging about 20 to 30 people at each gig. Yes there were
opportunities to sell our merchandise. We brought our CDs over and gave them
away free at IPO. We wanted to spread our music so we thought the best way is
to just give out our CDs to people who are interested.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">What
was it like meeting other bands who were performing at the festival? Any
interaction of sorts on or off stage?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Actually I think we met more artists
at the other venues than at the IPO festival. We had dinner with Axel Loughrey
who supported us at 12 Bar Club in London. We met a really talented jazz
guitarist Cy Brandl and other singer-songwriters at The Vauxhall Quay in
Plymouth. A few of us met Pugwash and Farrah when we went to watch them at a
small venue in Brixton. We did chat with and checked out a few bands at IPO
Liverpool. It was really inspiring to watch the other performers.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">How
was the tour funded? How was NAC and Gibson involved? Was getting funding
challenging? What were the sponsors' expectations? Any advice to other bands
who would like to do the same?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We got a grant from NAC which covered
almost 70% of our airfare. The rest was funded by us. Gibson supported us by
lending us guitars in London. Yes, it was challenging to get funding and we're
grateful to the NAC for their support. Bands who would like to do the same must
be prepared to fork out most of their money.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">What
are TypeWriter's future plans? Will TypeWriter be actively looking at having
more overseas gigs? If yes, which ones? Will you be focusing on touring in
Asia? </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<br /></div>
<div class="normal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">We've just roped in a fifth member
Alan Bok into the band so our immediate plan is to rehearse as a quintet. We
plan to record an EP by end of the year so we're not thinking of touring
overseas at the moment. We have contacts in Beijing but the opportunity for IPO
Liverpool came up first. Maybe next time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ys68jpIJ5x3gqkrpha5TWKRi1-VxE9E8YiZdCNjTChGLKQOnPZWIW2cfhQavJYd3sX18Q8PooxyA77WKKacf-Qj8_GZSTxLYZ515bv3IrseX2XwgNTFDSrWJUslmlqr9ISZTOzpnTrM/s1600/110513_icecreamtruck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Ys68jpIJ5x3gqkrpha5TWKRi1-VxE9E8YiZdCNjTChGLKQOnPZWIW2cfhQavJYd3sX18Q8PooxyA77WKKacf-Qj8_GZSTxLYZ515bv3IrseX2XwgNTFDSrWJUslmlqr9ISZTOzpnTrM/s400/110513_icecreamtruck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="normal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><i>Photographs courtesy of TypeWriter/Lennat Mak</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">About
TypeWriter</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Formed in 2001, the band has
journeyed through the years with various line-up changes and a vast
catalogue that has been reworked with different contributions by
its changing members, culminating in the two-CD debut album <i>Indian Head Massage</i> (2010).</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">With its current line-up of Yee Chang
Kang (vocals, guitar, harmonica and keyboards), Patrick Chng (guitar,
vocals and keyboards), Desmond Goh (bass and vocals), Redzuan Hussin (drums and percussion)
and Alan Bok (guitars, keyboards), TypeWriter will continue to pursue its
passionate dedication for song-craft and heartfelt honesty. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://typewriterband.com/"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">http://typewriterband.com</span></a><a href="http://typewriterband.com/"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/typewriterband"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">http://www.facebook.com/typewriterband</span></a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/typewriterband"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://typewriterband.bandcamp.com/">http://typewriterband.bandcamp.com</a></span><a href="http://typewriterband.bandcamp.com/"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://typewriterband.bandcamp.com/"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">About
International Pop Overthrow</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="normal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt;">
<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">International Pop Overthrow (IPO) is
a pop music festival which has been held for the past fourteen years in Los
Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, San Diego, Phoenix, Detroit, Milwaukee,
Portland, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Vancouver, and Toronto, as well as in
Liverpool (at the world famous Cavern Club), and London, UK. Each IPO features
between 25-180 of the best pop bands from around the world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://internationalpopoverthrow.com/"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">http://internationalpopoverthrow.com</span></a><a href="http://internationalpopoverthrow.com/"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://typewriterband.bandcamp.com/"></a></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-35401947042758815532012-11-18T04:49:00.000-08:002012-11-18T17:35:31.106-08:00"Opportunities are everywhere. It's what you make of it," says Wu Jiahui, multi-award winning Malaysian singer-songwriter<!--StartFragment-->
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">With
more than 150 songs under his belt and multiple award wins, including
the Malaysia Outstanding Artist Award at the recent <a href="http://www.facebook.com/globalchinesemusicawards" target="_blank">Global Chinese Music Awards</a> (</span><span style="font-family: 华文细黑;"><span lang="ZH-CN">全球華語歌曲排行榜</span>)<b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 华文细黑;">2012 held in Singapore, Wu Jiahui (伍家辉) is arguably Malaysia’s fastest-rising
singer-songwriter.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">He
has written songs for some top artistes such as Jacky Cheung <span lang="ZH-CN">張學友</span>
(Black and White <span lang="ZH-CN">黑白畫映</span>), Stefanie Sun <span lang="ZH-CN">孫燕姿</span>
(Wish you happiness <span lang="ZH-CN">祝你開心</span>), Leon Lai <span lang="ZH-CN">黎明</span>
(Man with Love <span lang="ZH-CN">有情郎</span>) and Jerry Yan <span lang="ZH-CN">言承旭</span>
(One metre<span lang="ZH-CN">一公尺</span>), and sang the hit song <span lang="ZH-CN">“</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRLmujiBE9M" target="_blank">One-Half</a><span lang="ZH-CN">”</span> from movie <span lang="ZH-CN">“</span>881<span lang="ZH-CN">”</span>
original soundtrack that sold more than 13,000 copies in Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Jiahui
first started as a songwriter writing for other singers, but eventually became
a full-fledged recording artist and performer, singing his own material.
However, it’s still songwriting, as Jiahui admits, that gives him the kicks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">“I
definitely prefer being a songwriter, because I started out behind the scenes.
But today, being a singer and a producer allows me to exert more influence and
control over the music. Although being a singer definitely brings in more
revenue from performances as compared to the efforts put in as a producer or
songwriter, ultimately it’s still songwriting and producing that brings me the
greatest satisfaction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8zAOQgZg0w4qYf798x2h4SFZvfiyvSyS7sU8YIVvMZJmDM0PGVG2qW0IwJykbogcLlIui8RylaL4P1SBw74CCsyXrxvhWD72KnrFJnvbGxf4ir91w_7OayjIStl_u4Ay3-evwUrekMQ/s1600/wu+jiahui.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR8zAOQgZg0w4qYf798x2h4SFZvfiyvSyS7sU8YIVvMZJmDM0PGVG2qW0IwJykbogcLlIui8RylaL4P1SBw74CCsyXrxvhWD72KnrFJnvbGxf4ir91w_7OayjIStl_u4Ay3-evwUrekMQ/s400/wu+jiahui.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multiple award winning Malaysian singer-songwriter, Wu Jiahui</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">“When
I first started, I already felt contented just merely by sharing my music
through songwriting. Later when I took part in a songwriting competition, I was
discovered by a publisher, and was later signed as an artist by renowned
Singaporean musician Eric Ng (Funkie Monkies Production). Actually, I feel that
as long as I am able to sing for one more day, I would grasp that
opportunity and continue to make the music I love and share it with
others, because music is my dream and an indelible part of my life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">We understand that you did not renew your
contract with Funkie Monkies (FM) Productions and decided to become
independent. Could you share why you made this decision? How different is it
having your own label?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Actually,
I’m very thankful and grateful to FM Productions for grooming me all this time.
My decision to set up my own company was because both the label and I share the
same consensus that it’s time for me to step out on my own. I’ve been signed to
FM since 2006, and during all these years we’ve experienced so much together,
and have built a lot of camaraderie. Our relationship is not just simply that
of a label and its artiste, it’s more like a family, and now the parents are
very happy to see their child take flight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">The
new label starts out with signing myself. It’s called “Dreammy Studio”(<span lang="ZH-CN">吾梦工作室</span>), which means finding one’s dreams. Currently there’s a
manager running it for the moment, but later, when the time is right, we will
slowly expand or work with other companies who are interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">The
difference between having my own label and being signed to a bigger label is
that having my own label gives me a lot more freedom and control to exercise my
thoughts and opinions, while a bigger label would have more financial and human
resources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">What's the music industry in Malaysia like?
Are there more opportunities as compared to Singapore, Taiwan and China? Where
does the majority of your fan base come from? Is the media more supportive in
your home country?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">There
are several segments in the music industry in Malaysia. There’s Malay music,
English music and Chinese music, and within the Chinese music market, it’s
split between local and overseas Chinese music. Actually I feel that the level
of opportunities is equal everywhere, it’s all a matter of how you target the
market and where you stand. Basically, my fans come from Mainland China,
Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, and I’m thankful that the media here supports
me very much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">How many performances do you do typically in a
month? Are they mostly in Malaysia or overseas? Now that you have won the Most
Outstanding Artiste Award (Malaysia) in the Global Chinese Music Awards, do you see anything changing for you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">On
average, I do about three to four performances in a month, out of which usually
one is from overseas (but it depends on the market, sometimes we could have
more requests towards the end of the year, all at the same time). I feel that
winning the award is just a form of recognition, and perhaps a platform for
more friends to know me, and maybe because of that there are more performance
requests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Other than the Most Outstanding Artiste Award
(Malaysia), your song <<span lang="ZH-CN">我們怎麼</span>LOVE> has also been
awarded as one of the Top 20 Songs. What do these two awards mean to you?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">I’m
very happy because I never thought that <<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ZU5vx738U" target="_blank"><span lang="ZH-CN">我們怎麼</span>LOVE</a>>
would win an award, because when I was writing it, I didn’t have too many
considerations or further thoughts, I was simply just writing what I had wanted
to express and record down my feelings at that moment. So now it’s really great
that the song had won.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">What do you think of the future of the Chinese
music industry in Malaysia and in Asia would be like?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Malaysia’s
music industry has been creating waves and is now on a surge. In the Chinese
music industry in general, Malaysian artistes make up a considerable number;
and now, as long as we stay united and work hard together, we can definitely
achieve even greater success and reach higher levels. I hope that all musicians
will put in their very best and their upmost sincerity in every song and every
musical note, to move and to encourage more and more people out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">After note<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">In
the midst of arranging this interview, another of Jiahui's works, <span lang="ZH-CN">《<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWvTZjX4Oc" target="_blank">灰</a>》</span>,
has won Best Television/ Movie Soundtrack at the <a href="http://www.pwhmusic.com.my/index.php/awards-history" target="_blank">PWH Music Awards 2012</a>. <span lang="ZH-CN">《灰》,</span>together with another recent work, <span lang="ZH-CN">《<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWvTZjX4Oc" target="_blank">香火</a>》</span>,
written for a TV serial by Malaysia’s NTV7 of the same name, are nominated Best
Theme Song in the upcoming <a href="http://ata.onscreenasia.com/ata2012/nomination-list.asp" target="_blank">Asian Television Awards 2012</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Certainly
a wave-maker himself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4uHmQDwKG0Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: 华文细黑; mso-bidi-font-family: 华文细黑; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-36769084255175801992012-11-15T18:45:00.000-08:002013-06-04T09:18:01.531-07:00Ranked No. 1 in Singapore on Reverbnation, Eli T. sets to take on both Asian and Western markets.<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With his 2009 major hit song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v73s2TzeRDw" target="_blank">Record Breaker</a>” sung by multi-platinum
selling Filipino artiste Sarah Geronimo, 2 award nominations "Best
Singer/Songwriter" & "Best Solo Artist" in the 2012
"All Indie Music Awards" held in Hollywood, CA, and more than 33,000
likes on his Facebook page as of writing (an impressive number for a Singaporean
artist), Eli T. is an upcoming electro-pop act certainly worth tuning into.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Born in Singapore and grown up in Canada, Eli reveals that
his East-meets-West identity as an artist poses many challenges for him.
