FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

When tech takes over

When tech takes over

Two veterans of the Thai music industry look ahead at what 2017 will mean for an already ailing business

IS AN ALBUM still a more substantial work of art than a single? Is a well-crafted single all everybody needs? “Are music streaming services right for everybody?”
In a world of smartphones and short concentration spans where free music is often seen as a right, these questions come up time and time again yet no one has been able to come up with a satisfactory answer.
As part of the “What’s Next 2017” series, we asked Piyoros “Touch” Luckcam, a music critic and founder of “Music X Thailand” magazine who has also worked on the content of music streaming services Deezer and KKBox, and Natapol “Kor” Srichomkwan, an artist, musician, producer and now executive consultant of music label Spicy Disc for their views.
Neither sees any major changes for Thailand’s music circle in 2017.
“The business model will continue to focus on singles rather than albums and I think it’s safe to say that the album format will fade even further at least in the mainstream sector. It’s interesting that indie artists, who tend to have an enthusiastic fan base, produce more albums than artists signed with the major music labels. That’s down to investment risks. An indie artist, say with 500 fans, is almost guaranteed to reach his or her intended sales target of 500 albums,” says Piyoros, who is also an editor of “Overdrive” guitar magazine.

 

When tech takes over


“So much depends on consumer demand. Pre-ordering allows an indie artist to fix the number of albums produced and that saves money. Of course, for that to work, the artists must have a strong fan base they can rely on. But it also depends on artists, labels and consumers. In today’s digital world, it’s impossible to predict how many people will support an album, even if the artist has 10 or 20 million views on YouTube,” he explains.
“In the past, the major music labels put a lot of investment into making an album for their artists. Nowadays, they are more interested in a kind of a joint venture, the same model that is used at indie labels where the artists agree to share the risks.
“With the artists’ main income now coming from their concerts and shows, the model has changed. Previously cutting an album cost about Bt1 million and the main income was from album sales.
“The money from the first 10,000 albums went to the music label against the production cost and the artist was paid a percentage of album sales after that. It was a sensible way of doing business but is out of the question these days as album sales would likely not reach the target.”

 

When tech takes over


Natapol, the founder of Groove Riders, agrees. “Consumer behaviour has changed. Today, most listeners consume music from YouTube and Thai artists produce a single song rather than an album. Less than 20 per cent of artists released full-length albums in 2016 and I predict that will drop to 10 per cent in 2017.”
Both Piyoros and Natapol admit to being surprised at the UK-based Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) report that for the first time, revenues from the old-fashioned vinyl records surpassed free streaming services – 2.4 million pounds (Bt10.6 billion) on vinyl and 2.1 million pounds on digital downloads.
“It’s probably the reaction to a surfeit of technology. Music streaming services are the trend all around the world, especially in America. It’s great that LPs made money but I don’t see it lasting. Everyone listens to music from Spotify, which is the main streaming service, as well as Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer who share the balance of the revenue. And of course, a lot of people want to listen to music without having to pay so they use YouTube. It’s the biggest problem facing music labels in Thailand,” says Natapol.
Music streaming services have become exceptionally popular as reflected by the increasing number of advertising agencies that now stream their content online.

 

When tech takes over


“I think music streaming services will play an even bigger role in 2017 I expect the competition between them to become heated and more in the public eye,” says Piyoros.
“Here in Asia, there are two big online streaming services – Line Music, which is incorporated with Line TV, and KKBox, which has temporarily stopped working. KKBox has more paying members than other online streaming services having cooperated with a mobile phone operator for three years but now it’s reached the end of that contract. KKBox is no 1 in Taiwan and also popular in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong and it will be back with a new business. At the same time, we will welcome new online streaming services such as Spotify.
“Apple Music is offering a new promotion for students priced at Bt69 down from Bt129, which is still more expensive than other services, and is coming up with more Thai contents. True Music offers free listening for True users.
“Music streaming service revenues are nowhere near as substantial as those for album sales,” he continues.
“The digital downloads model is something of a two-edged sword. It gives out the wrong values, as most Thai people think listening to music should be free and question why they must pay for songs.”
Here again, Natapol agrees. “The revenue from music streaming services in Thailand hasn’t taken the sort of leap we saw when we moved from cassette tape to compact disc. Back then people stopped paying for cassette tapes completely. America and Thailand are following the same trend but the revenues are very different. LPs in Thailand do sell but it is a niche market and that probably won’t change. And today an artist must also be a presenter and know how to market his or her product.
Another sector of the music business that has been severely hit by changes in consumer listening behaviour is the radio.
“The role of radio AM and FM is likely to continue decreasing next year as listeners fall to a new low. Most radio stations have turned to other activities to keep afloat. Seed 97.5 FM, for example, focuses not on radio but on online TV and holding events. Cat Radio has gone online. Like it or not, we live in an era where consumers don’t want to wait for a DJ to play songs for them. They can do it themselves on YouTube. DJs are now treated like artists and must use their character and taste to draw attention,” says Piyoros.

 

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