Singapore Music / Entertainment Survey

[Deehellseven]

Hi guys, I need to do a research paper on the music industry in Singapore so I would be really thankful if you could help me out and share this with your friends ​

http://queeninc.surveydaddy.com/s/singapore-music-entertainment-survey

 

[soft]

May I know where are you from and the purpose of this survey?

 

[Deehellseven]

I am from Republic Polytechnic (Diploma in Technology and Arts Management) and currently working on a marketing research paper on the local music industry for my portfolio

 

[parablue74]

Hey, what's the results???? I wanna see..
Had problems with one question=> Do You support local music??
Yes or No seems too vague an option.. I only support what sounds good to my ears.. not support for the sake of supporting..

James, are you strict on surveys??? I would luv to do some surveys of my own if possible...

 

[Deehellseven]

Here are some thumbnails of the results so far. I only have 274 responses and I'm going to leave the survey open for at least a month because I think 200+ isn't a sufficient number to actually deduce anything ;(






Some of the questions were borrowed from Rockstag Records. I dropped them an email and they gave me permission to re-use some of them

As for the question on "Do you support local music", I only realised that I should have added a Why? to the No option after about 50 responses

Well, I put that question in because alot of people I know wouldn't care for a local artiste even if they're actually pretty good. These people tend to think that "Singaporeans suck or have no standard no matter what". I think our country is probably the only one with this as a major issue

 

[parablue74]

Well, I put that question in because alot of people I know wouldn't care for a local artiste even if they're actually pretty good. These people tend to think that "Singaporeans suck or have no standard no matter what". I think our country is probably the only one with this as a major issue

It's the representation actually that's causing the problem. I'm also a live sound engineer, and have done for numerous events. There are many live events out there, where event organizers refuse to pay for a band to perform, in result, they get very beginner young bands who are willing to volunteer. One of the latest I saw was a grassroot event, 2-3 songs were perform by a young 5-piece band of beginners that just started learning. The drummer could not keep in time, the guitars were out of tune, the singers were singing flat throughout. It's open to the public, and the mc was announcing them as our local talents. I could see the audience faces, they were disgusted. There was a lion dance troupe there, and even the troupe guys were laughing at the band.
So, why would the public not look up to local music if they keep seeing such standards being showcased???
In overseas like US, Aus etc etc, if such a band were to perform in an event, they would have been welcomed with audiences throwing stuff at them and yelling them to get out of the stage. There are beginner bands overseas, everybody has to start from somewhere, but they have to train themselves well in the studios 1st before getting to perform live, cos there is a standard bar held by their event organizers to only have bands/artiste with standard to perform.

 

[Deehellseven]

I agree! Many even organizers and companies are spoiling the market because of them not wanting to pay or simply hiring any band that will do it for cheap. Music is a form of art, and to bargain for art is... well not respecting the value of the work that the artist determines to be. Just like how paintings are sold with their prices set by the artist themselves.

But oh well, I guess Singapore is not cultured enough to understand that. Furthermore, with more and more cover / tribute bands as well as club musicians (who want to earn a living being close to something they love), Singaporeans tend to have the mindset that those few = local music. So they don't find anything special or of standard about that.

Yeah why is the mindset of Singaporeans so hard to change? Music aside, even if people were given free tickets to an arts exhibition, most of them will not bother >_>

 

[soft]

Must good bands/musicians be paid $1million a year? Shouldn't they do it for the love of sharing their music?

Ha.haa jokes aside. If I set up a stall selling chicken rice and no customer come to buy, I better figure out what is wrong rather than thinking that the customers are not 'supporting' this local stall. Although Singapore is small, we can easily access any music either via Internet or CD shops. Local musicians/bands are competing directly with every musician/band you can find worldwide.

We cannot expect listeners to support us just because we are local.

How to then succeed?

1. Create better music - Remember to benchmark with what's on the Top 10 (of your genre).
2. Know the business - You can create the best product but if you don't know how to market/revenue/expand, you will remain the same.
3. Change - Being true to your music is one thing but if trying for 10 years brings no result, it is time to ponder.

