/ARTS WEEKLY/ASIA: MTV Awards Confirm Region’s Place in Music Map

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Alecia McKenzie

SINGAPORE, Jan 28 2003 (IPS) - Dozens of international music stars made the trip to Singapore for last week’s MTV Asia Awards, a clear sign that amid declining sales and piracy problems, the music industry cannot afford to ignore Asia and its potentially huge market.

Officials at the international music television channel said that more than 100 artists attended and participated in the ceremony, twice as many as last year when the show made its debut here.

"They realise the great value of appearing on a show like this, which goes into more than 150 million households across Asia," Frank Brown, president of MTV Asia, told reporters.

MTV has similar awards shows in the United States and Europe, but officials said they were particularly pleased with the success of the Singapore event.

In the immediate aftermath of the Bali bomb blast in October, several international acts cancelled performances in the region, including Singapore.

But these worries seem to have subsided now as the MTV Asia show pulled in big names such as Brit-pop "bad boy" Robbie Williams, hip-hop star Missy Elliott, Jamaican rapper Shaggy, popular boy-band Blue and Canadian teen idol Avril Levigne.

Both Levigne and rising star Norah Jones, one of the MTV nominees, gave sold-out concerts in the city state prior to the awards ceremony, and co-host Shaggy performed on Sunday.

Levigne ended up winning the most awards, for Favourite Breakthrough Artist, Favourite Female Artist, and for ‘Style’.

Many regional icons also made the trip to Singapore. They included Filipino singer Regine Velasquez, Taiwanese ‘R & B king’ Jay Chou and Indian star A R Rahman, all of whom received awards for being the favourite artist in their respective countries.

With the recording industry beset by illegal copying and worried about decreasing sales, Asia is a target area for growth.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the industry worldwide, global sales of recorded music fell by 9.2 percent in value and by 11.2 percent in units in the first half of 2002. That follows a decrease in 2001 of five percent in value and 6.5 percent in units.

But in 2001, India and China had bucked the trend, growing at 15 percent each, until last year’s worsening economy reversed the figures.

IFPI reports that sales of CD albums, the most popular format, saw a fall of seven percent globally last year. Sales of singles also dropped, by 17 percent, while cassettes continued a long-term decline, falling by 31 percent.

The world’s biggest markets, the United States and Japan (home of Sony), which represent more than half of the world’s music sales, saw significant decreases, falling almost seven percent and 14.2 percent in value respectively, according to IFPI figures. The federation attributed the decrease to compact disc copying, downloading from the Internet, commercial piracy and the global economic downturn.

While Asia’s performance overall was poor, with falls of nearly 16 percent in value and more than 20 percent in units, Singapore managed to be a bright spot, with a rise of almost six percent in value and close to four percent in units. This was mainly "driven by the success of regional acts in the country", IFPI said.

But international acts have also done well here. Eighteen-year-old Levigne has sold more than 30,000 copies of her debut album ‘Let Go’ – among the 10 million sold worldwide – in the city state.

Indeed, Singapore’s music stores tend to be always packed, and mega-retailer HMV says it saw an increase in sales in 2002, based on strong promotional events and other measures. On Saturday, for instance, people queued for hours at the store for a chance to get Levigne’s autograph.

Wee Tee Yong, HMV’s store manager, said the retailer faces the same problems as others. "We also have to contend with customers downloading from the Internet," he said. "But we’re constantly doing campaigns and we try to keep our prices competitive."

He said he hoped the MTV Asia Awards would boost sales in the region as music buyers become more aware of acts in neighbouring countries.

Nineteen awards were handed out at the ceremony, which was carried out in front of 8,000 spectators and later broadcast on the MTV channel. More than half of them went to regional artists from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.

The Indian film ‘Devdas’, an epic tale of crossed love, also received a special tribute.