What is your academic history and what has Asia got to do with it?

15 years ago I was writing my Master’s thesis for Nissan. That’s how it all really started with Japan. Afterwords I have done collaboration projects with Japanese companies, one-way research projects, researcher exchanges between universities, lectures at Kyoto Institute of Technology and various institutes in Tokyo. For years now I have been also lecturing and collaborating with South Korean Universities and companies.  At some point my personal interest towards music also became the topic of my research.

What cultural narratives are present in the rock music industry?

Finland has a positive reputation in Japan. In the Japanese music industry, Finland is the key word of getting the attention from local consumers: Finnish music has its roots deep in our original culture, which is interesting and exotic in Japan. Especially heavy metal fans know Finland as a small home country of various metal bands. These bands are representing the whole Finnish culture when touring in Japan: I’ve witnessed a heavy metal guitarist sign a Moomin troll and answer fans questions about the latest Marimekko‘s print pattern. I see this as a sign of wide interest towards Finnish culture, but also about open mindedness of Japanese consumers who don’t feel the need to categorize culture as design, music and Moomins. They take it all in and embrace it.

What kind of experiences do you have with collaboration with Asian universities?

Mostly my experiences have been good: the collaborations have been carried out with good spirit and mutual satisfaction. Japanese universities vary from Finnish ones in educational, operational and scientific principles. This makes some academic collaborations more difficult than others. The cultural barrier is the biggest factor, language another one. By learning some Japanese you already make a big impression on local partners. Differences in research are also clear: in Finland research results go deeper and are wider as in Asia, the results are concrete and easier to interpret.

What kind of collaborations would you like to do in the future between Europe and Asia in the cultural and academic fields?

I see Universities as great contact networks and impartial embassies between different countries and operatives. Their neutral approach makes universities perfect collaboration partners in various projects. For example, Aalto University has a Design Factory in Shanghai. If I’d meet a Finnish designer interested in starting a business in China, I would advise to contact Design Factory to get guidance on Shanghai’s design field.

In the future, I would like to see more cross art projects in Japan with Finnish culture as the main topic. Surprising combinations and creative madness interest Japanese whose local culture limits people’s creative way of thinking. Finnish art could be seen as an escape from the bureaucratic society.

More information about Toni-Matti Karjalainen on his website.

EARS – Europe-Asia Roundtable Sessions is a platform focusing on creative industry collaboration between Europe and Asia. The next EARS event will be held in Helsinki, August 27-30, showcasing the latest developments from the fields of design, music, performing arts, literature, marketing and media.

The post Interview with Toni-Matti Karjalainen appeared first on EARS.

You’re attending EARS on Helsinki for the second time in August. What has happened since we saw you the last time?

I am now working with the Helsinki Festival China focus. Inside China focus I am curating a special event with young artists called 25 x 25, standing for 25 hours of various non-stop performances by Chinese artists under the age of 25. That is my main project at the moment but I have also been doing other festivals in China during this past year.

Could you tell us how this collaboration with Helsinki Festival started?

Actually, I met Erik, the artistic director of Helsinki Festival last year during EARS. We talked about the China focus program and both thought there was a need to have different younger Chinese artists presenting what they are doing and thinking. So I curated this project with more than 12 young artists from the fields of  theatre, music, dance, visual arts and media. Some of them are not professional artists but students or they do other things at the same time. They create art in different ways than others, even professional artists in their fields. As they are so young, they have a different perspective of seeing, understanding and presenting the world through their art. They are fresh artists with new ideas. The original creativity is there, you can see the sparkle.

Who are the young artists coming to Helsinki?

Youngest of them is a dancer and choreographer, only 17 years old girl from a small village, now studying in Hong Kong. You can see the raw energy of her body and of what she wants to express.  Even when she’s not sure what she is expressing you can see the urge to move. We also have an actress/director from Beijing doing a monolog about pain. She has interviewed other girls and women from different ages about their experiences

and built a monolog based on those statements. We also have a musician interested in interactive sound art. There is also going to be two artistic groups trying to find different ways to express art; they are part of a project that can be seen as an artwork or a social study but that doesn’t change the content, the love and the interest for powerful insight. These are some of the artists performing at 25 x 25 in August.

Does the new generation and their work differ somehow from what we have seen before?