Nevertheless, with the love and support from his fans “which mean the world to
(him)”, he continues to stick true to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It was pretty tough
for me when I first got back to Singapore. I just didn't fit in. Collectivistic
culture is an interesting thing that doesn't take well to sore thumbs. I was
told to chisel away aspects of who I am to be more accessible. I sing, write,
produce, arrange, perform and am extremely particular about the execution and
presentation of my art form. Critics have tried so many times to box and
compartmentalize what I do. Thankfully my fans see the larger picture and stick
by me because they understand that I view the entire process as part of the art
form too.”</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVw3BI3sHW7dZEPzqoOIOPJ_jSt1MPaQBHXArv5yu0gO4ze2fIdFsaSXvF1UTay9pnI8Objm5PR5ijq6QDFXKaZaTFqa2R9s5TbUvH6JIq2rTWzOS0nOpjsLfdJSvjWOJHxvSmrPueqQ/s1600/432190_10150644763774291_1424463011_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVw3BI3sHW7dZEPzqoOIOPJ_jSt1MPaQBHXArv5yu0gO4ze2fIdFsaSXvF1UTay9pnI8Objm5PR5ijq6QDFXKaZaTFqa2R9s5TbUvH6JIq2rTWzOS0nOpjsLfdJSvjWOJHxvSmrPueqQ/s400/432190_10150644763774291_1424463011_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eli T. - Voted Female magazine's 50 Most Gorgeous people in Singapore and Cleo Magazine's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors in Singapore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You started out as a producer behind
the scenes. What made you decide to step into the limelight and become a
performer instead? Was it something that you were always working towards? Tell
us more about this journey and what you have learnt.</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, I got my start professionally as a producer. Stepping
into production was a growing phase in my career. There's something special
about taking a song in for a good "buff and shine". Writing,
producing, arranging and re-mixing bring me large amounts of joy and
satisfaction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That said, I've always been performing but it was only in
2011 that performing took precedence. I've always been an Artist (learnt that
the hard way, haha) and I needed a larger outlet for expression.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There's something cathartic about flushing your thoughts,
emotions and experiences into a song and production. Performing it just takes
it to a whole other level. There's just nothing like it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I feel like I'm always learning, which is great, cos I never
want to be stagnant as an artist. Travelling down this road has also hardened
me a fair bit. Artists are sensitive creatures but anyone who decides to go for
a spin in the industry will have to learn that business and art are mutually
exclusive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What made you decide to leave a bigger
label and become independent?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
For me it's all about the art. I wanted to have the ability to create and
deliver my best. It was exhausting - trying to be moulded into the "next
so and so". I am much happier just being me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For now, I want to make art on my own terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Could you tell us more about your
fan base and how you stay connected with them?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love my fans. They are a huge source of strength and
encouragement. I talk to them on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tuneintoeli" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and
<a href="https://twitter.com/TuneIntoEli" target="_blank">Twitter</a> whenever
I can and it always brings me such joy to see them. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We've been touring/performing extensively and the power of
social media has allowed us to connect. Anyone who knows me will tell you that
I am a workaholic. I aim to give my fans the best. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Apart from the many social platforms that we have, there's
an <a href="http://www.tuneintoeli.com/app" target="_blank">app</a> for the fans to get instant updates about shows as they get come in.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You have released your debut album
"Revolt" in March this year. How has been the response so far? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is a really exciting time for my team and I as well. We
released the record at our show for Mosaic in March. Truth be told, I can only
say that we feel extremely blessed for everything to have come together the way
the way it has. Just this year alone, we've travelled to so many places and
played at major festivals and venues like M.E.A.N.Y Fest (New York, US), Mosaic
(SG), City Showcase (Napier, NZ), Singapore Arts Festival (SG), Music &
Mens Fashion Week (SG), Indie Week (Toronto, CA) etc. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The album is now available in multiple countries and across
all major online platforms including iTunes and Amazon. In June 2012, we signed
a distribution deal in Korea and the album is currently distributed across all
Korean online portals like Mnet and Olleh Music. We currently rank #1 in
Singapore on the <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/elit" target="_blank">Reverbnation</a> music charts and we couldn't be happier.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right now we're in New York getting ready to go on tour
again. This leg of the tour will see us through, New York, L.A. Toronto,
Montreal and Vancouver. There's just so much more to come. It's going to be an
amazing experience.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you and your management team
work things out, artistically and financially?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My team and I are really close and we function like a
family. It's all part of the art form for me and I feel deeply blessed to have
a manager that is so patient and understanding. We sit through long team
discussions to learn together and make decisions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am also so grateful that my team entrusts me with the
creative vision. It's not often you get a bunch of crazies working so great
together. haha</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You are not only a producer, singer,
songwriter, but also a model and actor. What do you enjoy doing most?</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I would say that I am a musician who can act and I was lucky
when I was younger to stumble around a little bit of modelling. Music is
definitely the heart of me. Acting comes a close second, but music is so
all-encompassing that it's a whole different world than acting for me. I would
say that they are all rewarding but the best part about all of this is that it keeps
me on my toes. I keep learning and I keep getting inspired to put new elements
into my music. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you think of the future of
the music industry in Singapore and in Asia? Is Asia also a place where you
will be focusing on too? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The music industry in Singapore is growing. It is my opinion
that it is not near as flourished as the Philippines, Japan or Korea at the
moment (which is surprising cos Singapore is so forward with so many things).
That said, a number of talented artists released records this year and that is
a huge sign of growth and that makes me super excited.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">North America shaped a large part of who I am but it was in
Asia that I got my professional start as a musician. I also feel really close
to my asian fans and I can't wait for 2013 to come around so that I can see
them again. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We're in the 2nd leg of our North American Tour, among other
things but I try as much as possible to live in the moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The journey's so much more enjoyable that way.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My dream is to connect with as many people as possible
through my craft and every day I feel grateful for being able to do just that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-29718447285742734442012-10-06T05:32:00.000-07:002012-10-06T05:32:54.526-07:00Ex-NUS undergraduate receives $10,000 seed money in entrepreneurship grant scheme to set up local music discovery website.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It all started when Danny W., back then a National University of
Singapore (NUS) undergraduate, </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">saw an
advertisement while waiting for a shuttle bus on campus and saw the poster ad
of the NUS Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practicum Grant. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Back in college, Danny </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">had
several musician friends who aspired to become full time musicians, but they
struggled and finally decided to follow the "normal" graduate path
and find a stable job. Danny wanted to make a difference, and his vision was to
create a digital music platform that focused on local musicians as a means for
them to be more easily discovered. By coming in together as a grassroots movement
and having a concentrated platform for local musicians, he hoped that aspiring
musicians will then be able to reach out to a lot more people than just their
friends-zone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy25YzlMWJGaMnHWzmdkWRIPovx8VUslaZmSVPmBGZvxuebdmDznHp3kYo7e-h3Sw5-VzCCKPWFsBfKMH1qUaUHLNWlLCXIkg_cz8z_81qSIiJapINwBEOlBsoqzMMREXeDF83ndnhJ-g/s1600/IMG_0683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy25YzlMWJGaMnHWzmdkWRIPovx8VUslaZmSVPmBGZvxuebdmDznHp3kYo7e-h3Sw5-VzCCKPWFsBfKMH1qUaUHLNWlLCXIkg_cz8z_81qSIiJapINwBEOlBsoqzMMREXeDF83ndnhJ-g/s400/IMG_0683.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny W., creator of iamLOCALIZED.sg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">However, putting
ideas into action naturally required a financial investment and it had been a
tough start for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">“I was still a
student in my final semester and without a penny in my pocket. How will I fund
this social project?” Danny asked himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">So when the opportunity
came, he jumped on it and submitted his proposal to set up <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://iamLOCALIZED.sg/">iamLOCALIZED.sg</a>. After weeks of waiting, he </span>was
finally notified that his business plan was selected to receive the $10,000
worth of funding.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">He immediately looked for
reputable website developers to create a prototype, The Alpha version came out
for test drive in January 2012, and then on April 2012, the Beta version
finally went online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yineRWe_bjWQd8-0BoildN3JpcvmAbFfTG7o1ZBmKXfYcHZ457PLrDIQ9h3gLwNL58uYVSTHmpeUT8-4evO4U-574YgZdlfAqSTYzeD8ReQki2_ySO_dIyRvmVV3YJSBNtxZ3Pvobd4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-10-06+at+8.18.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4yineRWe_bjWQd8-0BoildN3JpcvmAbFfTG7o1ZBmKXfYcHZ457PLrDIQ9h3gLwNL58uYVSTHmpeUT8-4evO4U-574YgZdlfAqSTYzeD8ReQki2_ySO_dIyRvmVV3YJSBNtxZ3Pvobd4/s400/Screen+Shot+2012-10-06+at+8.18.30+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen shot of the website www.iamLOCALIZED.sg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">How did you think
your proposal stood out?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">I believe the
reason for being selected for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practicum
Grant was because iamLOCALIZED's main element is that I identified it as an
online grassroots movement, where iamLOCALIZED will bring together local
musicians and listeners to promote local music. Online grassroots movement is
undoubtedly the most happening thing at the moment, and my idea consists of
that element. The area I chose, local music, is probably also the reason why my
proposal stood out. There have been so many efforts by the organizations and
musicians themselves to promote local music. Every time when they are asked
what is lacking in the local music scene, their answers have always been
more-less the same: "there is no platform that brings local musicians and
listeners together". Hence I came up with an idea of having an online
music platform specifically just for the local musicians.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">It seems that
currently there are no revenue streams in your model. How do you plan to be
sustainable? </span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We do know that we
need to be able to sustain the website, and most importantly to keep on
developing the website for better user experience. Thanks to the grant, the
website will still run for the next 2 years and this gives us ample time to
experiment a few business models, may it be something that already exists or a
totally new innovation. As of now, we are trying out different revenue generation
models that would fit well with Singapore market. Music is consumed differently
in different countries, and hence we see the importance of not sticking with
just one business model. We believe there must be few trials-and-errors, and
analyze to figure out what fits well with Singapore market. One revenue stream
is through our IALiveSHOW. We have tried it, and currently we are in talks with
few prominent venues to hold future IALiveSHOWs.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">How can artists be
discovered on your website?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">At the moment, it's
actually just a normal simple search algorithm; no rocket science implemented.
Users search band name that they already know. Type the band name or genre, and
then it displays the results. Discovery can be done through the following
features: - Music Charts: <i>Most Loved Chart, and Most Played Chart of the
month </i>- New Releases: <i>Recent uploaded songs on iamLOCALIZED</i></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">- Welcome Playlist:
<i>Mix of random playlist upon login</i> - Artists section: <i>Manually look
for artists from A-Z </i>- Search bar: <i>Type in name of band or music genre</i>
- IALiveSHOW: <i>Discovery through the live show, or via recorded video of the
live show on iamLOCALIZED homepage, or YouTube</i> - Social Media posts: <i>daily
posts on Facebook and Twitter.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We found out from
our survey that most of the local listeners have the tendency of not looking
for new local acts themselves, but they tend to discover accidentally or they
have seen the artists performed somewhere or through recommendation. Not only
in Singapore, but this is also happening all over the world in these days.
Through the discovery features that we have, especially with the Music Charts,
New Releases, Welcome Playlist, and IALiveSHOW, we are actually recommending
local music that our local listeners would like hear. We believe in equal
promotion, so the amount of promotion each artist get on iamLOCALIZED is more
or less equally the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Music charts: how
does it work? One vote per person? Or multiple votes per person? Is it a weekly
or monthly chart? </span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The music charts is
a feature that we hope to bring the competitive spirit into the local music
scene. Users can give one vote per song. It is a monthly chart where the Most
Played Chart will reset at the end of the month. Most Loved Chart is where you
give your votes (showing some loves as we call it) to the song that you like,
and it will reset at the end of the year.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">How are you working
out the licensing issues?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We are currently in
touch with COMPASS in how do we stand and go about in terms of music licensing
matter. Copyright is a big issue for us because after all, we are promoting
original local music. We are also helping aspiring musicians to know about the
importance of copyright and protecting their original music, because it is part
of the music business element that the aspiring musicians themselves need to
know about.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">As a new platform,
how do you intend to get artists and publishers to join your website?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The main challenge
is to convince the musicians that putting their music on iamLOCALIZED is safe,
and is beneficial for their exposure. We have realized that, and we are able to
convince the musicians that the website is safe. As mentioned before also, we
are currently in touch with COMPASS in protecting the musicians’ music.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">As for their
exposure, IALiveSHOW is definitely the main feature we have. Musicians are able
to perform live in venues where people are watching them perform. It is good
for the aspiring musicians to be exposed to such atmosphere, and for the
existing musicians, it is always good for them to have the opportunity to perform
live. From there onwards, it is the musicians’ duty to impress using their
music talent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">How is the response
so far? Any future targets?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The long term
target for iamLOCALIZED is to become the one-stop-shop music channel for local
Singapore music. Since the beta went online, we have 70 registered artists and
165 registered listeners. That sum up to a total of 235 registered users.
