So a couple of years on, what are your thoughts on the current local music scene?
I am glad that our local music scene is continuously trying to rebuild itself. It hasn’t fizzled under the circumstances. People who are passionate about music are still at it. Even at the moment, I am collaborating with different musicians for my new singles. It is important to have this kind of environment. I hope this is going to help improve the quality of sound as well as the business.
Which aspect would you say needs special attention?
An artist needs a support system. We don’t have that in our industry. The singer or band needs to invest their own money in the recordings, they need to promote their work themselves and strategize ways to keep the momentum of their career going on their own. This is why record labels are crucial but such partnership still doesn’t exist in a proper way in our country. First of all, most artists are suspicious that the record labels often ‘steal’ your money, and keep the large part of your earnings for themselves. Then from what I see, even instances where singers do have a record label, they entertain a very informal partnership. There are no laws where music is concerned. Most don’t strictly abide by the contract, if they have signed one in the first place. They just arbitrarily go about their gigs, records, videos and revenues. There is a need to change this culture.
Do you feel like your career has been affected by this as well?
Everybody on the scene is having a hard time because of this. When we have a support system, we can have more exposure and thus a successful career. But in its absence, acts tend to fizzle out. I think this is what has happened to me as well. Initially you have a lot of attention, there is a lot of hype surrounding your work but then eventually, since there is nobody to help you keep the momentum going all that hype slowly fades out. There is only so much the singer alone can do, you know.
So what is still keeping you in this field?
When you really enjoy making music and you have experienced the joy of sharing it with people, you feel compelled to slog it out. I just like entertaining people. In hindsight, it is funny because I never considered releasing an album. But I had so many requests, which is why I believed it would be well worth the effort. The fact that so many people liked it has been the highlight of my career so far and I am not done yet. Even though my original plan was to get into filming and even though I still intend to pursue that, for the moment, it is music for me.
Do you think there is anything artists individually can do to help improve the music scenario at the moment?
I believe it needs to be a collective effort. Though at the moment, I am getting an opportunity to see the business from the other side as well. Recently I was offered the post to manage Reeyaz. I haven’t taken the helm of the record label yet. But I am exploring the option. If I were to be in charge of a record label, I’d want to make sure it is artist friendly. I know how demotivating it can be when you have to wait for three months to release one single song. Also there is the issue of revenues. I have actually been going through the books at Reeyaz and artists have been given their share of money. There are ways to continue this. I am looking into it.
Malaysia: Artist arrested for 'insulting queen' with Spotify pl...