They don’t have a historical or even professional burden on their shoulders. China is comparably new to the contemporary artistic culture. In many ways the Chinese traditions and western traditions are burden to more professional artists who might be trained to think according to certain traditions. They can feel chained. Young artists don’t care about the traditions from East or West. They are trying to find the creativity from themselves, from their imagination and from their own lives, not from the academy or their teachers. They are more fresh and willing to break free from some of the definitions of different forms of art. From many artists you can not really say she is a dancer or a theater person, they cross boundaries. They have more freedom in their works and in their lives. They are more themselves as individuals and braver to take risks without being afraid of failure. I think they are the future.

What is best about EARS?

Roundtables! Talking is important to everyone; for people in business, art and media. You have to have people talking to each other before anything good can really happen between them. For the relations between Europe and Asia, talking is essential; the world is evolving and changing every day. We need people to meet each other and talk to each other face to face, have them ask questions and that way find real understanding. This form of roundtables brings different people from different countries and industries together to talk, that is the beginning of every possibility.

The post Interview with Cheung Fai appeared first on EARS.

Who you are and what do you do?

My name is Ed Peto and I run a company called Outdustry Group based in Beijing. We represent Western rights owners, labels, services and producers for market-entry into China.

Please tell us about your background and how did you end up in China?

I’m originally from London. I was working in the music industry with labels, artist management and a few other areas. I developed a reasonably good understanding of how the industry worked as a whole and I wanted to take that understanding somewhere where the industry was still to be made, essentially. So, seven years ago I took a bit of a left turn in my life and decided to go and see how the market works in China. It’s been a very odd seven years because a lot of it is sort of been making it up as you go along. The industry in China is just fascinating! As tough as it is, everyday something bizarre or interesting happens – you’ll come across some amazing stories, amazing people and it’s kind of addictive. China just a very interesting place to be at a very interesting time.

Could you tell us a bit more about your company Outdustry?

The company is really a family of five small businesses. One is a producer and composer management business (Engine Music) representing Western producers, mixing and mastering engineers and composers for work on Chinese mainstream-pop, indie albums and more recently, major film soundtracks. The second business, which we actually just set up, is a sync agency (Core Sync) representing Western catalogues pitching for film, TV and web usage. We’re also starting to work as music supervisors for Chinese drama series.

Third business is a kind of a rights management business (OD Rights). We represent Western rights owners for bringing their catalogues into China and finding ways to monetize that through digital, physical and other markets. We’re increasingly looking into areas like performing rights, which is a very interesting area at the moment in China. We’re also acquiring Chinese catalogues for international distribution.

The fourth one is a market intelligence business called China Music Business. We publish articles about how the music industry works in China and are available for market visits, report writing and market introductions. Sort of trading in information and connections essentially. Last but not least, we have a music marketing agency (S/N Agency), primarily focused on building awareness around our clients and driving consumption of their physical and digital releases.

What kind of strategic decisions have you made to succeed in the Chinese market?

I think in general, the Chinese industry as a whole has progressed a lot slower than people would have liked it to and it’s still a very long play. Actually, as a recorded music market, it’s still incredibly small. It’s actually smaller than Switzerland and Thailand. That means companies in China have to be there for the long run. In terms of focusing our business, we made a decision a couple of years ago that while live music in China is incredibly exciting, it’s over-crowded and a hard area to make money in, so we focused on the record side which is even harder but there’s no one else really doing what we do – so we’ve got a good niche for ourselves. It’s strategically a very interesting area to be in but we have to keep in mind that it’s a long strategy.

Besides China, do you do business in other regions in Asia as well?

Because the industry is so small at the moment in China, there is a temptation to start doing business outside of China. However, one of the decisions I’ve made over the last couple of years is that you just got to be the best at what you do within a particular region. I think it could be a mistake to try to spread yourself out too much. China is such a complex place that it requires your full attention. Each region in Asia has its own set of issues or complexities, which require full time attention as well. For us, the most important thing is to be the best at what we do within China.

How do you see the development in the creative industries in China?

Any of the copyright dependent industries have traditionally had a very hard run in China. But there is a recognizable copyright law in China so it’s just a question of enforcing it properly so that the creative industries can start to flourish. It’s just starting to happen now. It’s looking increasingly interesting as the businesses develop and people actually start to see rewards from copyright based goods.

If we look at the film industry in China for example, it’s going through a boom at the moment. Largely because the Chinese government sees it as kind of a soft power issue where they want to start exporting films and they’ve protected that as an industry. We’re hoping that the music industry is going to be the next area of creative goods that actually get that level of protection from the government. It looks very exciting if this will happen. But as with all things in China, these things take longer than you would imagine. We know that the market is going to be very exciting and big in the future. It’s just when that future actually comes, that’s what’s unclear.