Through those 70 registered artists, there are a total of 101 songs, made in
Singapore. By the end of the year, we are targeting to round up the number to
300 registered users. Not so ambitious as one might see, but starting next year
we will be going "full force" in promoting the artists and their
music through innovative collaborations with various parties. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Music
sales/distribution definitely plays a big role as an indicator for the
musicians’ existence in the music industry. But for iamLOCALIZED, discovery is
the most important factor at the moment. If we are able to engage high numbers
of audience to play songs on iamLOCALIZED, we can promote the musicians further
and enable them to generate income from music sales/distribution, playing
live/tour, royalties, etc. This would empower the musicians to keep doing
music, and aspiring musicians to follow the footstep of those successful ones.
From here, we can eventually start to have a healthy music scene where you will
be able to see local musicians can live from doing music. For iamLOCALIZED,
this would be our tipping point where iamLOCALIZED will be able to generate
income along with the musicians.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Since your site
only focuses on local music, do you think the market supply and demand is big
enough for your model to be sustainable? </span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">I believe that the
local market supply and demand is not enough for iamLOCALIZED to be
sustainable. Other than being able to sustain itself, iamLOCALIZED also needs
to grow. Hence we believe there is a need to venture out of Singapore as well.
What we are trying to do is to grow along with the musicians. We are also
working toward getting collaboration and partnership outside of Singapore. This
would open the door for the musicians to showcase themselves outside of
Singapore and empower them in bringing good music representing Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">To sustain the
interests of listeners, the golden rule for all musicians is to keep
challenging themselves to create new music. The same goes to our local
musicians. It is not about quantity, but quality, and as a matter of fact
considering the population we have, we actually do have quality materials to
sustain the interest of users. For musicians, it is a matter of keeping the
standard high and create even more quality material.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">What is your view
on shifting the role of taste making from mainstream media to the average
listener?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">With the power of social media, the
opinion leaders are none other than ourselves. All of us now are giving
comments or opinions to almost everything that we're being exposed to on social
media platforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">From what I discovered through
research is that what shifted the decision-making in this case is the medium
that the consumers use. Consumers have moved from listening to radios, to
watching music videos on TV, and they now are able to consume both via the Internet,
and more specifically via social media platforms. Consumers are however mostly
still influenced by what others recommend. If they used to get recommendations
from the DJs on the radio, or the music channels on TV, now most music
consumers get recommendations from their Facebook newsfeed, or Tweets, or
YouTube recommendation list. Your friends on Facebook are mostly friends you
have similar interests. The same goes for the Twitter accounts that you follow.
Hence you would likely to get hooked with what your peers are
listening/watching. To figure out whether you would like it or now, it is now
just a click away.</span><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">IALiveShow: how do
you intend to bring audiences to the shows? Any plans to monetize this area?</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">We started IALiveSHOW as part of the discovery
feature, and as mentioned before, we are currently in talks with few prominent
venues to collaborate with us. We definitely have plans to monetize in this
area that would benefit the musicians, venue, and iamLOCALIZED. As this is a
grassroots movement, one strategy is revenue sharing with the venue, depending
on how many people actually come to the venue to attend IALiveSHOW and watch
the artist perform. We have seen this done before in Singapore, and we are
definitely going into this direction for IALiveSHOW.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
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musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-4358723374936847532012-09-21T04:28:00.000-07:002012-09-21T04:28:58.237-07:00Singapore's market may be small, but they don't hate this place<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">Prudent is how one could describe Singapore-based synth pop band, I Hate This Place (IHTP). Not artistically, but financially. The band is self-proficient in producing its albums and chooses to focus its resources on funding tours and raising awareness instead. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">"When carefully planned and executed, these things end up paying for themselves also. So in that sense, yeah the project is sustainable. Let's also not forget that time working on music is money not spent on partying, which can be a substantial savings in and of itself :)" says Sean Nerny, who is the creator and soul of the band.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="color: black;">In 2007, IHTP entered into an agreement with Tokyo-based XTAL Records to distribute the music in Japan. Three dedicated Japanese editions of IHTP music have now been released and IHTP has toured extensively across the Land of the Rising Sun. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">We spoke to them about the challenges of gigging in Singapore as compared to other countries. But even as Sean admitted that it is a small and developing one, he is hopeful that with the right attitude and mindset, the little red dot still has the potential to create world-class acts.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnVGisGXn2FKEliWtQFm5CGxB9sr7YnwHVA3MLL4f9Tp0Skjx2K7t_tDuZecNdLdjBpIJsoLQrSq3ZUM_pjVk0SivjGtX6zUeQPRQniWHf4IOJ-Vora32I4YBXRce5e5RkDMtUrzldxM/s1600/IMG_1438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnVGisGXn2FKEliWtQFm5CGxB9sr7YnwHVA3MLL4f9Tp0Skjx2K7t_tDuZecNdLdjBpIJsoLQrSq3ZUM_pjVk0SivjGtX6zUeQPRQniWHf4IOJ-Vora32I4YBXRce5e5RkDMtUrzldxM/s400/IMG_1438.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: How do you find the gigging industry in Singapore as compared to other countries that you have toured i.e. Japan, US and Philippines?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">Singapore is an interesting place to play, and it does have some things going for it - you'll never have to travel far to get to a show, most of the live spaces are fairly well equipped, and the number of venues I feel is growing. That said, at this point in time, I think that the music scene here is still developing and the market is also very small -- this can make it challenging for a niche group like IHTP to build a sustainable local fan base. I don't think that there is a great deal of value placed on supporting local music on a large scale, and while it would be great to see any band from Singapore get known on a global level, my sense is that is a little while off. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: Describe your relationship with XTAL and how it has worked for you. What matters to you most when you go into a deal with a distributor or a touring agent?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">XTAL has been great because they were able to get us connected with Japanese fans. Working across languages can be challenging so it was really nice to have that help. In terms of what to look for when agreeing to any sort of deal with anyone, I think the main thing is to make sure that expectations on both sides are clearly set. I would also recommend that the agreement be reviewed by someone with a legal/entertainment background so that you have a clear understanding about what you are committing to. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: Digital vs physical copies: what's your take and which works better for your band? How about streaming (e.g. Spotify) vs downloads (iTunes, CDBaby)? Which gives you better awareness and income?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">At this point in time, for IHTP digital really makes the most sense and comprises the majority of sales, and we are fans of both streaming and downloads. The band's fans are in many different countries, CDs are expensive to manufacture and ship, and our target audience lives firmly in an iPhone world. We do have limited runs of discs that we sell at gigs and occasionally on line, but at this point it seems easier for everyone to do things digitally. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: How big is your fan base? Where do your fans come from geographically? Other than gigging, what are some of the efforts have you done to attract new fans and keep current ones interested?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">IHTP is not world famous, but we do have friends all across the world! The majority of the band's fans are in the US, Japan, and the Philippines. Because of this, social media plays a big part in keeping in touch and getting the word out about the latest developments. The availability of the tracks online has also made it really easy for people just to stumble across the music by chance or listen if a friends recommends it. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: How do you think you can manage and make better use of that mailing list?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">IHTP doesn't actually maintain a mailing list. There's so much email out there - I'd prefer that people keep in touch of their own accord. Anyway, it's the people that actively search you out and maintain contact that are most likely to positively impact your musical endeavors. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: Any future plans? New album, collaborations, distribution points, gigging lineup?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">We've got a new EP in the works and a gig on 22 Sept (Saturday)! You can always find the latest news via our Facebook (<a href="http://facebook.com/ihtpmusic" target="_blank">Facebook.com/ihtpmusic</a>) and Twitter (@ihatethisplace)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><strong>Q: What do you think would be the future of music industry be like in Singapore and in Asia?</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse;">Certainly Asia has scenes both local and international that can rival what you would find in the US or Europe. As for Singapore, though developing the market will continue to take time, if everyone stays focused I don't see why this place couldn't create a reputation for being a place to find successful, high quality music and musicians. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><strong>About I Hate This Place</strong></span><br />
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I Hate This Place is a pop/electronic project that was created by Singapore-born Filipino/American Sean Nerney in 2004. Drawing inspiration from the likes of The Postal Service, The Album Leaf, as well as some of Sean’s favorite 80s synthpop groups, I Hate This Place’s music has a distinct pop appeal that is still sensitive, deep, and thoughtful. Fans of Owl City, Lights, Shiny Toy Guns, and Swimming With Dolphins will feel right at home in IHTP’s world.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDeRaGSFZlAENR4luI9aXC6n_vcBh6gJUxETDGUjCxjqulzM0ToHuvEbhU-McLk-GJIA7BH1_E_YlWL_GmvTiE9bNphOQr7XTaoDekvjIORsG0j9ZjElcMhCcp6f_FGreMAj77lFH-K4/s1600/Front-1000x1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDeRaGSFZlAENR4luI9aXC6n_vcBh6gJUxETDGUjCxjqulzM0ToHuvEbhU-McLk-GJIA7BH1_E_YlWL_GmvTiE9bNphOQr7XTaoDekvjIORsG0j9ZjElcMhCcp6f_FGreMAj77lFH-K4/s320/Front-1000x1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Though traditionally a solo project, in recent years I Hate This Place has been fortunate to have several talented co-conspirators. Since relocating to Singapore, Sean has teamed up with Singapore Idol finalist and The Kitchen Musical singer/actress Gayle Nerva, former Firebrands guitarist Roman Tarassov, and Bostonbased bassist Dave D’aranjo. The latest album, Shiny One, was released in September 2011. IHTP’s seven album discography is available online via CD Baby and iTunes. I Hate This Place plays live often, having completed a successful five city tour of Japan in February 2012 in addition to previous shows in the US, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines.</div>
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On the web:<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;">facebook.com/ihtpmusic</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><div align="LEFT">
myspace.com/ihtp</div>
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youtube.com/ihtpmusic</div>
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@ihatethisplace (Twitter)</div>
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musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-67074863575250734722012-09-01T11:37:00.001-07:002012-09-01T11:43:26.252-07:00"Musicians must be paid and paid on time. It's a form of respect to their craft and their occupation." ~ Peng Chi Sheng, Promising SME 500 Award recipient<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is never easy earning a living in the
music industry. Many musicians have day jobs, and even if they are working
full-time in the music industry, they have to wear many hats as writers,
performers, sessionists, educators, artiste managers, publishing managers and
many more. When Chi Sheng started out as a student and music enthusiast in a
local music school, he never dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur. But fate has
it when he eventually established his own outfit, <a href="http://www.intunemusic.com.sg/index.php" target="_blank">Intune Music School</a>, with a
fellow ex-colleague, and struggled with the steep learning curve of turning
from employee to employer. Yet, he has come a long way, and the business has
since then not only stabilized, but also been recognized by various
institutions, including the Small Medium Business Enterprise Association of
Singapore, which presented them the recent Promising SME 500 Award 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chi Sheng (centre) and his partner, Aaron Lim (left) receiving the Promising SME 500 Award</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Q: How did you get started out in the music industry?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I started out as a student at Lee Wei
Song School of Music (LWSM) when I was 21, and was quite fortunate to be one of
the last batch of students taught by Lee Wei Song himself. During those days, I
started performing at Music Dreamer Café (</span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">爱情海民歌餐厅</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">).
</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">The owner of the café, Sally, was
also my music teacher. She saw the potential in me and gave me the opportunity
to go on stage for a regular gig, and within half a year, I was able to perform
on the popular slots on Fridays with local artiste Cai Li Lian and former lead
singer of ‘Dreamz FM’ Ric Low. The weekly gigs were a motivation to hone my
playing skills. Although we were only paid a transport allowance, the exposure
was good and it served as an opportunity for me to jam with other musicians.
Later I became a music instructor teaching music theory, but continued
composing. We wrote songs every week as homework submissions, and one of my
songs was selected for Tony Leung (</span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">梁朝伟</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">). </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Lee Wei Song helped refine the song, so the final version was co-written
by both of us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">I was a
teacher at LWSM for 6 years, and was a publishing manager for the last 2 years
there. My job was to look out for writers who have potential and ensure that
the group of writers under me submitted good quality demos. I also formed the
writers’ club, organizing monthly meetups for writers to showcase their demos,
usually attended by one of the Lee brothers. The group of writers consisted of
both current writers and those who were selected from the pool of students upon
graduation. I had about 15 writers under me, and published about 10 songs over
the period of 2 years. The biggest challenge for being a publishing manager is
to ensure good quality demos, because most of the time, demos are rejected
because the singer was not suitable, or the arrangement was not good enough. But
once the demo is right, pushing the song to the sub-publisher will be much
easier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 宋体; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">After 6 years
at LWSM, a few of us left, and Aaron and I set up Intune Music School.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Q: So you went from being a writer/teacher to a publishing
manager and finally an owner of a music school. What were some of the
challenges you faced?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We set up Intune by circumstance, but
I never regretted the decision because I have definitely learnt a lot
throughout the years. I’m very fortunate to have Aaron take care of the
school’s administration, finances, accounting and business development, so I
can focus on the classes, PR, and the artistic development of our students. Running
a business is never easy; it is always a challenge to maintain profitability.
