Monthly Archives: June 2008

Asia’s Kooks Deficit

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When it comes to foreign artists playing in China, we have no shortage of big-budget stadium shows: Beyonce this past winter, Celine Dion in April, and last week’s Chivas/Red Cross Black Eyed Peas earthquake benefit (Planned as a Chivas party, the show had to be revamped as a fundraiser at the last minute in order to secure the proper event licensing. Whilst Chivas and the Peas are each said to have given substantial donations, lots of freebie tickets were given away to the media and government officials; how much the concert itself benefited earthquake victims is anyone’s guess.)

But there is a paucity of foreign performers who actually, you know, play musical instruments (Kenny G being a notable exception). Where are the Blonde Redheads and the White Rabbits? As Michael Chugg pointed out in a discussion of live music at Music Matters Asia, British and American indie acts like The Kooks, The Wombats and Cold War Kids are flying over Asia to play sold-out gigs in Australia and New Zealand. So why aren’t they stopping in our neck of the woods?

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The Rise of The Music Phone

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When it comes to finding things to do with your cell phone other than, well, making phone calls, Asia is well ahead of the pack. An analyst from wireless research company Portio recently estimated that the number of text messages sent in the Asia Pacific region annually will grow to 2,071 billion messages in 2012 (compared to 967.7 billion in 2006). Across the region, young people are viewing their mobile phones as more than communications devices. Accessorized with all manner of lucky charms and pendants, phones are vehicles for self expression. Increasingly, they’re fulfilling the role of mp3 player, too.

MTV’s Music Matters survey — a sample of 5,741 urban middle class participants aged 15-34 across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India — found that 50% of respondents had downloaded music to their phones in the previous month. In China, this number is 68%. 11% in China said that their mobile was their primary music player, and 76% would opt to replace their mp3 player with a mobile music phone altogether. “Downloading music” does not directly translate to “downloading full tracks for listening pleasure,” and may well include a hefty amount of ringback tones and simple ringtones. But it’s a start, and it’s an obvious delivery platform for the future.

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They Want Their MP3s

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One of the most interesting speakers we heard at the recently-wrapped Music Matters Asia conference was Ian Stewart, Senior VP of Viacom Brand Solutions and MTV Networks International. Ian presented the results of this year’s Music Matters survey, a barometer read of musical tastes and tendencies across Asia. You can view the full results here.

The survey polled a total of 5,741 urban middle class participants ages 15-34 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India. A whopping 93% of respondents described themselves as “passionate about music,” and 85% “like music,” compared to 67% in 2007. This rise may be due to increased exposure and ease of access: 66% say they listen to more music now that it’s digital.

What this demographic is listening to these days varies widely from country to country. 74% of Chinese respondents said they like Western music, compared to 95% in Malaysia and 62% in India. This may be inversely proportional to each country’s homegrown music industry. India churns out pop stars by the dozen, and China’s not too far behind, with more respondents than in any other country (98%) who like local music. In each country’s rankings of top five favourite artists, a handful of global superstars made the cut (Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Beyonce, Simple Plan and Robbie Williams). But for the most part, “local language drives preference.” Koreans like to listen to people singing/rapping in Korean. Likewise for the Philippines, Taiwan, etc…Southeast Asia tends more toward rock and indie, while North Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea) prefers hip hop, R&B and ballads. China’s favourite singers are:

  1. Jay Chou
  2. Andy Lau
  3. Faye Wong
  4. Jacky Cheung
  5. Wang Lee-hom

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Time Out for Time Out Beijing

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China’s government censors have banned from shelves the June issue of Time Out Beijing‘s English addition, a valuable entertainment and nightlife guide, according to this article from the Times. While we have reason to doubt that Beijing’s live music venues will be allowed to operate normally in the coming months, Time Out‘s pulled plug means that foreigners will find it difficult to learn about what limited concerts are taking place in the capital for the forseeable future. The Times’ Jane McCartney reports that:

The ostensible reason given by the General Administration of Press and Publications for pulping the June issue was that the magazine lacked a proper licence. But Time Out Beijing has published ever since its launch without completing the proper paperwork and this had never raised eyebrows among the censors who were well aware of one of the most prominent of the tiny number of English-language publications in the capital… But magazine insiders said that they thought it unlikely that an edition would be available until after the Olympics as nervous censors move to reassert control over all publications before an expected flood of foreign visitors for the Games opening on August 8.

