Making and Selling Music albums in Singapore.

[vahsu]

HI Friends,

Just curious to know

1. How good is the market for music in singapore ? Had been here almost for 2 years....But mostly hear English (western) songs in the Malls and other public places.

2. Is there any market for local music ?

3. If so which in which language is it more? English, Chinese or Malay

4. And is it necessary to perform live if one makes an album ?

4. Or is it necessary to make a video...if so...how to broadcast the video....(thru MTV etc?)....

5. Were there any cases in recent past, where somebody just composed music for an album,without a video and was successful?

 

[guitarman78]

Either you join a big label and sing Chinese songs like Stephanie Sun or Tanya Chua .... or be prepared to have a stock pile up of self made CDs at home.

I guess in terms of making a living with Music in Singpaore ... the market is more receptive towards live performance in clubs, Teaching and working for Media company. In terms of Marketing new pop stars or Rock bands .... Chinese music scene is more viable.

That's a very Macro view of what i can tell you.

 

[sLapshock]

not to be harsh

but if you have aim to

a.make money
b.fame
c.well known

or any one of the above. you can simply

DREAM ON

its impossible in singapore. unless you're super-duper handsome! yes, handsome again i say HANDSOME, ok maybe it still not clear, i mean you really got to be SUPER CHARMING, the you can STILL have luck, i mean only if you have luck.

p/s:with handsome alone, how long it will last?

 

[bongman]

selling music needs marketing

 

[Guest]

ah slapshock, tellin it like it is

 

[vahsu]

Hahaha Nice one....

For ugly people like me is there any way to make money by composing alone ?

 

[Mobius]

You can always go behind the scenes, there are quite a number of chinese pop producers/composers that are highly in demand. lee weisong, lee sisong, wu jia ming, xu huanliang, wu qing long and so forth. But the road to that will be difficult as u have to slowly build up ur name, those guys that i mention have been around for donkey years. Or another route is to become a sessionist, they are quite in demand by taiwanese artists for their concerts. In David Tao's concert, most of his backing band are made up of Singaporeans

 

[popeye]

Hahaha Nice one....

For ugly people like me is there any way to make money by composing alone ?

since you are ugly, maybe you can consider plastic surgery first?

 

[xspace]

Composed some nice songs like 赵传...

 

[vahsu]

haha...Thankfully iam not that ugly....

ThankQ Mobius for the info...

 

[Tribalcast]

Having good contacts would probably be a good thing as well.

 

[vahsu]

I know there is never a hard and fast rule to develop contacts...but ne clue how and where can I develop contacts....Btw do u mean contacts with the composers (to get opputunity as their assisstants) ?

 

[Tribalcast]

Well I guess whoever seems useful to you in the long run. :lol:

 

[drincubus]

dunno if possible to go overseas and try there if ure gd. like australia or smth. :smt102

 

[therealslim]

Perhaps...

I agree with bong that its alot about marketing.
And if you are not signed with a major label, it'll take you a bit more effort to get your name/music out there.

Do singaporeans not like local music? That question should be first countered with WHat is local music.

Is "local music" another genre that doesn't sound like any other?
Or is it simply music produced locally? i think the latter.

Aren't local bands playing music of more popular genres like rock, ballads etc?

So as not to sidetrack too far from the original questions..

I think Singaporean musicians and artistes have the calibre to do well, but lack the support that a major label is good at.
Therefore, not having the professional help in in marketing, music development, image, etc that a major label has, can cause a very potential local band to be badly accepted by Singaporeans.

I think that Singapore lacks indie labels. Here in Los Angeles, there are so many more indie labels doing so well in what they do. And everyone is happy. The upcoming band gets more and more publicity/gigs/fanbase/money not too fast a growth but steady), and the label earns too (from the low overheads an indie label incurrs)

I still say its not the artistes, its the lack of marketing.

 

[sLapshock]

dunno if possible to go overseas and try there if ure gd. like australia or smth. :smt102

The malay people can always go Malaysia. If malay album ah.