However, our principle is to never default on payment to musicians and music
teachers. Musicians must be paid and paid on time; it’s a form of respect to
their craft and their occupation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Q: Tell us more about Intune Music School. Who are your
customers? What are your strategies to attract new students and retain current
ones? Has the strategy changed or evolved over time?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Running a school is running a
business, so the decisions and strategies that we undertake are commercially
driven. Our school is unique because we offer many different types of courses,
including vocal classes in classical broadway and ukelele courses. Our
customers are aged from 13-35, and about 30% of them are international
students. We are seen more as a bilingual music school, unlike from other music
schools which may focus on Chinese pop. We are also the official examination
centre for the London College of Music Examinations since 2007. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">To attract new students, our marketing
is done purely online, so most of our students find us through our website. We
also conduct live performances to increase general awareness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Intune’s main revenue stream stems
from our in-house classes. However, we also conduct music classes in various
Primary and Secondary Schools, which is a growing market, as many schools
celebrate an annual two-week festival promoting mother tongue by bringing in
various vendors to expose students various fun and interesting ways to learn
the language. There are also schools that engage us on a longer stint to
conduct 8-week music classes for their students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The courses and activities we conduct
in schools vary from iPad Music Making, Vocal Placement, Chinese Lyrics writing
to song writing competitions such as the NEA Eco Music Challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Q: What are your plans for the future?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now that the school’s operations have
stabilized, we have just set up our own publishing arm and are planning to work
with a sub-publisher in the near future. The timing is right, because we now have
a stable of writers and are able to create a consistent flow of good quality
demos. We will start small, with 5 writers under the publishing wing. It will
be an exciting new phase for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">About Peng Chi Sheng<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Chi Sheng is one of the directors of
InTune Music School, and has 10 years of music teaching experience in
Singapore. He specializes in pop songwriting and sing-and-play courses, and has
achieved Honours for the London College of Music Pop Vocals Grade 8 Examinations,
as well as a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Recording Arts from Middlesex
University, in partnership with the School of Audio Engineering (SAE)
Institute, Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As a songwriter, Chi Sheng has
published a number of songs for various artistes, including Kasih Indah (Love
is Beautiful) for the NTUC 'U Care' compilation album in 2009 and </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-font-family: Arial;">《这次是真的》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> for Hong Kong Artiste Tony Leung Chiu Wai.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-45358981422985396252012-08-31T00:23:00.002-07:002012-08-31T10:03:47.114-07:00“Be persistent and patient. Even if the song does not sell this time, it may still stand a chance in future." COMPASS Young Composer of the Year recipient Derrick Tham says.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">A music lover since childhood, Derrick Tham (</span><b><span style="font-family: 宋体;">譚志華</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">) began composing
in 1999 & was later signed as a songwriter with a music publishing house in
Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;">
</span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Derrick had his first song published in 2002, titled</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《我不能飛》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">, and that marked a milestone in almost 10 years of songwriting
and publishing songs with local as well as regional artistes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Today, he is best known for his collaboration with
singer Sam Lee, having written numerous songs for him, including </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOIvILpIW8" target="_blank">最近</a>》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> (Recently), </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbLNW2gZ1pk" target="_blank">擦肩而過</a>》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> (Passer-By), </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcGoa9YP51Q" target="_blank">靠近</a>》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> (So Close),</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> and many more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As we spoke to the recent COMPASS Young Composer of the
Year Award recipient, he comes across as a down-to-earth and sensitive writer
who takes humble pride in his own works.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">“All these songs are my babies. Most
people only hear the 3-4 minute track, but they didn’t know the story behind
the song, they didn’t know that this song had been rejected or criticized many
times, but when it becomes a hit song, it gives me the strength to believe in
my own work.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBP4tz9xTEdN2o9saP5HtHT6hR5UBn8QMK2M3rJ9OPy46kKR70ZwptNHHS8Bb8htMpV8r1PtkMcl0L2KPbu0Nhk3RruRQS_0GMvJ_VZYR9WvWFvNDfIAxqHt6TrOxswCeF5cEEGwQxQs/s1600/derrick+tham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijBP4tz9xTEdN2o9saP5HtHT6hR5UBn8QMK2M3rJ9OPy46kKR70ZwptNHHS8Bb8htMpV8r1PtkMcl0L2KPbu0Nhk3RruRQS_0GMvJ_VZYR9WvWFvNDfIAxqHt6TrOxswCeF5cEEGwQxQs/s320/derrick+tham.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COMPASS Young Composer of the Year Award recipient, Derrick Tham</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: Describe your musical journey as a writer. What made you go
into writing? When was your tipping point?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When I first started with song
writing, I didn’t know how far I could go. And when we looked at established
writers like the Lee brothers, we would always wonder if we could achieve the
same too. Singapore’s market is very small, and there aren’t many success cases
that could make it overseas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I started with classical piano, and
then one day I just decided that I was so tired of playing classical music, then
I attended a songwriting workshop conducted by a local pop music school, after
which I joined their courses for several years. Songwriting, to me, is like
keeping a diary, but instead of using words, I use musical notes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">One day, I decided to write my own
song, and submitted it to my teacher. She added a bridge to the song, so the
final version was co-written by both of us. A few years later, to my surprise,
I heard my song on a newly released album at a music retailer, but when I
checked the booklet, I didn’t see my name, only my teacher’s name. That was the
first song that I published, so I was sad that my name wasn’t included. I went
to the publishing house, and they told me that there was a miscommunication,
and said that if the CD sold well and were to go for a reprint, they would
include my name, and they would still include my royalties. In the end, the
publisher did offer me a contract, and so I had my first contract when I was
18. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A few years later, I sold other songs
under the same publisher, and the third song was sung by Sam Lee, which became
the turning point of my whole music career. After my contract ended, I chose
not to renew it because I decided five years is enough and I wanted to try
something new. I spoke to Sam Lee over the phone, and at that time, he had just
started his own production company, so he asked me to join him. I went over to
Taiwan, and had the experience of being a studio assistant. Even though the
tasks were menial, like buying lunch or making coffee, it gave me an
opportunity to listen to what the producers and audio engineers discussed
during recording sessions and the decisions they make, and this experience
helped me create better demos that were more in line with what was required
commercially. It was something that could not be learnt from school. I would
never have that kind of chance in Singapore. In Taiwan, the turnover is high: every
month there’s a new singer and every other day, there will be a recording
session and a learning opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: Where do you get your inspiration from?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I enjoy watching movies and reading
stories, or it could be inspired from the stories around me or from my own
personal experience. I didn’t expect to become a lyricist too, and it was
because I couldn’t find any lyricist to write them, so I wrote my own. Some
suggested that I submit my demo without lyrics so that it would not restrict
the producer’s imagination, but at the end of the day, I choose to put in my
own lyrics, especially after selling the song by Sam Lee. It was encouraging to
know that even a Singaporean’s Chinese lyrics could be accepted by the market
and I began to have more faith in my own lyrics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: What do you think other budding writers can learn from your
story? How can they stand out from the rest?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Firstly, making the first move is
very important. Take the initiative to sell your songs actively and find a
publisher whom you can work with. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Secondly, create a unique style of your own, and stay
focused. In this way the producer would be able to identify you clearly for a
certain genre (e.g. ballads). Producers will want albums to have a variety on
their menu, so having 10 ballads on the album will be boring for the listener,
and normally they would include songs influenced by other genres to create an
element of surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Thirdly, believe in yourself. Be persistent and patient,
because even if the song does not sell this time, it may still stand a chance
in future.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Finally, be flexible and open to changes. Sometimes,
amending the song according to the producer’s request may not mean that the
previous version isn’t good, but it’s to show that you are open to ideas and
willing to improve, and this will help win the producer over. Don’t be too
stubborn!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: Tell us more about your relationship with a local publishing
house and later as an exclusive writer with Zoommuzik. What are some of the
pros and cons of being an exclusive writer? What are some of the things you
would look out for in your publishing contract? What do you value most?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Back then, I didn’t really look at
the terms closely, but if I were to be offered a contract now, one of the
things that I would look out for is that the rights of the song would be
returned to me after the contract has ended. Over the years, I have also learnt
to be more discerning about the royalty rates shared between the publisher and
writer. In the past, it was typically 50-50, but now it is possible to have a
higher share for the writer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Although I’m an exclusive writer
under Zoommuzik, it does not mean that I only write songs for the artists under
the label. It does, however, mean that they would have the first right of
refusal to my material. If the song is not suitable for their own artists, then
the song is submitted to other publishing companies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When I was under a local publishing
house, I would have to submit my songs to the publishing manager, after which
the publishing manager will liaise with the overseas A&R manager for
selection. But when I’m with this Taiwanese publishing house, I would be able
to contact the Taiwanese sub-publisher A&R manager directly, with the
consent and knowledge of the original publisher of course. At the end of the
day, you would still need a sub-publisher to manage all the accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As a writer, I would like to work with
a publisher who is equally as aggressive as me in pushing out my works. I
remember once there was a local publishing manager whom I approached to submit
a song, but the manager simply just placed my CD aside and I felt disheartened
and demoralized. That was when I decided that (this publisher) was not suitable
for me. The environment must be right. You must be happy with your colleagues.
Even if you can sell many songs, but if you’re unhappy, then there’s no point. If
we can work well together, even if the song is not sold, I would still value
the effort that the publisher has put in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Under the Taiwanese publishing house,
I was introduced to not only the singer, but also the producer and audio
engineer, and having the opportunity to be in the recording studio is also an
experience I value very much. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: After writing so many hit songs, what kind of income do you
generate as a writer?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">I receive mechanical royalties from
the publisher and performance royalties from COMPASS. The proportion of
performance royalties is much bigger because of high radio airplay, and
royalties from Karaoke and ringtone downloads.</span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《最近》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">and </span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">《擦肩而过》</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">are my top
grossing songs</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Top songs
can generate up to a four figure sum per year in terms of royalties. I’m not
sure how the royalties are calculated in detail, but I trust that they will do
their job properly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: You seem to have found some success in Taiwan, HK and
Singapore, according to your accolade of awards. What are your future plans?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">My plan is to conduct a live music
showcase with a couple of friends who are live performers and tour around music
cafes in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, so that more people will get to know my
music, and because both the singer and myself are Singaporeans, I hope that
more people will get to know more Singaporean artistes and writers. So far
there have been a few local artistes who have been conducting such tours, but
most of them are females, so we would like to have an all-male team for this
tour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: How do you think local composers and authors can collaborate
with each other better?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Personally, I never had the
opportunity to work with other local writers, but in my opinion, the local music
schools are a great way for different musicians (writers, lyricists, vocalists)
to congregate and collaborate together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Q: What do you think of the future of the music industry in
Singapore and in Asia? How should writers be looking to sell their music?<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">In China, some publishers practice “</span><span lang="ZH-CN" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">买断</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">, which means that writers are paid upfront a fixed amount.
