The Struggles of Local Musicians: Career Path & Opportunities

Civic Minded Trio presents an insight on 'The Struggles of Local
Musicians'. The team gains a better view of the various opportunities
available in Singapore and the career paths taken by local artists.

Do you groove to the local Singapore beat?

In this day and age, music has grown to become an essential part of everyday life. Young and old alike, many would be seen with their headphones, immersed in the world of music everywhere they go. Different genres come to mind when asked about one's favorite music. The popular choices are Korean Pop (K-Pop), Chinese Pop (Chinese Pop), R&B and the list goes on. But how many out there will list Singapore music as one of their favorites? 

Our local music scene has been rather stagnant since its "golden period" in the 1960s and 1990s. Some of our local exports who have made a name overseas include Kit Chan, J.J. Lin, and Stefanie Sun. But is that all that we can produce? 

There are existing efforts to develop our local music industry. Reality programs such as Singapore Idol, The Final 1 and Campus Superstar scout for new talents. Mainstream media is offering more airtime for local talents to showcase their works. The government offers development grants and schemes to help local musicians.

With all these help, why is our music industry not thriving as well as others? What more can be done to boost our local flavor to global stardom?

Does the problem lie with our local audience? From our interview and fieldwork observations, we gathered that the local audience is simply not pro-active in discovering and supporting local talents. This could be the root problem, something to ponder and resolve.

Reasons why Singa-Pop isn't popular.

Singapore Idol and Final 1 are just some examples of the reality shows that scout for talents in Singapore. Taufik Batisah, Hady Mirza and Jonathan Leong are some familiar names whom have participated in these shows. However, what happened to these artists after gaining recognition? While pondering on this question, one may start to realize that there is an existing flaw in our societal perceptions that prevents our local music talents from thriving. There are many reasons for the lack of popularity for Singapop. 

The first reason is the lack of interest from the audience themselves. When questioned about their favorite pop artists, the answers received are mostly from the top 40 charts. Even when one is asked to name a song of a different genre, upcoming indie bands and country music from overseas comes to mind. This proves that the audience in Singapore are not supportive of local music. They are not proactive to look out for music in their home ground. This could also be due to the lack of a distinct identity in our music industry. Hence, no matter how much local bands publicize and promote themselves, majority of the local audience are not receptive to the local music. 

The other reason is the harsh reality of our society. High cost of living requires for one to have a stable job to sustain themselves. Unlike in other countries, artistes in Singapore would have to take up a day job while keeping music on the sidelines. This could lead to opportunity losses in nurturing and growing their talents as music becomes a hobby. 

If other countries can do it, why can't Singapore? Singapore has made a name for itself in sports, education and healthcare. We definitely have the potential to make something out of our music industry. However this can only happen if there is a change in societal systems and mindset. As we grow to accept and support our local talents, we are allowing our music industry to thrive

Getting the story : Behind the scenes of our project

“Good evening, my name is Adia Tay and tonight I’ll be performing some acoustic songs”, a young woman greeted the audience with a smile before going through a set filled with classic oldies and contemporary pop tunes. The audience welcomed the acoustic setting and soulful singing of Ms Tay as they watched on and applauded after every number.

To understand the struggles of local musicians, the team arranged a short interview with student and part-time musician, Ms Adia Tay, outside a restaurant at Punggol End. We were also given permission to film part of her performance later that evening.

Ms Tay gave an insight into difficulties faced by local artists and the various opportunities available for them to showcase their talent. She also gave examples of artists who have been gaining success locally and the optimism of promoters who offer venues for budding musicians to perform. We also took footage of other bands performing in various locations.

Finally, we posed questions to some NIE students to identify local artists who have made living from music to gain an understanding of the awareness of this field.