The post Interview with Ed Peto appeared first on EARS.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Nevin and I work for Maybe Mars Music. I also run a vinyl record label called Genjing Records. In the time that I’ve been in China, I have done many things including sending Chinese bands abroad and bringing foreign bands to China. I’ve been living in China for over ten years and in Asia since 1999 and in Beijing since 2005. When I got there, I first got involved with a venue called D-22 by booking shows for them. Through that, I ended up working with the label and then starting Genjing.

What made you go to China in the first place?

I originally went to China in 1999 to study and I was a student at the university at that time. I completely fell in love with China. After I graduated from the university, I took a scholarship to Korea and spent several years there but started missing China. So in 2005 I moved back, specifically to play in a band and just to enjoy the scene.

Could you tell us a little bit more about Maybe Mars Music?

Maybe Mars is one of the two big independent labels in China. It was started in 2007 and it has now over 50 releases and a total roster of 30 bands.

What kind of challenges are you facing with the music industry in China?

The music industry like the rest of China is developing and changing very quickly. In China, everything can completely change within just six months to one year. I’ve seen the music industry, especially between 2007 to 2012, change very rapidly.

What kinds of opportunities do you see for Asian music in Europe and in the US?

I see lots of opportunities for Asian music in Europe and in the US, mainly because it’s fairly unexplored. Most people in Europe and in the US don’t know much about Asian bands besides bands from Japan. As the Chinese music scene grows and as people learn more about these bands, I’m sure there will be a market for them.

From your experience, what is the best way of promoting Chinese bands in Europe and in the US?

I would say the best way is to connect the band to the local scene – having them partnered with local bands for tours and connecting them to the local media that deals directly with the type of music that they play and a type of scene that they move in.

You have also a band of your own. Could you tell us about that?

I’ve been playing in several bands in China but there’s one that I’ve been particularly playing in since 2006, it’s called Fanzui Xiangfa (犯罪想法). It is a hardcore punk band and it’s completely independent, not affiliated or signed to any label. We’re touring Europe for the second time starting in a week!

We’re now in Helsinki for EARS. How do you like the city?

I’m just starting to get to know Helsinki and I really like it, it’s a beautiful city! EARS has been very interesting and I attended EARS on China last year. Here in Helsinki, I’ve been continuing conversations with people on going deeper into some connections between the music industries in Europe and in Asia.

The post Interview with Nevin Domer appeared first on EARS.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Paul Dankmeyer and I have been the artistic director of Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival festival for many years. I started working with music meaningful to me at North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland in the 80’s. Now I have been actively working for 10 years in Jakarta, Indonesia doing the program for Java Jazz Festival.

How did you end up in Indonesia?

I had contacts with people in Indonesia who were very enthusiastic about jazz music. They came along to play at North Sea Jazz a long time ago when I was working there. We kept being in contact and in 2004 one of them called me and said that Indonesia was looking for a brighter future. He had a dream of organizing a festival like North Sea Jazz but in Jakarta. His name was Peter Gontha. We met and decided to give it a try in 2005 for the first time and it worked out very well. Now we are celebrating the ten year anniversary!

How would you describe the Indonesian jazz audience?

Surprisingly the audience is a lot younger compared to Europe. In Europe the average age of the people who go to jazz festivals is something between 35 to 55. In Indonesia we see a lot of young people starting from 20 to 45 at our festival. Of course we have older people as well but not as much as we see in the US or in Europe. I think that the excitement of a festival has brought up a lot of curiosity in Jakarta. Festivals in general were very rare to be organized there.

Are Indonesian jazz artists interested in studying jazz abroad?

There are many Indonesian musicians that go abroad, especially to Europe to study jazz music. I know that there are people going to Netherlands because of their close relationship. They also go to the US, some go to Berkeley in Boston and other cities. So there is a lot of interest in young people to study jazz and I see it as a very exciting thing.

What are the biggest challenges when organizing a festival in Indonesia?

For instance you need to understand that the culture in Indonesia is very different than in Europe. Indonesians don’t really drink alcohol. In European festivals, well not maybe jazz festivals but pop festivals, there is a lot of consumption of beer. This is not the case in Indonesia. Because of the religion, people are not keen on drinking a lot of beer. So in terms of sponsorships this makes us to be creative. In my experience the sponsors in Europe are always beer or insurance companies or something like that. Until last year we could use tobacco companies, they sponsored festivals a lot and the sponsorships were big. But from the beginning of this year it has been forbidden in Indonesia to have a tobacco company as a sponsor of an event. This means no tobacco and no beer so we have to go to other areas –  that’s a challenge.

