Joe Lei

Lyricist and songwriter in Hong Kong and Macao. Written over 300 songs. Capricorn. Says what’s on his mind.

Lessons learned from the demise of Hong Kong's music scene (4)

04 2015 | Issue 4

Good times don’t last forever. Hong Kong’s music industry did not capitalise on the good times enough, leading to its painful downfall. There are other reasons for its demise:


A TV station monopoly


Hong Kong’s TV industry has always been dominated by one station (ATV is barely even worth mentioning). But TVB has never done anything to support Hong Kong’s music industry. Of course, ratings for music shows are not high enough anymore to make them commercially viable anymore. But some years ago, TVB and some record labels entered into a dispute over copyright and royalties. Caving to TVB’s monopoly power, some singers were forced to disappear altogether from the TV screen, dealing an even bigger blow to the music industry.


The Internet age


Without the marketing power of TV stations and a dwindling radio audience, large-scale outdoor advertisements for singers in Hong Kong are now few and far between. About 90% of marketing for singers is now done on social media. A popular singer doesn’t even need to do any promotion online as their fans will do the work. But for a record label to promote someone less famous is becoming increasingly difficult. Netizens are also fickle – someone who is a star today can all of a sudden fall from favour. It is almost impossible for record labels today to cultivate a superstar like Andy Lau who can be famous for three decades straight.


Conclusion


What lessons can we learn from the demise of Hong Kong’s music industry? Mostly, it is the ability to adapt and change quickly. The book Who Moved My Cheese? teaches us that if our cheese is stolen, we should put on some shoes to look for a new block, not sitting around bemoaning the loss of the cheese and hoping it will be returned. This is a world for changes take place at breakneck speed. That delicious block of cheese in your hand can be taken away at any moment. In a sense, the slow death of Hong Kong’s music industry was inevitable, but it was also because we stuck to the old ways and were afraid of change, guarding that piece of cheese as it became smaller and smaller. It was something precious and glorious in the past and we didn’t want to let go of it. But one day, we looked at the cheese in our hand and found there were only crumbs left. Then it was too late to look for a new block of cheese. Everyone then starved to death, or froze in the bitter winter.


When times were good, we didn’t cultivate new talent.

When times were good, we didn’t open new markets.

When times were good, we didn’t innovate and expand audiences’ tastes.

When times were good, we didn’t improve the quality of the songs.

When times were good, we didn’t work hard to change.


Macao’s pop music industry is not doing too bad right now, but should we be complacent with success in this tiny market? Is it enough to just copy the models of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s music industries? Or can we create our own unique style? Can the fledgling Macao music industry survive in this fast-changing and competitive online world? Can we build up our strength and change quickly enough? Hopefully we can learn from the successes of Hong Kong, but also its failures, and stay on our toes. Success is extremely difficult, but failure is easy. A moment of negligence or complacency is all it takes. Let’s hope we can continuously find new cheese to survive in this new era. (End)