1.) Artistes or Bands' Talent
No Talent = No point producing. Cannot play or sing properly, waste studio time = increase in production cost but no increase in production value.
2.) Budget
No good budget means the personnel u hire most likely will have problems one, like come late, sleep at work etc. The more u pay people, the bigger the mile they will walk for u, coz they have to.
3.) Talent and skill of people in the industry itself
Talented artistes or band, bad producer = No or wrong direction in terms of sound, artistry, marketing etc. If there is a lady gaga already, if i try to come up with a local lady gaga-like artiste, dress like drag and all also, u think will work? This is when the producer has to have a very good idea of how he wants to market this artiste.
4.) Talent skill and work ethics of people doing live sound
A known fact that overall standard of the people doing live sound is very low compared to the Japanese, european, uk, aussie, american engineers and assistants etc. Hiring a very professional one in singapore will cost more.
5.) Marketing
I dun understand why most of people only think of singapore as the only way. With internet, u can do anything. Why only promote ur music in singapore, where no one cares bout ur music? GO AND FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL LISTEN TO U! Go international, thats the way to do it. The world has dunno how many billions of people, out of 1000 people who listen, surely there is someone who is willing to listen to u. Why u wan to be able to "make it" in singapore when u know the scene sucks and u still die die wan to force ur way when u can "make it" international? U will just earn up being miserable.
5.) People's taste for quality
Ever wonder why mediacorp shows just dun sound as good as american shows etc? Chase scene from park to void deck, the background noise change so much. Interrogation scene in police station, can hear so much room sound. Compare to whatever CSI or police show u watch. How come their's sound so much better?
Not many people in singapore care about quality. Who cares about Grammy for best sound? As long the song nice can already.
Are u a bedroom songwriter? Ever wonder why ur friends just dun tink ur songs are good? That is becoz of ur handphone recording of u singing and playing the guitar, or using ur webcam mic to record.
6.) Singapore's musical taste
Singapore is a multi-racial country. Ur Malays got malay-pai, angmoh-pai. Chinese got chinese-pai, angmoh-pai. U make malay indie record in singapore, only sell to malays in singapore. u make chinese indie record in singapore, only sell to chinese. U make angmoh gua, those listen chinese and malay dun buy ur cd. Singapore is not a musical place as well. Think about Nashville, Tennessee in the states. Country Music is rampant there. Many musicians there. Another thing, most sgrean's dun really care about local music. Why would i listen to ur music when i can listen to lady gaga, or jay chou? They're albums are much better produced. Lady gaga very fashionable, fashion icon. Wear all those make up etc. Jay chou very cool and all. This is when the local indie singers or bands need to make an impact on the local community with their own kind of style that people recognise. Either by their musical style or watever.
7.) Government Support
Government has already tried to help sg. Trying to make this place more artistic. Esplanade and all was built for us. No Esplanade, no mosaic fest etc, u dun get to see ur fav bands or singers. Dun have Esplanade to bring in talented musicians from around the world to singapore, singaporeans won't know what are the more artistic music. They will just stick to pop music, there won't be any jazz scene, classical scene etc. But the thing is, not all the money is going to the right places. Use the money hire not up to par people is a waste of resource. What they should do is train more people in this aspect.
8.) Record Label
55k for 10 song album? give me 55k i make 2 10 song albums for u, while i continue to use the gear and rent people.
In today's context, where u can just sit at home and download music or buy music online, cheap recording gears and softwares. I really don't see a point in signing on to a label anymore. I really hate the idea of the music industry being monopolise. U can produce ur own music from home nowadays. If no labels wan to support u, so wat u gonna do? Sit and cry at home, den later go find a meaningless job that u have no interest in and work until the day u die? Go and make something for urself and stop complaining.
But once again, if u have no talent in recording, mixing or watsoever, let someone else who is good at it to do it. U can make a small demo at home, den bring it to a studio to record and all. Nothing is worst than printing lots of cd containing thrashy recordings that people can't stand listening.
And yes i agree that we have to fight the prices imports. I heard a cd from my fren, by the winners of this televised local band competition. Apparently, its their 2nd album. More expensive than normal 20 bucks cd price, buy from sembawang. And what did i hear? Thrash. Bad mix, bad recording. Muddy crap. Den got guitar buzz in the background. Guitar tone thin like paper. I mean come on, wtf is that? U sell people so expensive and u deliver this kind of shit? U give free i also throw away. I got no use for it except using it to badmouth the production. Dun even understand why sembawang will take in this kind of cds.
Its good that they are supporting local music, but you know what? Dun support local crap thkz. It makes people who are really good, harder to have a chance.
And for live recording, if the person i recording is like the next mariah carey, 25k is not enough man. But if the person i recording is some crap, 500 bucks can liao. Buy 1 cheap 2 channel interface and a pair of microphones.