Their name is credited but they do not receive any royalties thereafter because
the publisher owns the song completely. We wouldn’t know how big a hit the song
would be, and whether it would be used in other media such as in a film, so it
is difficult to assess if a writer should take up such a deal. I would advise
writers to consider very carefully with such deals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Awards and Milestones of Derrick
Tham</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 宋体;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 1999年開始創作<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Began Songwriting Career in 1999<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2002年發表第一首歌曲《我不能飛》<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Published 1st song in 2002, entitled </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">I Cannot Fly</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2004年成為《新加坡詞曲版權協會 》會員<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Became an Official Member of Composers and Authors
Society of Singapore (COMPASS) in 2004<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2006年以作品《最近》深受大家的註目與肯定<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Garnered popularity with the song, </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Recently</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">, in 2006<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2007年以作品《這樣就好》獲得香港新城國語力
熱爆K歌<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Awarded the HongKong Mandarin Karaoke Song Award, for the
song, </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">That’s All</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年錞藝音樂公司專屬詞曲作者<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Became an Exclusive Songwriter with Zoom Musik (Music
Production Company in Taiwan) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年受邀出席新加坡S-POP萬歲嘉賓<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Invited to attend the S-Pop Event in Singapore as a
Special Guest in 2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年以作品《擦肩而過》獲得台灣單曲連續數周6大電信鈴聲下載冠軍<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Awarded the Taiwanese Ringtone Download Champion for the
song</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">,“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Passer-By</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> in 2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年以作品《擦肩而過》入圍馬來西亞
Red Box2008最高點播率K歌20強<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Top 20 Most Dedicated Songs in Malaysia Red Box 2008, for
the song </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Passer-By</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年以作品《擦肩而過》入圍台灣KKBOX年度數位音樂風雲榜
No.5<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Was Awarded 5th Position in Taiwan</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">’</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">s KKBOX
Annual Music Chart, for the song </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Passer-By</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> in 2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008年以作品《擦肩而過,最近》入圍新加波KBox
年度K歌金曲大奬20強<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Entered the Top 20 position in Singapore KBox Annual Hit
Songs Award in 2008, for the song</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Passer-By</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"> and </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">“</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">Recently</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体;">”</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2008 担任第14届《飛越時空》半决赛 评审.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Judge for NTU Chinese Society 14th Music Express
Songwriting Competition Semi-Finals<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2009年与歌手“李聖傑”在新加坡舉辦音樂分享座談會<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">2009 Conduct Music and Songwriting Workshop in Singapore
with Taiwanese Singer Sam Lee</span><span style="font-family: 宋体;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 宋体;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">• 2012年<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>新加坡詞曲版權協會 COMPASS <b>年度青年歌曲创作人</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">2012 awarded COMPASS Young Composer of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 宋体;">發</span></b><b><span style="font-family: 宋体;">表作品</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial;">(Songs Published)</span><b><span style="font-family: 宋体;">:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: 宋体;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">· 我不能飛</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(I Can’t Fly) - </span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">路嘉欣 </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">Jozie
Lu</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">· 矛盾</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Paradox of love) - </span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">何静萱 </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">Nicola
Ho</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">· 最近</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Recently) - </span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">李聖傑 </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">Sam
Lee</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">· 分心</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Distraction) - </span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">王傑 </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">Dave
Wang</span><span style="font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">這樣就好</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> (That’s all) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">鄧穎芝</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Vangie Tang<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">別要走</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Do
not go) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">鄧穎芝</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Vangie Tang<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">讀心術</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> (Read my Mind) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">卓文萱</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Genie Chuo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">擦肩而過</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> (Passer-by) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">李聖傑</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Sam Lee<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">靠近</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(So close) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">李聖傑</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Sam Lee<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">下个幸福</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Next
Love) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">卓文萱</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Genie Chuo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">抱歉</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Sorry) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">李聖傑</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Sam Lee<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">明白</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Realize) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">李聖傑</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Sam Lee<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">最後紀念</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(Last
memory) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">陽韻禾</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Melody Yeung<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">擦肩而過</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> (Passer-by) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">王馨平</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Linda wang<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">當初</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">
(In the beginning ) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">胡夏</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">第一次</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;">(First
time) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">陳浩民</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> Benny Chan<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 150%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">·</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">會過去的</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"> (It’ll be Over ) - </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: 宋体; line-height: 150%;">梁靜茹</span></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; line-height: 150%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Fish Leong</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<!--EndFragment-->musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-43618037745503494042012-08-30T01:06:00.002-07:002012-08-30T20:55:02.544-07:00Multi-level marketing: A new radical online distribution model to Tell Your Friends<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Social media is
the way to go, it seems, as a tool to promote and market one’s music. With
streaming platforms such as Youtube, many artistes have found fame online, with
close to a million hits or subscribers on their Youtube channel. Most of them,
however, have yet to have found fortune, or are still unable to monetize the
strong support from social media. A proportion of these artistes still depend
on performance fees to generate the bulk of their income, and not through the
sales of their music. <a href="http://tell-my-friends.com/" target="_blank">Tell My Friends</a> (TMF), a new online music distribution
model, aims to change all that, says CEO Mr Ben Looi, by providing tools for
artistes to get people to go from interest to conversion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">At first, this
writer thought that TMF was an online music store like iTunes, but on closer
look, we couldn’t find anything that resembles a store on its website. So how
is the music sold? Apparently, after an artiste or publisher inks the
distribution deal with TMF, they are given unique links for each song that is
being sold, and the client would have to market the link themselves by posting
it on their own social networks such as blogs, websites and Facebook pages.
Their fans will get to purchase the track by clicking on the link, and payment
can be done via paypal or credit card. Buyers of the track will in turn, be
given another unique link of their own, and if they share it on their social
media networks and someone else buys the track from their link, the buyer now
also earns a commission for sharing that link. </span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A81RWbTs_-c" width="560"></iframe>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Sounds like MLM (Multi-level
marketing)? Yes it is. Then is it a scam? Well, during the interview, Ben
openly admitted that he knows that MLM has had a bad name, and so he did his
due diligence to ensure that his model is legal, and to clarify things further,
he even went through the effort to state the distinction between a fraudulent
MLM model and a legal one on his <a href="http://tell-my-friends.com/faq" target="_blank">website</a>. He also explains that TMF is simple,
as you do not have to hit a minimum number of levels in order to get your
credits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We drilled into the ex-SAF officer on how he executed his mantra: “</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Consume digital products responsibly
and get rewarded for it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4G5ZTR6tXBoA8tDr6gkgBatkHhWpS0LwNqRUswcLljPljTa-Y1v923nGa1hgyA14UXytdSbNlxt4KE-2QBO-wL7PDp7uvSzBEqYetrVzzlEY_4yzgKDIqSAGD2Gl1wXWHSt8xzwlFC7I/s1600/Ben+at+Seed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4G5ZTR6tXBoA8tDr6gkgBatkHhWpS0LwNqRUswcLljPljTa-Y1v923nGa1hgyA14UXytdSbNlxt4KE-2QBO-wL7PDp7uvSzBEqYetrVzzlEY_4yzgKDIqSAGD2Gl1wXWHSt8xzwlFC7I/s320/Ben+at+Seed.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Looi, CEO of Tell My Friends Pte Ltd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What exactly is the business model
of Tell-My-Friends? How much does your company make from each sale of a song
copy</span></b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The business
model is network marketing, also known by other terms such as direct selling
and multi-level marketing. The twist is that it is integrated with social
networking, hence a more appropriate term is social network marketing. Tell My
Friends make 20% from each sale of a song copy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Who is your core target audience?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">As a platform, we
are targeting those who currently download stuff for free, either via torrents
or illegal file-sharing. As for content, there really isn't a core target
audience, because practically anyone, whether you are a social network user or
a smartphone user, can be an audience. Tell My Friends is a platform to augment
content owners' sales and marketing, so the core audience of our clients
differ. For example, if an artiste that sings pop ballads, then the core
audience for us would be working young adults. If it's Mandarin oldies, then
the core audience will be retirees, housewives etc. If it's Christian worship
songs, it would be Christians. The core audience depends on the content, not
Tell My Friends. We also target young people like teenagers and students
by facilitating cash payment using prepaid cards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: How did this concept come about?
Why the MLM model? What is your company's vision and mission?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">I've always
enjoyed music, and I have great respect for those who chose to make music their
livelihood. Believe me, it's not a very well-paying job, but the passion for
the craft is what keeps most musicians going. I was wondering how can I help
musicians make a living AND keep the passion, and a big pain point most
musicians face is that of online piracy. It's a very pragmatic view if you ask
any consumer "Why would you pay for something when you can get it
for free?" and the answer is obvious. The industry has tried to beat
piracy using technology like DRM and we know that doesn't work, because
anything that is encrypted can be decrypted. It then tried to fight based on price
and convenience, driving prices down to the ground at $0.99 plus minimal
clicks. That has some positive outcomes, but musicians aren't the ones making
money - it's the megastores that does. Then they tried to use legislation and
enforcement such as SOPA, which is totally against what the Internet is all
about - freedom of choice and expression. Hence, I reframed the problem of
piracy - not as a technological or enforcement issue - but as a behavioral
problem. Working as a military psychologist for the past 2 years gave me the
experience and insight that positive reinforcement of a desired behavior is
more effective than punishing or negative reinforcement of an undesired
behaviour. With that, I then needed to think of a way to sustain a reward
system. After much research of various business models and laws, the solution
was found in network marketing or MLM. My company's vision is summed up
as such: Help People. Save Music. Be Rewarded.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: How long has TMF started? What is
the response so far? What kind of investment costs did you incur in setting up
such a business? How long do you expect to break even?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We've started
full-time for about 7 months, and we have broken even. The response is good,
judging from the interest generated, and conversion is slowly happening. We are
still in beat testing, and already we have 210 users and 394 paid downloads -
and we haven't even started marketing yet. We will expect a spike in both numbers
soon, as we begin our marketing efforts. The investment costs is confidential,
but suffice to say we have been very prudent in getting things done with a
limited budget and lots of innovation. And of course, goodwill from supporters
of our vision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What is your current catalogue
like? Are you working with major and independent labels?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We know we are
very new, and no one has an idea of what we are doing! We have met up with a
major label as well as industry bodies, and while the local HQ is interested,
the inherent legacy corporate structure may not allow major labels to use us at
the moment. The independent labels, however, have more autonomy, and are very
keen to be on board. We now have mainly independent artistes, both local and
overseas, mainly friends, and friends of friends, like Chen Huisi, Matthew
Quek, Ko Sherman, Eric Chiryoku, Jai, Jessica Irawan, The Glad Stones, Phoebee
Ong, Gilbert Baldoza, Nat Ho and Thomas Ong. The catalogue includes Chinese
pop, New Age, English pop, Christian worship, classical, jazz, musicals, Malay
pop, Japanese. We also have ebooks lined up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Could you explain more about the
partnership with Music Galaxy Records and Music Publishers Singapore? How does the
one-year blanket license work?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Music Galaxy
Records is a subsidiary of Tell My Friends. We had to start a content creation
arm so that there are songs to sell on Tell My Friends! When we started TMF, we
spoke to local industry bodies and societies to understand about royalties and
industrial practices. <a href="http://www.mps.org.sg/" target="_blank">Music Publishers Singapore</a> (MPS) is a society formed by music
publishers like Sony ATV, Universal Music Publishers Group, EMI,
Warner-Chappell, Touch Music and many more. We know that there are many local
artistes who do very good covers of popular songs, but they do not know how to
clear the rights to sell them online. Many pop songs on radio today are also
covers, thanks to successful shows like Glee, American Idol, The Voice etc.
There's always a fresh and new way to interpret the same song. We have made an
arrangement through a license from MPS that any cover song submitted by
independent artistes and labels will automatically be cleared for mechanical
rights licensing as we will apportion the royalties due to publishers have
claims to those songs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: How can artists and writers
benefit from this? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Artistes can go
ahead and record their songs, whether it's original or a cover version, and
sell it via TMF as a one-stop service. The artistes will have the sound
recording royalties if it is a cover song, and both sound recording and
mechanical royalties if it's an original. Artistes and composers/writers can
also collaborate to do a song, and work out an agreement between themselves what
portion of the royalties they share, and let TMF know who to pay when the song
is sold. It's that simple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">For a cover song,
out of a dollar for royalties, a certain percentage goes to the owner of the sound
recording, while the remaining is paid to MPS for the song
royalty. This is a blanket rate, so the recording artiste will
simply have to decide how much they want per song to set the final price of the
track. Each song is uploaded by Tell My Friends so that we would have control
and this is why we are taking the 20% commission to manage all this for the
client. The distributor contact will have a list of songs that they want to
sell as a client, and from there the tracking will be done by Tell My Friends
to pay MPS. They would have to sign to declare that they are not the composer
in the distribution contact. In this way, all administration is taken off
artistes’ backs and settled by TMF. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: How do you compare yourself with
other major online music stores like iTunes? How is your business model
different? Ultimately, what does it mean for labels, publishers, artists and writers?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We are different
from major online music stores in that we give buyers something that online
music stores don't give - cash rewards. Online stores are very much single
level market models built with convenience and low price as the selling point.