Another challenge is that Indonesia is far away. Logistically this means that artists from Europe need to travel from 14 to 16 hours and if you live in the US the time is from 22 to 24 hours of travelling just to play in Indonesia. This is a lot of time to consume for the artist so you really need to persuade and convince them to come. The logistics make it really complicated.

How do you see the cooperation between Europe and Asia at your festival?

Luckily enough we have very good relationships with the embassies in Indonesia. For two or three years we have for example been working with the Finnish embassy and have been presenting some Finnish musicians at our festival. Last year Felix Zenger, the human beat boxer, was at our festival performing. We’ve also had a group called Scandinavian All Stars where we had jazz musicians from Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden combined with an Indonesian rhythm section. It was a fantastic project and we are doing it again next year!

The post Interview with Paul Dankmeyer appeared first on EARS.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Pelle Lidell, I’m the European A&R Executive in Universal Music Publishing International. I work for the English office but I’m based in Stockholm.

You are well known for successfully connecting Asian and Western artists’ businesses together, how do you do this?

I started working with a really good A&R person who I really respect called Hayden Bell. He’s an Australian guy who is very connected in the Japanese and the Korean markets. He basically enlightened me saying you have some fantastic material concerning music, you should start doing business with that. Thanks to his gracious help I got in touch with a lot of good A&R people in Korea and in Japan. It was about seven years ago and I think we are close to 7 million records now, thanks to Hayden.

What kinds of projects do you have going on at the moment?

Obviously, since I work for Universal Music Publishing, most of the projects I do are with my publishing colleagues in Japan and Korea. But when it comes to labels, I work with a big variety of them from Sony to Avex. My biggest client in Korea is SM Entertainment, which I believe is the biggest entertainment company in Asia at the moment. They have been my biggest client for the past seven years and still on. We are working at the moment with their major artists such as Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, TVXQ, Super Junior D&E in Japan – all of them are number one artists in Asia.

What kinds of trends can you see in the Asian music industry?

I have to say that you can’t say that there is only one Asian trend. If I take the K-pop world for instance, the last couple of years have been dubstep influenced, but that’s gone now. Now they are going into more organic sounding beats mixed with electronics. That’s definitely a trend. Even dance music, EDM has now a small impact there now. The straightening out the beats, less complicated arrangements. One factor for K-pop and J-pop music is that it has to be danceable. It has to be music that they can do fantastic choreographies to, that’s always been a rule for them.

How do you see the future in the music industry concerning the cooperation between Europe and Asia?

Huge. I’ve faced prejudice in the Western world and I still face it by colleagues, rivals, etc., the ones who actually haven’t had the effort to look at what’s cooking in Asia. If you look at the amount of people living there, the extreme interest in pop music and pop culture is just amazing. China is a sleeping giant, Japan is now the number one territory for soul music. Even though they’ve had a drop, but still, it’s a huge market. India is a sleeping giant too. When you look at the growth of the middle class over there and their interest to popular culture, I would say that there is tons of business to be done there in the future.

You work a lot with bands. What makes a great artist in your opinion?

I work with bands but also with music writers and producers. One thing a great artist and a great producer have is the ability to catch the current energy: to be extremely open minded and to understand to whom you aim your music to – you have to be one with your fans. Those are the ones that succeed. Because as an artist and also as a music writer you do take chances. You have to continue and dare to take chances. Otherwise the wheel will roll forward. I would say that is the biggest factor, the ones who are connected with their fans understand the current climate of the world.

Keeping on with the pace of the world?

Absolutely. The day you start becoming comfortable is the day you are no longer thinking outside of the box.  That’s the day you will disappear as an artist or a song writer or a music producer. And it’s the same for me. I have to study this all the time and never be satisfied with what you have. You have homework to do all the time.

What gives you the motivation to keep doing this?

The share fun. As a Swede, white, suburban boy, I’m living my dream; I have friends all over the world. I love to share my experiences with them and vice a versa. It motivates and develops me as a person and a human being. And it’s fun. As simple as that.

The post Interview with Pelle Lidell appeared first on EARS.

Please tell us how did you come to do the collaboration?

