Funding for musician

[crystalshades]

hi im doing a project on lack of access to funding for local musicians currently.
is there any information that anybody can provide me with?like links to statistics or smth?

 

[soft]

Could you tell us more about yourself and the purpose for this project?

 

[SPQR]

"lack of funding" is a value judgement. It pre-supposes that in an ideal society, musicians would be funded. That might raise questions about artistic integrity - whether musicians will be beholden to funders. They might not - if funding is handed out broadly enough.

I think in another thread centralcatchment had this interesting idea that a very broad means of funding are just social safety nets, unemployment benefits, retraining benefits, etc kinds of welfare mechanisms. They basically afford people the peace of mind to try out interesting stuff - be it in music or other things.

(This has been documented for Scandinavia - http://www.voxeu.org/article/nordic-innovation-cuddly-capitalism-really-less-innovative)

I think if you're looking into funding - don't just look at official funding. Or even private patrons. Sometimes the best enablers of art are big social factors. Cultural attitudes like the stigma on earning little money. Or whether society respects artists and innovators. And of course also policy mechanisms like social safety nets that enable people to take risks knowing they're not irrevocably messing up their lives.

 

[bombthebasses]

the observatory got a $90k funding lately from the arts funding org

 

[centralcatchment]

I think that SPQR is referring to this thread:
http://www.soft.com.sg/forum/showthread.php?285411-Ken-Lim-and-The-Business-of-Con-Artistry

A note about that article that SPQR brought up: it measures innovation in economic terms, which is OK if you're talking about some field of engineering or something. When it comes to music and the arts, measuring innovation in economic terms is pretty questionable.

Likewise I did mention that a welfare state would probably be a good thing for the arts. But SPQR said it's a very broad means, and it has very broad effects that go beyond just the arts.

Other means of funding for the arts includes crowdsourcing (actually in a way putting an album out into the market is a form of crowdsourcing if you think about it) There was an interesting episode about crowdsourcing involving Amanda Palmer.

http://gigaom.com/2012/09/13/amanda-palmer-brouhaha-exposes-the-dark-side-of-crowdsourcing/

 

[SPQR]

@centralcatchment - yeah that's the thread. I liked your posts there very much. Resonates very much with my own thoughts about society as well.

I think that SPQR is referring to this thread:
http://www.soft.com.sg/forum/showthread.php?285411-Ken-Lim-and-The-Business-of-Con-Artistry

A note about that article that SPQR brought up: it measures innovation in economic terms, which is OK if you're talking about some field of engineering or something. When it comes to music and the arts, measuring innovation in economic terms is pretty questionable.

Indeed that is true. While you can measure record sales, profits from tours, merchandise etc, it's pretty hard to put a money value to the effects of local music on culture, local identity, etc. Most of the effort expended in that area doesn't receive proper recognition as well (e.g. Samantha Lo has probably added a lot of value to Singapore's art scene, given our city an artsy, creative vibe, strengthened local identity/culture - and look what she's received for her efforts.)

I was inspired by http://nomadicutopianism.wordpress....e-contemporary-city-the-eastside-island-pt-2/ (Look out for discussions of the role the so-called "creative class" play in society - of how the powers-that-be wish to define and exploit their role... and his link to Richard Florida's take on the problems with talent-clustering is also very interesting and relevant to Singapore http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jo...winners-americas-new-economic-geography/4465/)

Likewise I did mention that a welfare state would probably be a good thing for the arts. But SPQR said it's a very broad means, and it has very broad effects that go beyond just the arts.

Yeah it does have many broad effects - so many of which are somewhat hard to measure and justify. I could talk all day about this - but this is a site for music and art so I'll stick to that.

I just pointed out the studies on Scandinavia to show that there is (at the very least) measurable improvement in various economic metrics of innovation. These benefits should hold true for music and art as well - though of course empirical data specific to music/art would be even better.

Other means of funding for the arts includes crowdsourcing (actually in a way putting an album out into the market is a form of crowdsourcing if you think about it) There was an interesting episode about crowdsourcing involving Amanda Palmer.

http://gigaom.com/2012/09/13/amanda-palmer-brouhaha-exposes-the-dark-side-of-crowdsourcing/

Re: Amanda Palmer's story, the bigger issue underlying this seems to me to be the commodification of labour. Everything and everyone has a price, these days. Can we measure music or art in just economic terms (I think centralcatchment you suggest - no)? How about civic movements like Occupy - can we put a value on these?