For artistes, there is a fee involved in putting our music on those stores, and
will be catalogued in a large, virtual store together with thousands of other
artistes and products. Consumers can choose to go spend $0.99 on your song at
the major store, or get it for free somewhere, somehow via torrents, or even
via USB or email. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Tell My Friends
is not a store, as we do not sell music directly on our platform. We do,
however, send out weekly newsletters as a catalogue of songs, and members can
buy them. Now, here's where TMF makes the difference. Anyone who buys any song,
ebook etc will have a unique link for each product, and you can share the link
with your friends, via social networks, email, and even SMS and Whatsapp if you
have a smartphone. For those who have a blog, you can even insert the link
within your blog, and even create your own music store. Each time anyone buys
the song from your link, you get a reward. Even if the person who bought from
your link copies what you do and set up his own store, you will still get a
reward when someone buys from his link - for up to 10 tiers. You can't do that
with iTunes, can you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">What it means for
labels is that, while labels generally own the sound recording rights to the
song, the artistes under the label will also get a commission each time the
song is sold, provided the first link is given to the artistes to seed the
market. For example, if MGR paid for and produces a song, and therefore owns
the rights of a song sung by Ben Looi, and because the first people to buy the
song would be Ben's fans (assuming he has fans...hahaha), Ben earns a steam of
commission, while the label earns royalties. It's a win-win for both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Are there any listing fees in the
distribution contract?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">TMF does not act
like a retailer, so there are no upfront fees to list songs, but clients are
required to take a consignment of at least 50 prepaid TopUp cards with a downpayment
of 10% of RSP to be sold for a period of 3 months. The artistes can make $0.50
per card. They can also customize the Topup card with an additional $300 for the mould.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">TopUp cards are
priced at S$8 for 600 credits. 1 credit = US$0.01. Users can cash out via
paypal or cheque. Clients would however have to accumulate a minimum of $15
before cashing out, and can only cash out commissions earned and not topped up.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNXQVGa7jJrOnZfvQjtzWFxanxmy9kexQWUt_54EwraRQCpGSxeIsJMS3VHLm1myuCGm2BI5QzEwZe8F_UQSON5PO3uiU4V8xSyJX6WeSm_pQ6vVCK4K5WRDHmvdlxX6hKbkc1DjQNZM/s1600/TMF+TopUpCards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNXQVGa7jJrOnZfvQjtzWFxanxmy9kexQWUt_54EwraRQCpGSxeIsJMS3VHLm1myuCGm2BI5QzEwZe8F_UQSON5PO3uiU4V8xSyJX6WeSm_pQ6vVCK4K5WRDHmvdlxX6hKbkc1DjQNZM/s320/TMF+TopUpCards.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TopUp Cards from Tell My Friends</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What if the artistes’ fanbase does
not use Facebook? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">TMF has put in a
total of 320 social media platforms on which the links can be shared on, so
even in a country like China which does not use Facebook, artistes are still
able to reach out to that market through other popular local platforms like
Weibo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: According to your website, each
song is selling for US$1.84. How did you arrive at this price?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">No, the song
price is not fixed for every song. It depends on what our clients set <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">as royalties. The
principle is nothing less than 50% of retail price goes to royalties, so we
first determine what our clients want as royalties for sound and mechanical
rights. Supposing our clients want $1. This would then form 50% of
selling price before taxes and transaction fees. 30% or $0.60 will be allocated
as commissions for buyers, spread over 10 tiers. The amount per tier is shown
on every purchase page you land on selling each song. The remaining 20% goes to
TMF for admin costs. So, in this example, the retail price, inclusive of taxes
and transaction costs of about 13-15%, will be close to $2.30. Most of our
clients set their royalties at about $0.90 to keep the final selling price
inclusive of taxes and transaction costs below $2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Tell us more about the Secret
Angel function in your website. Is it a direct donation? Why would consumers
choose to donate in this way instead of directly to the charity of their
choice? Will the donation be tax deductible for consumers? Do you charge any
administrative fees for the donations? How is the charity cause increased the
affiliation between the consumer and the artist? Is there supposed to be any
deliberate connection?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">We are finalising
the MOU with a major charity entity who will be partnering us in this Secret
Angel function, so the details can't be discussed at the moment, but suffice to
say we are doing this as part of our vision - Help People. There will not be
any affiliation between the consumer and the artiste under normal circumstances
because the artiste is just selling his/her song. Whoever buys that song can
choose to direct all future commissions from that purchase to the charity of
choice, so it's not the artistes' call or decision to support the charity, but
that of the consumer. However, if an artiste DOES want to support a charity
through the sale of the song, he can direct TMF to apportion a certain
percentage of royalties accrued to the beneficiary, and consumers who buy the
song can choose to still keep their share of commissions for own use, or direct
their portion of commission to ANOTHER charity. As to the other questions about
whether it is tax-deductible and admin fees, we will have to wait till the MOU
is signed, as these points are covered in the MOU.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Your site claims that at least 50%
of revenue goes back to royalties and about 30% of revenue to go back to
consumers in the form of commissions. How do you intend to ensure
transparency in reporting in terms of sales and donations?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Each purchase
landing page has the breakdown of commissions at each tier. Each time you buy a
song, it goes on to your Purchase History. When your link you share generates
referral purchases, the commission earned is displayed for each song. Clicking
on it will show the breakdown of commissions, i.e., how many and who bought the
song that earned you $0.21, $0.11 $0.05 etc etc. The identities of the buyers
are partially masked for confidentiality. As for donations, whenever someone
donates HIS level to charity, the purchase landing page will highlight the
respective tier of commission with an indication of which charity is receiving
that share. On the Secret Angel list of charities, it will also show the amount
raised and how many "secret Angels" each charity has.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">In terms of
accounting, we can arrange to have a credit note be given every three months or
even every month to the artiste or publisher.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Q: Tell us more about yourself and who makes up the team at TMF. How did you get yourself involved into the music business and why?<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">I served in the Singapore Armed Forces for 13 years before calling it a day to start Tell My Friends. In my 13 years as an Army officer I've served in various capacities, ranging from direct command in the Infantry, law enforcement as a Military Police, doctrine and capability development for homeland defence, training officer cadets in OCS, and as a defence psychologist. I'm currently the Ops Officer of an Infantry Brigade in NS. The prospect of doing something totally different, challenging and never attempted before was the change I needed, because the notion of staying on for another 13 years in the same environment is not for me. The TMF team is growing day to day, and I guess it's the vision that attracts the right people to my team. We are entirely self-funded at the moment, and we are able to sustain the business to profitability because everyone in the team contributes and value adds. Pearly, my sister, takes care of business development for TMF and our subsidiary music label, Music Galaxy Records (MGR). Huisi manages the production of music that MGR produces, Chris takes care of the technical development, overseeing and coordinating with my vendors who do the programming. Andy markets Tell My Friends to international artistes to put their content with us, and a few friends who are helping out with the user experience design and other stuff to make us look pretty. Justin is taking care of the PR, and we work with an IP lawyer as well as a patent lawyer for the legal mumbo jumbo stuff. We are currently developing an arrangement with a music marketing manager in the Netherlands to cover Europe and a few potential partners to bring Tell My Friends to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan. We got involved in the music business because music is very important to everyone - it represents the soul of life, and we all need music to be with us all the time - to celebrate life's finest moments, and to comfort and sooth the pain and sorrows. We need to keep music alive.</span></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3e0040; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: How much do you think digital
sales would make up the music market in the next three to five years in
Singapore? How about in Asia?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Increasingly with
smartphones, personal media devices and other gadgets converging, products will
be consumed in the digital form - videos, books, music. Singapore is a small
market with high computer literacy, online banking and credit card
subscription, which is not representative of other Asian markets. Digital sales
will increase at least 10 to 20% year on year in Singapore if piracy wasn't so
rampant. That said, there isn't really a music industry in Singapore today, although
there is a vibrant music scene. Most major labels have moved operations to
Malaysia as the local market is many times bigger than Singapore. Digital sales
in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines still has not been
significant as credit card subscription is low. For example, 70% of mobile
phone users in Malaysia and Indonesia are on prepaid plans, unlike Singapore
where most are on postpaid plans. Cash will continue to be the preferred
payment method regionally, and unless you have a complementary system other
than just Paypal and online banking, people will continue to buy music in its
physical form of a CD, go home and rip it to digital format, and since it's
already ripped, they might as well share it with friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">-------------------<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Ben is optimistic
on the potential success of this model. His target is to have five major
artistes to be on the catalogue by the end of the year, and as long as he has
some success stories, he’s confident that the floodgates will open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">“It’s a chicken
and egg thing, currently I have no customer base, and no content, it’s just a
platform. So now it’s a matter of building content and getting buy in from
artistes. It’s a challenge but I love the challenge because it’s something so
new. So far the response has been positive, and people have been keen in coming
in, like Nat Ho, who recorded the song with us. I need content. I tried talking
to some labels, but because I’m so new, so nobody wants to bother with me, so I
created a label to create content. We actually commission songs for private
investors. Songs are intellectual property and we sell the intellectual
property. We, as a label, get the singer, band, audio engineer and producer to
create the recording. Because the investor bears the financial risk of paying
everything upfront, they own the intellectual property for 70 years. They are
actually creating jobs. Roughly we are selling the package for about $15,000,
and the royalties generated will all be returned to the investor. MPS still
gets paid if it’s a cover song. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Eventually, how I
measure the success of TMF would be to enable at least one artist from
Singapore to make it big overseas.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">This entrepreneur
has big dreams for local artistes, and we hope that he makes it big too.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-28390941907333004482012-08-29T09:38:00.001-07:002012-08-29T09:45:54.497-07:00How to increase your revenue? "Write more songs!" says Synthpop duo, Cosmic Armchair<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you're an artiste and/ or composer who is looking to increase your revenue, one of the most important things you have to do is to expand your catalogue quickly so that your fans can buy more of your music. Sounds simple enough? Sure, but some musicians find this even a challenge because they have to juggle so many other jobs in between writing, like marketing, teaching, performing etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We hear from Cosmic Ben, one half of a synthpop band, Cosmic Armchair, on the challenges and opportunities he faces as a musician.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5s0Bor3MBP3WoMRVfo6_KVeEqQApgB0kjTiiW1odqcjqTdkaWiVZ2Ne1eNZhJca-ob9aYKbXVU1Un2qs-zuQp7DF8fbXw2PL9lUN1B2A312w5E3pVOznm9BjmrX91R4hjFBmU5VuHEs/s1600/+CA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5s0Bor3MBP3WoMRVfo6_KVeEqQApgB0kjTiiW1odqcjqTdkaWiVZ2Ne1eNZhJca-ob9aYKbXVU1Un2qs-zuQp7DF8fbXw2PL9lUN1B2A312w5E3pVOznm9BjmrX91R4hjFBmU5VuHEs/s320/+CA.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: Being a synthpop act based in Singapore, how does it make it
any easier or harder to sell or market your music?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">The most popular music genres in this
region are the non-English pop ones, so we are definitely a minority interest
in Singapore. So we've been happy that there is a small but growing group of
friends and fans in Singapore that continues to enjoy our music and support our
gigs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">From another point of view, we are
pretty unique because there aren't many synthpop duos in this region. That also
helps us stand out in the international synthpop and electronic pop scene,
which is where our larger audience is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What are your distribution points, online and offline? Which
of them bring the most revenue to you? Any other income sources?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Most of our
digital sales have come through iTunes US and UK and Bandcamp <a href="http://cosmicarmchair.bandcamp.com/"><span style="color: #003ec4; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://cosmicarmchair.bandcamp.com/</span></a>,
with a small percentage through Amazon MP3. We have a very small revenue from
streaming on Spotify.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our
physical CD is available in Singapore only at The Esplanade Store, and sales
were highest when we performed at The Esplanade Concourse for BayBeats. We hope
this will happen again when we perform at the same place on 29 and 31 August.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We also
sell our physical CD through our website <a href="http://www.cosmicarmchair.com/"><span style="color: #003ec4; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.cosmicarmchair.com</span></a>, and even shipped
one to a fan in Russia!</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our other
source of revenue is performance fees. At this point in time, we're still in
the start up phase so the proportions of each revenue stream are still
evolving, and we're still open to other opportunities such as providing songs
for TV, film or advertisements. Currently, our largest customers are venue
operators, so performance fees make up the bulk of our income. In fact, the
ratio of performance fees to CD and digital sales is about 10:1. So what we
strive to do is to reach the tipping point where consumers become our bigger
customer base, and that’s when CD and digital sales will make up a higher
percentage of income, and we would also be able to sell other products like
merchandise as an additional revenue stream.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: You are a tutor (at the NUS Electronic Music Lab), a band and
you even have your own label (Stratos Entertainment). Share with us what are
some of challenges and synergies of holding several hats in the music industry.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Working
with the <a href="http://www.eml.org.sg/" target="_blank">Electronic Music Lab</a> has always been a passion for us and we actually
first met at the Lab. That social element is a big synergy because we meet new
and talented electronic musicians every year. Over the years,
we've collaborated with various musicians, producers and engineers that we met
through the Lab.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">On the
other hand, teaching at the Lab is also a challenge because it takes time which
could be spent working on Cosmic Armchair songs, so it's a balancing act.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What are some of the future developmental plans you have for
Stratos and for Cosmic Armchair? Do you plan to increase the stable of artists
under your arm?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We want
Cosmic Armchair to reach as wide an audience as possible not just in Singapore
but around the world. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;">Currently, our presence in Youtube is still rather weak; ideally we should be putting out one video per month. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a1a1a;">Besides our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube outreach, we
aim to play at international music festivals, and we're open to foreign gigs