Zhu Jing: It’s an interesting story. My manager is friends with Saara’s manager so I had the opportunity to hear her music. When I heard her voice for the first time, I was shocked: wow, that sounds so beautiful! The one thing I was really surprised about was that her pronunciation of Chinese is perfect! So this time I came to Finland and we decided to do some cross promotion.

You are also filming your TV show here in Finland. Could you tell us about that?

Zhu Jing: I host a TV program in China, it’s called Top Chinese Music. It’s 100% about music and it is the one and only TV chart in China. We have a lot of music fans so it’s a pretty popular show. We are filming pieces for it here in Finland and we’ve done interviews with for example Ville Valo, the lead singer of HIM.

What kind of plans do you have for the future with this collaboration?

Saara: We had two concerts here in Finland, one in Turku and one in Helsinki. In the near future, I’m hoping I will be going to China to perform again with Zhu Jing and also to perform at her TV show which is going to be very exciting. We are also planning on recording some duets together so I think we have lots of plans for the future!

Zhu Jing: I will release my new album next month. I’ve already recorded the music in the United States so our collaboration songs won’t be on that album but we have at least two songs that we are planning to do as duets. One is called “Shelter” and the other one is called “My Bird”.

Saara: They are both songs from my albums and when Jing first heard the songs, she really liked them! I’ve written the songs myself so I’m very honored that Jing wants so sing my songs together, in Chinese! I also love Jing’s songs so we’re really happy we get to sing her songs together as well.

Please tell us why did you want to venture to the Asian market?

Saara: It first started when I was fifteen years old and I heard Japanese pop music. I immediately fell in love with Japanese music and after listening to it, I also wanted to learn to speak the language. I spent a lot of time studying Japanese music, language and culture and that’s how I developed my interest towards Asia. Three years ago I started speaking with my manager about me wanting to do some projects in Asia as I already knew Japanese. Then we started looking for opportunities and suddenly we found many people from China who were saying that I should come and do shows there. I took some Chinese lessons and completely fell in love with the language. I also listened to a lot of Chinese music and really felt that I had some kind of a connection to that language. It’s now been over ten years so it’s been a long process for me! I think my style is very good for the Asian market also, my look, my style and my voice are something that go together really well with the Asian style and the culture. In Asia, I feel like I’ve found my place.

What does Europe-Asian collaboration mean to you?

Saara: I think this kind of a collaboration is really important because at least for me, as a singer-songwriter in Finland, I feel quite lonely often. Like we earlier discussed, my goals differ quite a lot from what most pop artists in Finland are aiming for. Now that I’ve found this amazing partner Zhu Jing who wants to do the same things as I do so it really gives me so much power and strength to keep on going! I think it’s really important to sometimes work together with somebody so you aren’t always alone. The meeting of two cultures is really important for bringing the world together and it also creates and gives a lot of energy!

Zhu Jing: I totally agree with Saara. We combine two cultures together and for me this is very important because I’m the first Chinese pop singer to come to Finland and do a project like this. For me, it’s not just a collaboration between two singers or two artists, it’s between two cultures and two beautiful countries. This is actually my first time in Finland and not just that but my first time in Northern Europe as well. I have listened to a lot of music from Northern Europe and Finland, Nightwish and HIM for example. That’s why it’s great to be here and it feels like a dream come true! Saara is also so talented and I’m so happy to be able to work with her.

The post Interview with Zhu Jing & Saara Aalto appeared first on EARS.

Could you tell us who you are and what do you do?

My name is Xavier Norindr. I have a strong background in working with Japanese artists for the European market. In the past, I have promoted and organized tours for a lot of artists across Europe. Currently, I am the CEO and co-founder of Crosslight Global Entertainment, a creative entertainment agency. We provide a full service catalogue from concepting and management of creative content and events to marketing strategies and business development. Our clients are mainly brands and companies from the entertainment industry.

Bringing Japanese artists to Europe and promoting them has been your passion for a very long time. How did you first get started in the business?

As a matter of fact, it was a passion more than a business to me. I was first introduced to Japanese music through video games and mangas. I also had a band with my brother in high school and we used to do covers of Japanese bands like X Japan or Luna Sea. That’s when I started to discover more and more artists. After that, I organized some parties in France in bars and clubs where people could gather and listen to Japanese music. I felt the need to turn my passion into a business just after I brought my first Japanese band to France for a concert in 2004. After this concert I started to work on a business plan to bring more Japanese artists abroad.