 

[Kwerty]

Re: Perhaps...

I agree with bong that its alot about marketing.

No offence to anyone here, but IMO, if we do not have an "authentic, original" sound, it's pretty hard for us to get noticed. We're doing 'what others are doing right now'. Then again, ever wondered how those big labels may think?

Nowadays, bands are seen to be playing alternative/indie etc, those very popular genres. Basically it will make sense to those major labels that "we might as well get people who created such music to do it". No offence, like the americans etc. Cause they're so called the "originator" of rock.

Then again, why is the chinese scene easier to "sell-out" cause we're asians, and that is something the americans cannot do. I don't feel there is a problem for the chinese scene, just that there are lack of real talents.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[jesperz]

HI Friends

Hello Vahsu,

1. Music in Singapore have potential. But due to alot of bands and artists in Singapore lacking of knowledge in how music industry works, not many manage to get the deal. Musicianship wise, they needed some guide there...

2. Definitely... One thing is that local artists and bands lack of is originality. Look at Punk Rock genre alone, there are over 300 over bands playing punk rock. Pretty difficult to make it into the music industry too due to other western country having so many punk bands already, there are no spaces for local.

Moreover, (No offence to punk rockers, i am using it as an example)it is clearly in everybody's eyes that Punk Rock is definitely a western culture. If we(Local, asian) trying to be Punk or whatever, western guys will probably think that we are posers trying to be like them. We will never understand how and why punk culture comes around into the western country. The attitude + elements of this culture should be studied carefully if you really want to be in this genre.

Being creative ought to have a open-mind. Not to say that if you are into punk rock or R&B, you solely just listen to them. Sometimes you can mix some of the musical elements around to give you something more unque. but one more thing is that trying to hard to be unique might gives you a side-effects.

3. Any language will do. But more preferably your own mother language. It is something the western can't do it.

4. That is consider marketing and advertising, thats for sure if you want to be a commercial/mainstream band/artists

5. I have no idea... =P

Cheers!

 

[litford]

since we're on the subject of local independant music..

well, i guess for now the DIY approach is the route that many a local band takes because of limited resources from various local labels.

i can name

fruit
wallwork
agingyouth

at the top of my head for the more inidie rock scene and have been supporting our local scene very much so. but ultimately, i think even for such big names there is a lack of resources.

resources in the sense of
(1) media support.
- zines
- websites
- forums to perform.
i know we have all these available to us, but what is the reach of the audience? at the end of the day, if we were to pick up a magazine like JUICE (chose that for its wide readership), would we find blurbs of any of our struggling bands, up-and-coming bands? but somehow, i think the clubbing scene is much bigger than a rock music scene in spore.

this is all not to blame anything or anyone.. i think there are many valid critiques about our scene, not enough support from external sources. some of them are valid, some of them made in spite.

one of our best platforms is an avenue to perform, and to generate our own hype and publicity. ultimately, i feel that a band's success falls on its performance, to put on a hell of a show in spite of all the incessant publicity, hype, simplifying of arrangements to make our music accessible, being relevant with an audience, or even a generation.

in saying so, with a regular platform to perform, at established locations (which could start thinking of giving a tad more support to local music - good examples are Bar None and HOME Club, plus many more who have supported venues for gigs), bands can build up their biggest branding of all.

i realise all this is very skimming the surface, and there are many undercurrents of marketting, culture and scene knowledge that flow beneath, but i think we argue in circles a lot on those points.

perhaps we can help our scene by organising gigs that are worth going to, putting up a show that people actually won't mind paying for. i'm still in awe that baybeats is free of charge. i believe it's essential to make it free to generate interest first, but i would say in the medium and long run, to help up the ante for paying gigs in spore and actually giving value to local bands, its time we started paying for massive gigs like baybeats and as audiences show that we don't need to be supported incredulously by a funding body to enjoy music but we can also show that we are educated in our music choices and advancements.