like the one we played in Nospace Gallery, Bangkok. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Stratos
Entertainment's main artist will continue to be Cosmic Armchair, and we'll grow
organically if we find other artists that we can work with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Q: What do you think of the future of the music industry in
Singapore and in Asia? How do you think artists like yourselves should look to
increasing your revenue and making their music careers sustainable?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The music
industry in Singapore is not confined to Singapore. Our home is here, our
friends and family are here, but we can also reach the much larger
international audience.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Just these
few years we've seen an increase in the number of US and Canadian independent
bands touring Asia. Even though they're relatively obscure, they can fill
1,000-seat venues in Singapore because their music has reached fans here
through YouTube and other channels. In the same way, we Asian artists should be
able to find our pockets of 1,000 fans in cities all over the world, if we take
our business seriously and promote it actively.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But all the
social media in the world only works if the music is good. There is no magic
bullet to success. If we want our songs to reach wider audiences, increase
revenue, and support sustainable careers, the most important thing we need to
do is to keep on writing, recording and performing good music. Right now, one
of our biggest challenge is to have more material churned out more quickly,
because the more material we have, the more income we can make because there
will be more products for our fans to buy.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">About Cosmic Armchair<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Cosmic
Armchair is a synthpop / electronic pop duo based in Singapore. Cosmic Jane
(singer / songwriter) and Cosmic Ben (producer / arranger) have been compared
by fans and critics alike to Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode and Chicane. Their CD
"A Second Look" is available at The Esplanade Store and their songs
are available for download on iTunes, Amazon MP3, BandCamp and more. For more
details, photos, video and music, visit <a href="http://www.cosmicarmchair.com/"><span style="color: #003ec4;">www.cosmicarmchair.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Their next
live performance will be held on 31 August 2012, 715pm at The Esplanade
Concourse.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-55375478939334415102012-08-19T02:58:00.000-07:002012-08-19T03:07:24.428-07:00Upcoming event: Singapore Music Dialogue on 8 Sept 2012<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17px;"><i>The full transcript from Stuart Johnston's opening remarks at the Forum in Jan:</i></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">"Back in the 70s, living next to the USA, Canada has long-suffered an inferiority complex. So Canadians for some reason always seem the need to be validated. We can have tremendously successful people in Canada but it doesn’t matter unless they make it in the USA. We have tremendous talent in the cities of Canada, but they have to make it in LA, NY, Nashville, be </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">big around the world; and then they come home to become successful. Back in the 70s, we could not hear Canadian music on the radio. There were a handful of great music industry professionals in the independent sector in Canada and they decided that they needed to take matters in their own hands. And there is strength in numbers, thats why associations, that's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;">why industries can become very powerful - they can literally move mountains.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 17px;"></span></span></i><br />
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />So they were up against broadcasters, music producers, record companies that were controlling the product, controlling what was being played and of course, if it was a successful American or British act, thats what was being played on the radio. Sure, great music but we liked to hear some of our own stuff. So they formed an association to primarily become advocates for that sector. So the association went to the government and lobbied quite hard for regulations that resulted in that Canadian content rules. It started off at 20% (and its now mandated that broadcaster must play 35% Canadian music). Once approved, this wasn’t an overnight success. The association members then looked at each other and noticed that there wasn’t enough catalogue of decent quality. So the rules came in first and then the association suggested funding support and raise the music industry to provide the level of financial resources and tax structure to support Artists, managers and labels. So there were funding opportunities that came up such as broadcasters were mandated to put a percentage of their gross revenues and 6% of license fees into a fund that then got pumped back into Canadian-owned, Canadian Artists. The funding support for the association went across all areas such as production, videos, marketing, promotion, touring, showcases, etc.<br /><br />And this is why we saw such as explosion of great acts in the 70s and 80s because there was this foundation of support that would not have happened if the industry didn’t take it upon themselves to speak with one voice and say this is what we need to be successful. Thats the legacy."<br /><br />Hence why SGMUSO was born.</span></i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">During the last </span><a href="http://musicbizinasia.blogspot.sg/2012/05/perkins-advice-to-local-artists-world.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">interview</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"> with Graham Perkins, the brainchild behind the Singapore Music Society gave his advice to local musicians: The world is your "Chilli Crab". Come 8 Sept, he is organizing a free dialogue session for everyone to come together to discuss how the Society should improve the local music scene. Some of the issues on the agenda include:</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Skills - Education programs in the areas of Artistry, Business and Production</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17px;">Advocacy - Digital, Media and Live Performance Related Programs</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 17px;">Opportunities - Overseas events</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">For details of the event, click </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/435436546495407/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Looking forward to it. See you there.</span></span></span>musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-84615960457128531692012-06-14T10:33:00.000-07:002012-06-14T10:40:09.505-07:00COMPASS CEO says, "It's almost impossible to monetize music from new media."<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">During the 90-minute interview with Dr Edmund Lam,
CEO of The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS), he was candid
and forthcoming. As much as one hopes that a successful and more equitable
business model will eventually emerge to monetize music in the new media age,
he has seen a fair share of hopefuls that came and left the market, and what
remains now are existing models that are still require improvement in many
areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">"It's almost impossible to monetize music from
new media," he says. "But what new media has done is to provide more
access for consumers to discover different types of music, which will encourage
more artists to come to Singapore for live performances. New media has also
helped artists save on marketing costs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx72zNm4xVmQ4UA0XzvgAuQ4ufX3i1BaWJBozr9seBWNLGRP1kvQaAqev9r_hyn9Mefbn_BaqY6VjbQl-aCKyAfXNW3staS5PjFG77jsY5bPFcajk8qPGfJyQ6fHwiNp6ff2uvuMNqv5g/s1600/CA2011+-+088_Edmund.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx72zNm4xVmQ4UA0XzvgAuQ4ufX3i1BaWJBozr9seBWNLGRP1kvQaAqev9r_hyn9Mefbn_BaqY6VjbQl-aCKyAfXNW3staS5PjFG77jsY5bPFcajk8qPGfJyQ6fHwiNp6ff2uvuMNqv5g/s320/CA2011+-+088_Edmund.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Dr Edmund Lam, CEO of COMPAS</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">S</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Indeed, how artists and publishers earn their keep
has continuously been a challenge, and Dr Lam shares how COMPASS, playing the
role of Singapore’s sole copyright administrator, has evolved over time. He
also talks about what he thinks will be the future of the music industry in
Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Q: Based on COMPASS’s experience, what have been
the best sources of royalties and other revenue in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s? Has
this changed over the years?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The bulk of the current copyright law is based on
the 1989 Copyright Act and prior to (that) was the Imperial Copyright Act dated
back in 1911. When the Copyright Act in 1989 was passed, COMPASS started around
the same period, although we had not started administration then. Prior to that
there was the Performing Rights Society, a subsidiary of the Performing Rights
Society in UK has been operating here for a number of years based on the
Imperial Copyright Act, but that Act granted limited rights to music writers.
It was only applicable to situations where live music was performed; so the
British Agency only licensed pubs, nightclubs and the like. But the new
Copyright Act was a fundamental change, because overnight, it granted a number
rights to creators and our composers, and that gave us a room to start our
business and COMPASS commenced operations in 1991.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">One of the most important rights then was the
Broadcast right, which upset the radio and TV stations because they had to pay
royalties to COMPASS, so there was a Copyright Tribunal. Under the Copyright
law, there is a provisional section that allows a dispute between a collective
management organization like COMPASS and the user to have the tariff
arbitrated. And that was the first Copyright Tribunal hearing. Unfortunately,
the decision from the Copyright Tribunal hearing in 1991 did not grant us
attractive rates for traditional broadcast, but that was how we started our
operations, and the revenue comes from TV and radio stations, which provided an
unprecedented source of revenue. Back then, the users were upset, but over the
years, we built up a very good relationship with the radio and TV stations and
they do play a part: we sponsor programs and we jointly organize programs to
promote the music industry. So the relationship has changed quite dramatically
over the years. Now, traditional media understand and appreciate the need to
compensate music writers for using the intellectual property of the songs,
because without those songs, they wouldn’t have existed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Resolving with the major broadcast stations was a
major establishment in the 1990s; and the other was the licensing of live
concerts, and the breakthrough came only in 1993 when Michael Jackson had a big
concert for 3 nights at the National Stadium. Tickets were priced at over a
hundred dollars each. The organizers of the concert refused to pay because he
claimed that Michael Jackson had granted him all (musical) rights, and because
of that dispute we had another major case heard at the Tribunal, which was
covered by the media daily. It was a tough fight, but COMPASS won at the end of
the day. The Tribunal agreed to the rate we have established at 2.5% of gross
ticket sales, which translated to quite a sum for the Michael Jackson concert,
estimating to be about over a million dollars. After this case, revenue flows included
those from live concerts. After Michael Jackson’s concert, there was also a
booming trend in live concerts, and even today, live concerts by major artists
are on the rise, and this source of revenue has not diminished over the years.
(Revenue from) broadcasting has also not declined over the years, but they
faced competition from cable TV, which has also become our major source of
income since 1995-6.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Traditional broadcast (radio and TV), live concerts
and cable TV have become major revenues of COMPASS until today. In addition,
the other major revenue source is from the entertainment industry – we managed
to penetrate nightclubs, karaoke operators (karaoke is something probably only
common in Asia), and so composers who compose songs that people like to sing in
karaoke will earn more royalties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In the late 1990s-2000s, there was a rise of the
popularity of ringtones. COMPASS does not normally administer mechanical rights
(reproduction rights) of a musical work. COMPASS started off with performing rights
(i.e. broadcast rights/ live performance rights), and in the olden days of CD
printing, COMPASS has historically not been involved in that line of business.
The publishers themselves administer that particular right. So a composer will
assign the musical rights to the Society but he will negotiate with the
publishers to have his or her work to be recorded in a CD (sound recording) and
this mechanical right is being administered by the publisher themselves, which
was then licensed to the music labels for retail sales. But as we grow more
established, we started to represent more independent writers who assigned
those rights to us to administer. There was a short boom in ringtone, however
the collections were not that attractive, because a ringtone supplier needed
two licenses: one from COMPASS, which is a Communication right that we grant to
them (when a ringtone supplier communicates to a handphone user, he requires
this license from COMPASS). On the other hand, after the phone user receives
the signal and makes a copy of it, that copy requires a reproduction right and
requires a license from the publishers, and COMPASS does not have all the
rights in this area. Some service providers took advantage of the confusion and
did not pay the royalties. So although the ringtone business was doing very
well (selling $1 each at its peak), we could only charge about 6-7 cents
against a dollar, which translated into about $1-2 million of royalties out of
a $20-30 million dollar ringtone business in Singapore. We didn’t manage to get
much out of it because of the confusion, but in the end we all came together,
because the publishers realized that it would be better to do it collectively,
for the convenience of users. But by the time we got our act together, the ringtone
business already went down. So the music industry was a little slow, and we
couldn’t see the opportunity in time and was unable to catch up with trends
quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Q: What were some of the business models that
worked or did not work for the music industry and why?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Similarly, for new upcoming business models,
there’s some disunity amongst the different stakeholders in the industry, but
hopefully we can get our act together to license the music to service
providers. However, we realize it’s quite a challenging business because the
Singaporean consumer does not purchase on a song-by-song basis. Consumers do
not bite when you offer them $1 or $0.80 per song, as compared with markets in
US, Japan and Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">One of them that failed was <a href="http://asia.cnet.com/so-long-soundbuzz-and-thanks-for-all-the-music-62107628.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Soundbuzz</span></a>, as the per-download model did
not take off in Singapore. The telcos had the upperhand because they owned the
platforms. So some of them wanted a 50% margin if music was to be
retailed through their platforms. Later, when the buffet-styled eat-all-you-can
models was launched, it took off but in the process, music has become
worthless. <a href="http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/03/02/comes-with-music-sings-on-nokia-5800-n96-n85-n79-5320-and-5220-xpressmusic-in-singapore/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Nokia’s Comes With Music</span></a> (product bundling
model) also <a href="http://paidcontent.org/2011/01/17/419-nokias-comes-with-music-disappears-in-27-markets/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">pulled out</span></a>, because music has become too
cheap and in the end we all don’t make any money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/music/id34"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">iTunes</span></a>
music service is not available in Singapore yet, but even if they launched it
here, it will be very challenging for it to sustain because from the experience
of the Nokia’s Come with Music business model, they used music not to make
money but to use music to sell the phones. After they launched the service,
Singaporeans downloaded several millions of songs but only for that small amount
of money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">I think it is almost impossible to monetize music
from new media. But what new media has done is to provide more access for
consumers to discover different types of music, which will encourage more
artists to come to Singapore for live performances. New media has also helped
artists save on marketing costs. If you look at it broadly, artists can now
promote their works more easily through YouTube and digital media. I observe
that the cost of marketing Lady Gaga would be lower than marketing the Beatles,
because with digital media, overnight, everyone will know about Lady Gaga, say
in South Korea whereas in the past it would have taken months. Everything that
happens now is instant and news spreads instantly. Marketing through new media
is very massive and cheap. The labels and recording industry don’t benefit from
all this, it’s more of the concert promoters and artistes themselves who are
actually making the money now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">People are spending on music in a different way.