Could you tell us about your company Crosslight Entertainment?

We started the company in 2012. The firm was co-founded by Stéphane Hervé, the Creative Director and Artist, and myself. We wanted to gather our skills and networks in order to provide support for companies, artists and brands for their development in foreign markets. It’s important today to think globally. Our main areas of expertise are the concepting and production of content and events, business development and marketing. At CGE we also believe in the importance of content in a marketing strategy. A strong and right content can lead to success but to produce the right kind of content, you need the right talents. At CGE we have broad international networks of talents in various areas: music, photography, video, events and marketing. We’ll find the right team for the market you target.

What kind of projects are you now working with at Crosslight Entertainment?

Right now we are talking with a few management companies in Japan and Korea in order to develop their artists in Europe. There’s talk about showcases in Europe, PR, collaboration with local brands and/or local artists, photoshoots, recording etc. We also have requests from French artists to help them with exporting to Asia. Besides that, we are talking with companies from the gaming industry in order to do some exciting and innovative events.

With offices in France, Germany, Japan and recently, US, it seems that a lot is going on and the demand is high. What kind of aspirations do you have for the future?

I think it’s very important to be located all around the globe, to work with international profiles. There is demand because many companies, brands, artists want to reach global markets. My aspiration is to lead my clients and partners to success in their development in foreign markets.

As a pioneer of exporting Asian artists to Europe, are you seeing changes when compared the current situation to where it was a few years ago?

I have noticed a lot of changes regarding exporting in the music industry. Export has become an important and strategic topic for many artists and records companies. I’ve seen that especially with Japanese artists. A few years ago not so many record companies and managements in Japan were interested or were thinking about exporting their music. Now, everyone is looking to bring their music abroad. Companies and artists need to have a local partner to succeed and that’s one of the reasons why CGE was founded.

What kind of audiences for Asian music are there in Europe?

There are different kinds of audiences in Europe for Asian artists. It really depends on what genre of music we are talking about. Many Japanese bands we have worked with told us that European and Japanese audience are different. They pointed out that the European audience are more “crazy” and sometimes “wild”.

Where is the biggest demand for Asian bands in Europe?

I think it really depends on the genre of music. What I am sure of is that there is demand everywhere in Europe. From my point of view, the oldest markets for Asian artists are France, UK and Germany.

What do you think is the outlook like for Asian music exporting altogether?

I think the future of Asian artists is very promising both in Europe and worldwide. Since I am working with Asian artists I see the audiences and fans growing and the number of concerts and appearances of Asian artists in music festivals increasing. It will go on for sure!

You are coming to speak to the EARS on Helsinki event this September. What are you most looking forward to from the event?

I am looking forward to connect with nice people.

The post Interview with Xavier Norindr appeared first on EARS.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Rob Schwartz, Tokyo bureau chief of Billboard Magazine. I’m also a music and film producer based in Tokyo producing content for the international market, which means mainly film in English language. Our production company is called Fusion For Peace Productions.

Please tell about your background, how did you end up in Japan?

I’ve always had an abiding interest in Japanese culture. I went to Japan straight out of university, studied the language and built a career there.

What is the presence of Billboard like in Japan?

Billboard Japan is a joint venture between Billboard Magazine and a Japanese company called Hanshin. They create content in Japanese language and own a couple of venues under the name Billboard Live in Tokyo and in Osaka.

However, I work for Billboard Magazine which is based in New York City and covers the world music business, world music industry in English. I’ve worked with Billboard Magazine for about six years now.

What current trends are you seeing in the music industry in Asia?

The music industry in Asia is certainly expanding by leaps and bounds. It’s very hard to talk about Asia in general after it’s so diverse and every territory is quite different. However, there are certain territories where the music industry is obviously expanding. Korea is the obvious one and K-pop has had huge success exporting its music to different territories around the world. Big Bang, one of the most popular bands out of Korea did a world tour last year including 60 concerts in 15 to 18 countries. It was unprecedented for a Korean band to have such an expansive world tour so there’s no doubt that music industry in Korea is expanding.

On the other hand, Japan didn’t have such a good year in 2013 and their revenue declined. Recorded music revenue has been declining all across the world, maybe less in Japan than in other territories but it declined still.

Are you seeing growth in the touring of international bands in Asia?

