Music Matters 2010

Music Matters is conducted in the heart of the world’s most dynamic region and is Asia’s only annual conference dedicated to the business of music. The event was created with and for the Music industry, bringing together major players from the entertainment eco-system to discuss, debate, do business and watch some of the hottest up and coming acts in Asia.

Music Matters 2010 will take place over a jam-packed three day programme (26-28 May 2010 in Hong Kong) including face2face sessions, high-powered discussions, keynote presentations and in-depth analysis along with fantastic and, often late night, networking events including Asian music showcases, parties, lunches and sector-themed breakfasts.

In 2010 Music Matters culminates in the inaugural “Music Matters Live” – Hong Kong’s first ever streetside, urban music festival – featuring some of the very best independent bands from around the world.

The event plays host to another truly global line-up with some of the most innovative and dynamic figures from across the music industry and beyond. Here are a few programme highlights:

• World-Class Keynotes: Including Spotify’s “game changing” Daniel Ek and The Agency’s, Neil Warnock, one of the best known agents in the business.
• Touring and Live: New, innovative marketing strategies for the live music industry from some of the biggest names in the business.
• Live Music Showcases: Over 30 bands performing from as far and wide as Australia, Canada and even Mongolia.
• Digital Dealmakers: What’s up next for the world’s largest digital communities? The global digital heads are back in Hong Kong.
• Breaking Asian artists in the West: More of a matter of WHEN not IF.
• Emerging Asia: Vietnam is a market whose time is now.
• Spotlight on Publishing: With the Music Publishing Associations of Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.
• Mobile Music Matters: Asia is the world’s # 1mobile music market, what’s new and which business models are winning?
• Namaste India: An update on the world’s second largest country.
• Three Strikes and You’re Out!: The ISP debate heats up.

Click here for full programme details. View the updated speaker list here.

Day 1 of the British Council music mission to China kicks off with a presentation to invited guests from the cultural industries in Beijing. The FRUKT philosophy is quite visionary in some ways – multi-channel brand story-telling through entertainment… tripping of my tongue like it’s skipped off the pages of the latest ‘post advertising’ book, written by some trendy counter cultural marketing guy. However, these kind of marketing bullshit statements are simply too abstract for the developing markets. The sophistication in communications practice may not be there yet, but the will certainly is. I heard the word ‘open’ used often by the enthused audience who stayed around to ask questions after the presentations – this enthusiasm counts for much.

I believe what is needed are a couple of strong modern brand communications case studies – there’s still a lot of unconnected single channel activity and traditional sponsorship in China – and some examples of brands doing things differently.

That said, the local marketing people I spoke to described a very fickle materialistic urban population in China right now – but theorised that at some point this obsession with the Western mega brands and lifestyle will calm down, and after the feeding frenzy people will desire more cultural stimulation, that’s the hope anyway – let’s see what clues I can find in the next few days as to whether this could happen anytime soon.

Forthcoming…

Everyone’s talking about BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and the bounty that awaits us in these foreign lands… the big tech brands are trying to figure out how they can create solutions to the challenges that geographical scale and remoteness create with innovative programmes including getting entire villages to share phones – while the FMCG guys are trying to find ways to get new markets to wear their Western denim.

So next week I shall be reporting live from China as part of a British Council trade mission for young entrepreneurs from the UK. We’ll be meeting local music and entertainment businesses to get a better understanding of the opportunities there. With 1.3 billion people, and a low migration rate – it’s a market that’s growing, and ad spend is set to bounce back strongly this year according to Aegis predictions.

While I’m there I’ll obvious settle the Google spats with the Chinese government too… all in a days work.

Nokia invests in emerging music in Asia

What?: Nokia launched IAC (Independent Artists Club) in October 2007, with the aim of engaging with music fans at a grassroots level. IAC provides a central platform for emerging artists across the Asia Pacific region, enabling them to reach an audience hungry to discover new and breaking artists. Artists upload their tracks, bios, etc. and users rate their favourite tracks to compile a chart exposing the best music to both consumers and the industry.

The platform (available on both web and mobile) extends beyond digital to provide IAC-branded live music events and embedded content for Nokia handsets. The first monthly IAC Chart launched on the 1st January 2008. The platform is currently available in seven territories: Bangladesh; Indonesia; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and Vietnam.

Nokia also embedded 10 of the top IAC tracks onto its refreshed XpressMusic 5310 and 5610 handsets. The chosen tracks also featured on IAC’s first Tastemakers’ Feast sampler CDs, which now go out to key music industry figures in each IAC market every month.