People are willing to spend money on concerts to have a live experience and
you’ll see the same artists coming back. One concert ticket is over a hundred
dollars, and that, in the past, is worth 6-7 CD albums a years, so an average
person is definitely spending more in music. Executives spend more time in
bars, and more at karaoke sessions to have some kind of musical experience, as
compared to previously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Q: Could you elaborate more about COMPASS’s <a href="http://www.compass.org.sg/cIndex344.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">partnership</span></a>
with Youtube?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The license granted to YouTube is based on revenue
collected from advertising. YouTube is also a place for our members to promote
their works. More importantly, our license with Singapore YouTube allows the
setting up of a Singapore domain. That’s the main motivation. We want YouTube
to have a Singapore domain so we can track what kind of music and videos that
Singaporeans or people in Singapore are viewing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Q: What do you think would be the future of the
music industry be like in Singapore?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">In recent years, <a href="http://www.opennet.com.sg/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Opennet</span></a>,
the new generation of broadband, has started to roll out. It allows high
quality streaming, which will connect our TV to all other devices in our homes.
Once this is established, there are many services that can be provided to
consumers. With Opennet, I could see changes in entertainment such as Xbox.
Currently there are still limitations to Xbox with regards to the number of
simultaneous multi-players because of limitations of bandwidth, but with
Opennet, it will change the whole entertainment business. When you watch a
football match, the resolution will be extremely clear. That will transform
Singapore. Not many countries will have this – optical fibre. So I would see
that the next kind of devices, such as the mobile phone, will be used as the
interface to Internet TVs. Internet TV has not really picked up yet, but I
think it will pick up after everyone has access to optical fibre broadband, and
with that you can place your phone as a remote control to view YouTube on TV.
That is already possible now, but currently it is still quite a cumbersome
process to set up. In future, consumers will access their music through this
platform, and probably people will watch programs and music using Opennet. It
will be a revolution and change everything. Traditional broadcast media will be
under threat, and so will cable TV. I believe that is the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Q: Geographically, which markets have the most
potential?</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">Mainland China. It is a challenging market, but
they would have to use a different model. They no longer make money through
selling music, but once you establish a name in China, you can find other ways
to milk the market. You can probably have many live performances. Just
recently, I read that <a href="http://stars.zaobao.com.sg/pages3/wuqixian060708.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Eric Moo</span></a> is making a lot of money, as every
day he is performing at different places for those in their 40s and grew up
with his music and can afford ticket prices. So he’s not doing new music but
making money from all his old music. Artists can make money through touring and
advertising. China has a population of 1.3billion people, and once you get an
advertising right of a product, that would be more than enough for one album.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">As for touring, I was told one cycle could last 4-5 years, given the
number of cities and provinces that they could cover. Market size is still very
important. Despite weak IP enforcement, there is still money to be made, albeit
in other ways (e.g appearance fees). And so if CCTV invites you to be on their
Chinese New Year show, you’d better not ask for money, because everyone will be
fighting to get on it and the bargaining power will be different. Once you do
an appearance like that, the chances of clinching a product endorsement deal
are very high. And that’s how the industry will be involved, rather than
through recorded music. Recording good music is still important, but the
revenue cannot be from the sales of music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">About
COMPASS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore
(COMPASS) is an organisation created to protect and promote the copyright
interests of composers, authors* (and their heir) and publishers of musical
works and their related lyrics. COMPASS is a non-profit public company which
administers the public performance, broadcast, diffusion and reproduction
rights in music and musical associated literary works on behalf of its members.
COMPASS deals specifically with music copyright and the usage of musical works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">For more information about COMPASS, visit <a href="http://www.compass.org.sg/">www.compass.org.sg</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">17<sup>th</sup>
COMPASS Awards<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt;">The 17th COMPASS Awards Presentation will be held on 8 July 2012, 7pm at
Marina Bay Sands, Sands Grand Ballroom. Event is exclusive to members.<o:p></o:p></span></div>musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8382807159656613485.post-77744700463256872572012-05-23T01:31:00.000-07:002012-06-16T20:34:32.521-07:00Perkins' advice to local artists: The World Is Your "Chilli Crab"<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that Singaporean artists face are themselves. The country's small footprint in the global music industry, may have indirectly left an indelilble mark on the mindsets of local artists, and Graham Perkins, President of the newly set up <a href="http://sgmuso.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Singapore Music Society</span></a>, advises that they should try to avoid falling into the "trap of thinking small and feeling insignificant".<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jlUv0Dvd_mNf7vxnuivQ3Y3qn6ZGcWKkd-IwQqLzVkfAYEjFMYLUBw0ihyphenhyphenEJgoZRrjgVurLHzAje0TM5dhxwrtupueUAKk5XKLdkCJpwwi4lLTV-qCqDHPQbePwvVKgm-zV8ua3rs2k/s1600/Graham+Perkins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jlUv0Dvd_mNf7vxnuivQ3Y3qn6ZGcWKkd-IwQqLzVkfAYEjFMYLUBw0ihyphenhyphenEJgoZRrjgVurLHzAje0TM5dhxwrtupueUAKk5XKLdkCJpwwi4lLTV-qCqDHPQbePwvVKgm-zV8ua3rs2k/s320/Graham+Perkins.JPG" width="239" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graham Perkins at Digital Matters Conference</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: What are the biggest challenges that local artists face today?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think that there are three major challenges for artists in Singapore. Firstly, to succeed in Singapore alone, is not enough. The world is the Oyster (or to put into context, the Chilli Crab) for local artists. It has often been said at many international music conferences (<a href="http://www.allthatmatters.asia/music/2012/" target="_blank">Music Matters</a> included) that the next big thing can come from anywhere in the world. However, its important to get it right at home before an artist explores overseas opportunities. Singapore provides a great sandbox, to hone skills in artistry and performance to better prepare for exposure overseas. As Malcolm Gladwell says in his book, “The Outliers”,one of Gladwell’s theory is that “it takes roughly 10,000 hours of hard practice in a chosen field to become a master in that field”. Artists can see their activities at home as a major part of their 10,000 hours towards becoming great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Secondly, there is a clear lack of exposure for local artists. With the danger of the “living in a glasshouse” syndrome, it's extremely hard for our artists to break the glass.There is only so much that happens within Singapore that can help provide the window to the world. Sure events like Music Matters will help, and we do have many visits from international artists playing here, but we don’t get the Marvin Gaye feeling of knowing “What’s Going On”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I do think however, that this is where the government can play a part in helping artists visit other countries to feel the vibe of successful music cities, and associate with other music folk. However, visitors to overseas markets, need to be initially armed with their digital devices or notebooks, not their guitars or microphones. Being immersed within international music ecosystems, listen, connect and collaborate with others, helps to build aspiration, inspiration and more importantly, support the feeling of hope that many artists have. This will help build an artist's opportunity to prepare for export.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thirdly, the nation’s multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-language society, potentially creates dividing lines that seem to permeate the music industry. Singapore arguably struggles with its identity and music should not be driven by this conflict. At the utmost, Music is the greater good and should transcend all these boundaries. Now I do not think that this image is actually created by artists, but more by external advocates who try to promote Singapore music styles and have a lack of knowledge to how music impacts the listener. Music is emotive and its our emotions that are at the heart of every decision we make in life. Sure, language is key to written and verbal communication but music is already its own language and the key for humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: What are some of the biggest revenue streams for local artists?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The obvious revenue streams are the traditional forms of music consumption through recording and live performances. But its clear that digital consumption has made an impact towards revenues of value. Furthermore, the lack of willingness by consumers to want to pay for art, continues to dent revenues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Personally, I’m more excited and interested to look at how new trans-media streams can provide new opportunities and revenues as its something quite close to my heart at <a href="http://www.runeentertainment.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Rune Entertainment</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: How has the change in the music industry landscape affected relationships between artists and labels?</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> These days the artist potentially is in a much stronger position.This is because the artist can get closer to their fans, develop their brandand put together great sounds even in their bedroom. I think the major labels know this and are looking at ways to change their approach and relationship with their repertoire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: What kind of opportunities are there for Singaporean artists?</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Humongous if only artists can dream big, develop their brand and build confidence to approach international markets and new platforms for music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: How can artists be discovered, groomed and developed into exportable representations in other markets?</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> There are many ways artists can be discovered. In my view, it's important to get things right at home first. Its important that each artist explores the markets it wants to approach before it goes in blindly. Of course a main vehicle is Digital as the world has become so much more connected. An artist can create huge interest if it cleverly builds the right connections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As to grooming and development, there really isn’t any success stories here in Singapore. Sadly, the music industry is not seen as a career choice for many due to a lack of opportunity which creates skepticism. Furthermore, education does not induce a creative nature or provide the right experience to allow creativity to flourish. I’ve seen many examples overseas (Canada, UK, USA) in which various entities provide fantastic development vehicles and success has been achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Q: What is the Singapore Music Society and whatare your future plans to increase "capability, advocacy and opportunities" in Singapore's music industry? Any targets in the short and long run?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">GP:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The wider development of an industry can take many years so it's better to be pragmatic. I would rather focus on getting it right, than right now, and not to look for quick wins. Of course, there are various activities we can provide in the areas of education, lobbying and business opportunities, and myself and the Executive Committee will be rolling out a strategy for themembers of the Society in due course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One area of importance is to get the nation to realise that great music can come from this isle. This can be enhanced if we simply focus on the greater good of promoting great music, not “Singaporean” or “local” music. It's given that music from here is from Singapore but advocacy is created when artists are good at what they do. It also enables a chance for the Society to drive “a land of cool” which is one of the main reasons why people like music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Following on from a successful forum in January, we will be getting heavily involved in this year’s Music Matters for our launch. With the support of Music Matters and e2i (Employment and EmployabilityInstitute) we will be providing complimentary conference passes to 130 of our 240 members. We will be conducting five, up-close and personal Mentor Master classes and inviting all conference delegates to the Singapore Matters Cocktails. In addition to this year’s <a href="http://www.allthatmatters.asia/live/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">MusicMatters Live Festival</span></a>, there will be 11 acts from Singapore along side many artists from nations around the world. To support digital consumption, we have partnered Singtel to provide an opportunity for acts from Singapore to have their music available on the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.singtelamped.com/" target="_blank">AMPed</a> </span>platform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have a lot of work to do at the Society and I’m up for the challenge!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">About Graham Perkins<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Co-CEO Rune Entertainment and President Singapore Music Society</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Growing up during the hippy era, Graham quickly got the bug to get out of school and pick up his guitar and play. Graham came to Asia in 1996 and has had the pleasure to continue his creative approach to life working at Adobe, Apple, MTV and Republic Polytechnic. In 2008 Graham became the Co-CEO for the trans-media studio, Rune Entertainment and continues to consult for the Singapore Government in the areas of Creative Industry skills development.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Graham has more recently set up the Singapore Music Society and as President, is helping to develop quality, advocacy andopportunities for the Singapore music industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">About Singapore Music Society</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Singapore Music Society is a non-profit entity that supports artistry, business and production by developing skills, advocacy and opportunities. We transcend music genres, cultural and language boundaries and support the growth of the music industry both home and away.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>musicbizinasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15914147931207269379noreply@blogger.com0