There’s far more international bands, for example European, American, Australian touring in China than there ever has been. China with its gigantic population, its growing economy and its music industry is really interesting to a lot of bands and projects. It’s no longer this mysterious, forbidden land and many high-powered international acts are now going into China. Touring in Malaysia and in Southeast Asia is also popular. In that sense, the touring industry is really expanding in a lot of territories in Asia. The Rolling Stones just played in Shanghai last March, Bruno Mars played in Shanghai in April so major world stars are moving through China, it’s now on the circuit.

We just talked here at All That Matters with Robb Spritzer, the director of Live Nation that in China they’re now developing what we call the second-tier cities. These cities have populations like 15-20 million people and they call that a second-tier city in China! There is a huge opportunity to tour in those cities when you have so many people.

Do you think the current trend will continue to grow?

If  you follow the current trend, I think live touring altogether will continue to develop. Live Nation and AEG are the two biggest touring companies and they’re seriously concentrating on Asia. I think the growth in China, Southeast Asia and Korea, is going to continue for a long time.

What kind of challenges are there, culturally speaking, with the expanding touring industry?

Each country is an individual and certain countries are going to have a more of a hard time growing than others. Indonesia is a classic example. There are a lot of national sensitivities because it’s a Muslim country so certain kinds of artists are just not going to be able to tour there. Lady Gaga’s show in Indonesia was cancelled two years ago and other artists like that who have a very outward sexuality and are not willing to compromise that, will not be able to tour in Indonesia, probably not in Malaysia either. Those are both huge countries with lots of people so not to be able to tour in Indonesia is actually a significant thing.

What do the Asian consumers want from a live experience?

In one way I’m tempted to say much the same thing as what the European or American consumer wants; a great show, excitement, not only a great performance but great visuals and everything. I think that’s part of it. Perhaps the Asian consumer may want more value for their money meaning either a lower ticket price or if they pay a high ticket price, maybe get some recorded music or a t-shirt or something along with it. In the West, meaning Europe and the United States, we’re used to paying high ticket prices. For a big name band, you expect to pay 100-150 dollars, at least in the US. That’s not the case in Asian markets. So one, it’s hard for people to pay those kinds of prices and two, if they are paying high prices, they probably expect a lot.

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Hey, who are you and what do you do?

I’m Chung Shefong and actually I work on a lot of different things. I’m teaching at the National Cheng-chi University and this year my current position is also the Director of the University’s Art and Culture center. I’ve also been working as a music producer and a festival organizer for many years. I founded the music label Trees Music and Art in 1993 and a festival called Migration Music Festival in 2001.

How has the performing arts field developed since you started working in the field?

The music festival and label I’m working with are definitely not mainstream so the development of the industry is not something we would focus on. Nevertheless, I would say that what has changed, is the audience. More people are interested in our music and coming to see the gigs. We are also getting more support and more people trust our brand.

What is the festival about?

I founded the festival called Migration Music Festival eleven years ago. It’s not a big scale festival, it’s something between a small and a medium sized one. Our festival programs vary from film and panels to workshops and storytelling. The year 2013 we concentrated in the storytelling.

Why is the festival called Migration Music festival?

I started from the concept of migration, I’m very interested in all the stories and the music related to it. I’m also interested in the story of diaspora. As the festival is not very big, I really need to focus on the themes and topics of the program and select the artists carefully. During the last few years, we’ve had themes such as accordion new definition, world indigents, conscious, this year storytelling tradition and also we are concentrating on the Asian artists doing something unique.

How does storytelling vary in different parts of Asia?

That’s actually a part of our theme this year. We try to link the singing, bard tradition from each country to contemporary storytelling. I think the contemporary storytelling, the singer songwriter tradition is more connected to the social issues. Taiwan is a part of Asia but we don’t know what is happening in our neighbor countries. In the 60’s and 70’s there were the student movements in Asia and many folk movements rose from the social and political movement. We didn’t know about that at the time so we are trying to introduce these stories through music now.

How did the audience react to the theme?

I try to make the Migration Music Festival a platform or a tool to fix the gaps in people’s knowledge as there is always a gap in understanding others. We don’t always have the will to do that. The most important role for this kind of a festival is to make people know about other’s stories and give them more understanding.

There are a lot of festivals that concentrate on a specific type of music, be it jazz or classical music. I try not to do that, I always start with a theme. It’s not very common nowadays.

What is the future of independent festivals in Taiwan?

I think it will get more and more difficult as the costs of organizing an event are rising. That’s why it’s important to network with other festivals and establish partnerships. Otherwise it will get more and more difficult as also most of the countries are cutting their culture budgets. I try not to think about the future too much, I just try to find more and more new partners so that we can keep on doing the things we want to do.