So what?: The Independent Artists Club works in tandem with the emerging independent music scene across Asia, focusing in on the wealth of homegrown talent available. With 65% of music consumed in Indonesia coming from local artists, for example, Nokia harnesses the true breadth of music bubbling under the radar across Asia.

A recent survey suggested that digital advertisements for mobile devices and operators were the most frequently recalled by Asian consumers. In fact, Nokia came out on top in the majority of surveyed markets. Nokia has seen 40% growth in Asia in Q1 of this year, due to a strong lead in emerging markets such as China and India. IAC offers genuine promotion for artists and unparalled access to new music for fans across the full spectrum of the Asian market.

“IAC is a smart multi-channel platform that delivers on a very real artist need in the Asian region. In a very disparate market, IAC allows participating bands to achieve both industry and public exposure through online, mobile and live events. Nokia’s ability to enable and power this platform is a powerful brand play which helps to establish its right to be in the music space.”
Jeremy Patterson, Director of Content & Production, FRUKT

www.nokia-asia.com

Pop princesses team up

What?: In a targeted country-specific marketing move, Kylie Minogue recently recorded a duet with Taiwanese Mandopop singer Jolin Tsai especially for the Asian edition of her upcoming album, X. Tsai featured on the track ‘In My Arms’.

Tsai is a branding stalwart, having appeared in commercials for Lux hair care products, McDonald’s, the Oops! Jealous nail polish range, Levi’s, Max Factor, China Mobile, and Pepsi (among others). The deluxe version of Tsai’s own Agent J album features a three-part 70-minute music movie filmed in France, London, and Bangkok. The movie – which cost NT 50M to film – stars Tsai as the leather-clad Agent J and boasts a host of popular Korean actors. The film features prominent promotion for Pepsi during a key pole dancing sequence. The track ‘Let’s Move It’ from the album has also featured in commercials for Toyota.

So what?: Jolin Tsai is considered by many to be the Taiwanese Britney Spears, rising in fame off the back of a MTV singing competition to become the biggest star in the Mandarin music market. Like Britney, Tsai has been a major Pepsi brand ambassador, staring in the Lord Of The Drinks commercial in 2005. The linking of Tsai with Kylie highlights a new trend in pop princess pairing. With Kylie struggling to gain ground in the US, and Tsai’s album generating 65% of Mandarin album sales in its first week, Kylie’s X wants to mark the spot in Asia.

“Western / Asian collaborations can be hit and miss. This is a powerful partnership between two mainstream ‘brands’ and it will be interesting to see how it plays out”
Michael Denmark, Co-Founder, Branded Asia

www.youtube.com

Surf’s up for Asian bands

What?: Quicksilver – a leading sports lifestyle company – is promoting some of Asia’s biggest music acts via major surf events such as the Quiksilver Open Keramas in Bali, Indonesia and Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 in Sunway Lagoon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Quiksilver hosted a party celebrating the culmination of the Quiksilver Open, Keramas at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali. Headline music acts were Pop Shuvit and Joe Flizzow from Malaysia. Both acts played to crowds of 40,000 people at the Quiksilver Revolution 2.0 earlier in the year. Bangkok-based band Futon and DJs the Stylustiks also performed at the major surfing event.

“Our target market is the same as Quiksilver; it includes the youth who enjoy music and participate in the extreme sports field,” said Sunway Lagoon’s Senior Executive of Public Relations, Loke Kah Peng.

So what?: Asia has been a major surf destination for the last 25 years, and Quicksilver is a brand well positioned to target Asia’s musical youth. The use of Sunway – the largest manmade surf beach in the world – as a backdrop migrates the campaign from a basic sponsorship deal to a fully-fledged interactive experience. Quicksilver recently offered up 60,000 Quicksilver iTunes cards as part of a surfing promotion in Australia between surf icons and emerging bands. It seems a similar promotion based around new acts would be the natural next step in Asia.

“It’s great to see more and more brand–funded music events appearing on the calendar. Surf’s up!”
Kate Baldwin, Event Director, Music Matters

http://live.quiksilver.com

What?: Asian pop star Jay Chou made an appearance at the Hong Kong International Airport last year, enabling travelers to “Say Goodbye” to loved ones via their mobiles. Motorola showcased its new RAZR handset with messages broadcast on giant video screens, and users received personal messages and exclusive content. A viral suitcase well packed for international traction.

http://210.48.79.8/awards

What?: Successful Cantopop singer Joey Yung has again been named as spokesperson for the fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s. The new Shake Shake Fries commercials sees Yung paired up with South Korean actor and model Lee Jun Ki. In a previous ad, Yung is seen demolishing a section of the underground network as she shakes her McDonald’s meal for all she is worth.

www.youtube.com