 

[Deehellseven]

Must good bands/musicians be paid $1million a year? Shouldn't they do it for the love of sharing their music?

Ha.haa jokes aside. If I set up a stall selling chicken rice and no customer come to buy, I better figure out what is wrong rather than thinking that the customers are not 'supporting' this local stall. Although Singapore is small, we can easily access any music either via Internet or CD shops. Local musicians/bands are competing directly with every musician/band you can find worldwide.

We cannot expect listeners to support us just because we are local.

How to then succeed?

1. Create better music - Remember to benchmark with what's on the Top 10 (of your genre).
2. Know the business - You can create the best product but if you don't know how to market/revenue/expand, you will remain the same.
3. Change - Being true to your music is one thing but if trying for 10 years brings no result, it is time to ponder.

Actually a pretty interesting point. I can pose the same question to painters who can easy charge a few hundred k for just a painting.I think if people were to be full time musicians / paintings, they'll definitely need some income. And I think $ is the easiest way to measure how much their works at valued at. But that's just what I think.

Well, I find it strange that Singaporeans complain that local musicians are just hobby bands / club musicians who play covers but yet when an original song comes on, they automatically switch off. Is it because that the original is truly bad or is it because it's a local that turns people off? Haven't been able to figure that one.

Many Singaporeans do not care for because they feel that they are not up to standard. Just what is this standard and who are the people who actually determine it?

 

[willbassyeahindo]

Just saying, i think good quality music exist in Singapore but the general public is not excited about the type of music that is produced. The Singapore musician clearly had produced a sound that is unique to Singapore itself. You can hear a lot of indie music in Singapore. Just to name a view, great spy, electrico, allura, astreal, lunarin. Than there is another sound of more of a hard rock sound, west grand boulevard, barricade, you know what i meant. The thing is these genre of music is not what normal singaporean listen to, how many of us listen for example indie band or hard core band? Another point is

 

[willbassyeahindo]

The general public has put a lesser interest on music in singapore, i honestly think the best way to advertisement is using youtube instead of the classic media, trust me most of my classmate dont even know who is sezari, people watch lesser tv and spent most of their time on the net, its very obvious q lot of company ia advertising through YouTube these days, eg Samsung, f&n. I kinda looking forward into looking qt quick quick danger succes though, i believe their musix is what the general public tend to listen. Still i have a very strong question, if singapore able to create a gvt supported recording company that will put a side budget to market local talents, i think it will help to create a music scene in Singapore, this coming from a foreigner who love the local music . We already have quality bands here, the next step is how to promote local music scene tp to the genetal public .

 

[willbassyeahindo]

Sorry to Any error and bad explanation, using phone hard to type

 

[Brenkoh]

While I agree that the solo artistes or bands are supposed to be pursuing music for the sake of passion, love of music and not money, they do need $$$. The rising cost of living or in essence, 'bread and butter' issue, is why, if you may ask. You can still remain adamant and argue that they should do music purely based on passion but passion can only last that long and money is a motivating incentive that keeps their passion fired-up. And yes, like you and me, musicians need to eat and have a place to stay in amongst the other necessities.

You can't really fault the consumers because of the consumer trend set here in Singapore. Singaporeans are 'educated' from young to adopt the kia-su culture with the 'If it can be acquired for free, why should I pay for it?' mentality. In my assumption, I believe that the people in the states are brought up with a different mindset than of Singaporeans. Americans would pay top dollar for quality.

However, whether it is in Singapore or the United states regardless of the consumer mindset or trend, if your music is really that good and appealing to the general masses, you will definitely make it. Oh and it really helps if you have an advantage over others in the 'looks' department.

 

[kongwee]

Actually, I hope Apple music store can open in Singapore.
There are many people do EPs and album, but the trend for buying physical media is dying.
Even for me, I prefer buying downloads.