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Hey, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Bojan. I’m one of the co-founders of EXIT Festival but I do a lot of other stuff as well.

What is EXIT?

It’s a festival that started in 1998-1999 as a part of a student movement in Serbia and later built up to be a pretty nice festival.

How did you come to find the festival?

We wanted to do something when we were studying at the university. At that time if you were living in that part of the world you were exposed to a lot of bad stuff from nationalism to wars and conflicts. It was very hard to find a purpose for life and we were very rebellious. We wanted to make a project that would be a new idea, a new vision of this region that would promote things that weren’t not politically acceptable at that time: peace, multiculturalism, things like that.

It took us about seven years from the first concert that we ever organized to organizing a concert with Red Hot Chili Peppers. So seven years from the basement to 80 000 people open field concert. For us that RHCP concert was the point where everything in the music industry was demystified.

How has EXIT influenced the local area?

We definitely introduced the idea of a festival to our region. I don’t think we influenced enough, because the political situation in the region is still pretty bad. It’s also tied to aesthetics and the understanding of values in the society. So I don’t think we’ve done enough. You can also ask what it would be like without EXIT. And I think it definitely inspired one generation of people. It focused a lot of optimism and enthusiasm and spread good vibes around. So yeah, it did okay more or less [laughing].

What other things are you doing besides EXIT?

At the moment I’m trying to set up a new business for one part of the team that left the EXIT management with me. I was the General Manager of EXIT for about 14 years and I left last year and some of the boys and girls left with me also. It’s not still clear to me what it is that we are going to do actually. But I think we are good at making concepts, which is very important for any kind of a creative business. Not only music, its applicable to most of the things you do in the creative industry. There are two things, you can ether consult with other people in good concepts and how to build them or build the concepts yourself. These are the two paths we are looking at, at the moment. We are consulting and helping other promoters and for example consulting one city in Croatia in how to develop their creative industry.

You just also found a new festival called MAD in Belgrade that was organized for the first time this May. How did you come up with the idea?

Basically we wanted to create a new festival project with an original approach to all of the aspects – from communication to the program and production. People behind MAD festival were a core of EXIT festival’s creative, production and strategic brain for more than 13 years. so we came up with some pretty good solutions.

Are you planning to organize the festival again next year?

Yes, many. Not just this one.

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Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Tobias Wälti from Switzerland and I work for Miro China together with a colleague. We do cultural exchange programs between China and Switzerland.

What is Miro China?

We are basically helping Chinese artists coming to Europe, organize tours and collaboration with local artists for them. We also help mainly Swiss artists, but not only, coming to China and organize tours and open doors to them to the Chinese market.

We have our own projects, our own festival and platform called China Drifting that we are trying to expand as the main promoter in the Chinese music in Europe but we also collaborate with other partners as well, depending on the project.

How long have you been working with Miro China?

I joined my colleague two years ago, but he has been working with similar projects since mid-90’s. He has good connections, he knows a lot of people from the early days. That’s how I got involved in this interesting project

Are you working with all Asian artists or only Chinese?

Only Chinese as we both have been living in China for a while, that’s where we’ve gotten our connections and the language skills. So far we haven’t expanded this to other countries.

Is Chinese music popular in Switzerland?

Well, that’s hard to say. Some of the bands we have been working with have been to Switzerland for many times and have a small fan base, but you can’t say it’s very popular in general. We are trying to show people that a lot of Chinese bands have reached a certain quality and they are interesting to listen to and convince people to come to their shows and to see something new and different.

How many events do you do in a year?

This depends. Small shows for bands maybe five times a year, but we have a lot of bigger events also in China with European artists, collaboration with Midi Festival, we bring artists to the Festival. So it’s really hard to say a number, it depends so much on the year.

What have been you biggest challenges you have faced?

Everything is always on a very short notice.  You always need to wait until everything is confirmed. I’m quite used to it and know that that’s how things work in China. But if you work with people who are not used to this they get nervous very easily. But it’s a problem for a long term planning of the year, for example our biggest project for year 2014 is still somewhere in the air and we don’t know what kinds of other plans we can do for the year. So being flexible is definitely the biggest challenge.

How do you see the future of Chinese music in Europe?

A few bands now have the potential to have shows in Europe and build up a name there. We always try to build connections to the art world and people and see what kind of potential Chinese art really has.

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