Independent waxing
For a long time now, Taiwan has lacked a trustworthy mechanism for auditing music sales. Figures for radio plays, television video plays and sales released by record companies are all typically used for promotion and are unreliable gauges of popularity. But from certain evidence we can clearly see that creative singers and independent musicians are beginning to gain a foothold.
Take, for instance, the bestseller list at Five Music, which is regarded as one of the more reliable measures within the industry. Early in the year, apart from the mainstream singers Wang Lee-hom and Jay Chou, the cutely mischievous independent band Natural Q also placed on the charts although it had spent almost nothing on publicity. On the chart in late December, you can see Monkey Insane, Chairman, and Sodagreen, and three singers--Faith Yang, Summer Lei, and the old rock-and-roll warrior Wu Bai--who, although recording for mainstream companies, have independent styles. With these six in the top 20, it exposes the myth that only pop idols can sell records.
The truth is that when it comes to album sales, mainstream recording companies still take the lion's share. But take Stefanie Sun's A Perfect Day, for instance. Although about 100,000 copies sold, when you factor in the NT$10 million-plus spent on promotion, it's still a money loser. On the other hand, although the sales figures for independent and creative artists aren't that high, their costs are more reasonable. Now, with mainstream companies gradually going into retreat, and with the trend toward more varied, fractured tastes among the general public, there are greater opportunities for non-mainstream music.
In countries like the United States and Britain, there are often separate lists for independent music. With different lists for different genres, you can divide the market according to taste. For example, Billboard's Modern Rock Chart lists the most popular songs on college radio stations. It's a way of tracking the tastes of "educated youth," those aged 18-30 who have or are working toward a bachelor's degree or higher. Currently, there are no statistics of this kind in Taiwan. But the truth is that those buying music by creative artists and those buying albums by pop idols are not the same group. In this age of thin profits, the vast difference in costs between the music of these two groups means that mainstream and independent musicians are not totally competitors by nature. Groups taking the creative path are in fact incubating another market segment, opening it up for many consumers that had already abandoned Chinese-language music.
Seeking integration
Confronted with the rise of independent and creative music, mainstream companies are hoping for some form of integration, but perhaps because of their old habits of operating the star-making machinery, these attempts haven't turned out as hoped.
For instance, when Luan Tan won a Golden Melody Award for best group in 1998, they shouted that "Taiwan's age of the bands has arrived!" And then in 1999 when Mayday's first album sold well, it caused many people, including many in the mainstream market, to await with much fanfare a great age for Taiwanese bands. Yet, with mainstream companies not understanding how to market creative bands, that coming age turned out to be just a mirage.
In 1998 a group of students who were members of the song-writing club at Chinese Culture University created the band Peppermint. With the "band fever" of that era, mainstream companies expressed interest in signing them, "but the condition was the lead guitarist had to be replaced with a woman, so that Peppermint could be marketed as a girl band!" says the band's lead singer Lin Chien, half angry and half amused.
The Brit-pop-styled rock band 13 released an album with a mainstream recording company in 2001. Trying to replicate the successful model of Mayday, they were packaged as a creatively talented "Visual-Kei"-style boy idol band. Consequently, they were ridiculed by fans, and although Universal Music Group spent more than NT$10 million on a release of their record, only 1000-2000 copies were sold. Afterwards, they kept a low profile for six years, and it wasn't until the end of 2006 that they finally released an album with an independent label. The lead singer Hsu Te-huan says that this time they handled the music, lyrics, videos and styling themselves: "It's not like before when the company would meddle in everything." He says with great emotion that now it's as if they've returned to their true selves, and this is their first real release.
Zhang Xuan, whose 2006 album My Life Will... was a surprise hit, selling more than 30,000 copies, in fact finished the album more than five years ago, but mainstream record companies thought it was "not commercial enough" and refused to release it. She had no alternative but to take her music directly to the people. Only after the unique charm of her live performances won over many fans did a record company try releasing this "old work." They were amazed when Internet presales alone surpassed 6000. Now that's a black horse.
The new order
Confronted with this creative wave, Wong Chia-ming believes that mainstream companies "still haven't woken up," and are stuck in their old ways of stoking the star-making machinery. But independent labels are ready to go, prepared at any time to spark revolution.
In truth independent music isn't an enemy of mainstream music. If handled correctly, it could be another fertile field for Chinese-language pop music, adding rich diversity to it.
Ultimately, as the popularity of singing idols rises and falls, those who work hard to create substantial music will be the ones who transcend the whims of fashion to move people's hearts over the long haul.
Taiwan's Mainstream Recording Companies and Representative Singing Stars
Sony BMG Wang Lee-hom, Rainie Yang, F4
Warner Music Stefanie Sun, A-mei, 5566, F.I.R.
EMI Jolin Tsai, David Tao
UMG Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan
Avex Cyndi Wang, Show Lo, Wu Bai
ALFA Music Jay Chou, Judy Chiang
Rock Mayday, Fish Leong
compiled by Chang Shih-lun