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Young Artists to Watch: Music Matters Asia Showcase

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Faspitch

After a full day of panels, podiums, and powerpoint presentations, it was refreshing to cap off day one of Music Matters Asia with a sampling of live performances from seven regional bands.

Compared to the mixed bag and a few stale potato chips throughout the day’s speaking panels, the industry showcase was much more consistent in its quality. The most impressive acts on offer came through the Nokia Independent Artists Club. Launched last year, IAC is Nokia’s version of a voter-driven, Idol-style competition. The programme traffics in downloadable tracks instead of televised performances, with country-specific sites for Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Interestingly, the three acts presented by IAC were head and shoulders above the rest of the pack: Point Blanc, a hip hop trio from Malaysia; Faspitch (pictured), a hardcore foursome from the Philippines; and Thailand’s Slur, a cross between early Strokes and the Cure. You can see some video of these three live performances here. The sound quality’s not great, but the video gives an idea of what the showcase had to offer.

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Old Fat Cats vs. New Fat Cats

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Paul McGuinness continued:

In a change from his Midem speech, he says that ISP monitoring would not be an intrusion on our privacy. Apparently, emails and other internet usage would not be policed or “spied” upon. I don’t understand how we can ask the ISP’s to spy on people who download pirated music/movies/content, but expect the rest of our privacy to be respected. Where do we draw the line?

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Where Has All the Money Gone?

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“To corporations – ISP’s, cable operators etc etc. who would argue that they are innocent bystanders…” U2 manager Paul McGuinness is bemoaning the fact that Manchester United will lose all their money from broadcasting rights because people will soon be able to watch the matches on the internet. Isn’t this just the natural flow of free markets? Labels/institutions/artists that are savvy and intelligent are benefiting from the new business model. Meanwhile, Paul seems to want other people to save his skin…

–Archie Hamilton, Split Works’ Managing Director
Blogging live from the Music Matters Asia conference in Hong Kong

Yup…

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It’s the same speech. McGuinness is still talking about blockbuster artists whose CD sales fund large rosters. He is a bit like the protectionist senators in US Congress. Music is now a free commodity and artists still have plenty of opportunity to make decent money outside of record sales, but Paul doesn’t seem too happy about this.

You can read the speech in its entirety here.

–Archie Hamilton, Split Works’ Managing Director

Blogging live from the Music Matters Asia conference in Hong Kong

Paul McGuinness

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U2′s manager is the first speaker. I read his keynote from Midem, which was a prehistoric rant about the “new” music model. He seemed to want internet service providers to levy charges on consumers, but in practice was encouraging the internet to be policed. I wonder if we’ve got the same thing coming up…

–Archie Hamilton, Split Works’ Managing Director
Blogging live from the Music Matters Asia conference in Hong Kong

The Power of the Music Industry

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In April last year, we were approached by the creative agency Wieden and Kennedy who had heard that we were bringing one of the world’s best beatboxers to Shanghai. Wieden had been putting together a documentary about Yanbian, a small town on the North Korean-Chinese border. For whatever reason, this small town has become the home of Chinese beatboxing. Together, we schemed to bring Yanbian beatboxing group Y-BBox down to Beijing and Shanghai to play on the same stage as Killa Kela.

The shows were amazing. At the time I wrote that it was probably “the most significant cultural event in China’s short hip hop history.” Seeing them on stage in Beijing with heads bowed, shyly boxing away and comparing it to their performance the next night in Shanghai having seen Kela perform was incredible. Suddenly, a swagger, eye contact and some of Kela’s hand moves were incorporated into the show.

Almost exactly 12 months to the day later, here they are opening the US$1,000/ticket, 2-day conference, with a slick video intro and yet more eye contact and more of Kela’s hand movements. I don’t know what happened to them since the show with Kela, but it seems to me that this is the way the music market (especially our “new” music market) now works. Rather than talent scouts, A&R guys and record labels bringing this act through, it is an advertising agency using it’s clout and pull to get them first on the stage of the Bacardi Sino Sessions (courtesy of Split Works) and then onto the stage of Music Matters Asia, one of the region’s leading music conferences…

Changing times indeed…

–Archie Hamilton, Split Works’ Managing Director
Blogging live from the Music Matters Asia conference in Hong Kong