I don't know about Palmer's music, what she stands for and means to people (and hence whether musicians ought to support her music for "free"), but when musicians protest about playing for free, I think its a symptom of a society which has either become too materialistic (everything becomes commodified), or is facing dire material shortages (people have difficulty living meaningful lives, and rightly prioritize material livelihood and survival, over more lofty things like art, music, culture and society). Probably a mixture of both.

To bring this home to Singapore, I'm quite disappointed local music isn't featuring in our local civic movements like the Hong Lim Park rallies. Understandable, perhaps, in light of Samantha Lo. Plus, how many of our musicians and potential audiences are too occupied dealing with bread-and-butter issues to properly Occupy Hong Lim Park?

But I feel the times, they are a-changin'. Will I see you guys at Hong Lim Park on 1st May? The organizer Gilbert Goh is enquiring if people will play live music for the event: http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/04/22/13-speakers-confirmed-for-may-day-sequel-protest-at-hong-lim/ Maybe some good bodies here will be interested.

You can't build art and music and culture in a day. It's nurtured and maintained by people who care. Talking about lack of funding for musicians is just addressing the symptoms, without treating the underlying illness.

 

[centralcatchment]

Thanks. I’ve said quite a bit back there and I’ll try not to repeat myself.

The subsistence angle is important. There is a parallel situation with the gahment complaining that our peasants are not marrying, fucking and reproducing enough. It is a symptom, and it says that even the middle class is struggling. Making music or consuming music are not necessarily uppermost on the concerns of such people. I don’t think money making is the key, but if you don’t have money, it is a distraction.

Then there is the passion, and the quality of the material. These are intangibles. The good news is that it only takes 4 people to form the Beatles. The bad news is that Singapore does not have a Beatles.

There is no tangible way of measuring creativity. The only tangible measurement is economic success, and that is at the most only marginally relevant. But you know that without the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and the Kinks, Great Britain would not be a world power in pop music. Their impact was such that Jimi Hendrix – an American – had to go to London to make it big. The fact that all of these bands grew up in a post-war backdrop made this even more remarkable. Or maybe it made it all possible, because that generation of British musicians got all their records from US military people and armed forces radio.

So when I listed all those bands who received financial aid and it helped them to prosper, it’s just anecdotal evidence. In terms of the impact made by great bands, it’s up for you to argue your case. But the impact of the Beatles and the great British 60s bands cannot be overstated. When you consider how much 90s Britpop owes to the earlier generation, that is how influential the Beatles were.

But there is so much great music coming out of poverty stricken ghettos of America – out of decaying cities like Detroit that the amount of money circulating around is probably not a decisive factor alone. You go to the bad parts of Philadelphia, or DC, and then you think about how much great music came out of those places - unbelievable.

Preserving the art and culture of Singapore is something larger than music alone. There is a growing consciousness that there is a Singaporean identity, in large because Singapore has become more globalized, we can see the Other, we can define ourselves in opposition to the Other. The Angmoh, the PRC, even the Malay could be the Other. To varying degrees we are like them but we can see that we are not exactly like them. Samantha Lo can put up her stickers, it’s Singlish that every mother’s son can understand – I look one time can liao. In contrast, the lyrics of Humpback Oak 15 years ago hinted at something much more tentative, less certain. I can’t remember the exact lyrics, but they had a song, “Home” which is all about questioning what the Singaporean identity is. “Ghostfather” – what’s that? It basically means you don’t know your own culture, you’ve grown up an orphan, you’re really unsure of your place in life. But when I heard those albums during the time they came out, I understood something – no American, British, Hongkonger, Malaysian, PRC, etc, could have written “Ghostfather” or “Pained Stained Morning”. They could only have been written by a Singaporean. The recent interest in Bukit Brown, all the old places, even the famous hawker stalls of Singapore – it’s beginning to dawn on us that these things are the basis of a genuine local identity. (To be sure, on their own, they don’t amount to a genuine local identity.)

Regarding Samantha Lo, I think that the local authorities are not completely unresponsive. I think they’re quite reasonable albeit by their fairly low standards. They din charge her for vandalism, just mischief. And they also thought about to what extent we could consider what she did street art.

OK, there are other places which have the same issues as us. Many cities in China are struggling with high cost of living, parental disapproval, stern paternalistic government. But somehow their local indie scene is also doing OK. Not exactly flourishing like 90s Seattle but something for us Singaporeans to look up to.

Regarding politics, it’s not only a problem in Singapore, but the political bands died out a long time ago. My estimation is that the last generation of great political bands was in the 80s. 90s music was great but quite apolitical – a lot of generation X bands with their generation X slacker attitude seemed to think that being lazy and hip was in itself a political attitude. (Wrong). In rap music, political rap (think Public Enemy) and gangsta rap (think NWA / Dr Dre) battled for the soul of hip hop. Political rap lost. The political discourse became more statistical (“we are the 99%”) and less anecdotal (“four dead in Ohio”). There’s just no great way of writing “we are the 99%” into song lyrics. Our understanding of politics is better these days, and more nuanced. Ironically this means that the simplistic stories that the Clash, Billy Bragg, Midnight Oil, the Specials, and even Bob Marley used to write in their lyrics are gone.

Politics in music these days? There’s still Radiohead, there’s still Godspeed You Black Emperor (although all their political statements is on the album art, which is totally useless if you’re downloading their MP3s). There’s still Bjork and Beastie Boys who get banned from China for their troubles commenting about Tibet. There’s still the old-timers like Neil Young or Bruce Springsteen who have something to say. But it’s just not in fashion. So I’m not part of generation Y. I don’t know why they leave their politics out of music. You have to ask them.

Maybe you could have them holding concerts to support political causes. But you know recently they fixed that girl who interviewed the SMRT bus strikers, they fixed the demon cratic guy.

Maybe you might have them turning out for political rallies if they’re brave enough. But if that gets you banned from performing in Singapore for life by the authorities – too fucking bad for you. It’s already hard enough getting Singaporeans to listen to Singaporean music. Getting them to listen to Singaporean music with a Singaporean political message could be even more difficult.

 

[bombthebasses]

Then there is the passion, and the quality of the material.
These are intangibles. The good news is that it only takes
4 people to form the Beatles. The bad news is that
Singapore does not have a Beatles.

now it takes 2 person to be pet shop boys, wham, tears for fears;
one person to be NIN and Moby.

There is no tangible way of measuring creativity.
The only tangible measurement is economic success,
and that is at the most only marginally relevant.
But you know that without the Beatles, the Stones,
the Who and the Kinks, Great Britain would not be
a world power in pop music. Their impact was such
that Jimi Hendrix – an American – had to go to London
to make it big. The fact that all of these bands grew
up in a post-war backdrop made this even more remarkable.
Or maybe it made it all possible, because that generation
of British musicians got all their records from US military people and armed forces radio.

some talent needs to go overseas to be discovered,
just like our Kit Chan, A-Du, Step Sun and JJ Ling.

In contrast, the lyrics of Humpback Oak 15
years ago hinted at something much more tentative,
less certain. I can’t remember the exact lyrics, but
they had a song, “Home” which is all about questioning
what the Singaporean identity is. “Ghostfather” – what’s that?
It basically means you don’t know your own culture, you’ve grown
up an orphan, you’re really unsure of your place in life. But when
I heard those albums during the time they came out, I understood
something – no American, British, Hongkonger, Malaysian, PRC,
etc, could have written “Ghostfather” or “Pained Stained Morning”.
They could only have been written by a Singaporean. The recent
interest in Bukit Brown, all the old places, even the famous hawker
stalls of Singapore – it’s beginning to dawn on us that these things
are the basis of a genuine local identity. (To be sure, on their own,
they don’t amount to a genuine local identity.)

humpbumk oak is Singapore music at its best

and now they are Observatory, got a funding from arts council

 

[AWee]

i'm new here...just become a member...heard from my friend MDA gives out grants...also saw an article in this forum...maybe can go there check it out.

 

[AWee]

six degrees (www.sixdegrees.asia) is administrating the MDA training grant. visit their website for more information if you are interested with funding support for courses.

PS. I am not from Six Degrees, just in case you think I work there.

 

[soft]

NAC list out who they gave their grants to.

http://nac.gov.sg/grants-schemes/grants/grant-recipients