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| January 2000 Time to evaluate By Chan Siu Sin RELATED ARTICLES: Claiming that Hong Kong lacks original music, Ultimate 903 Commercial Radio 2 started a policy of promoting local originals in 1995. According to a spokesperson for Commercial Radio Hong Kong, the development of local pop music was very unhealthy before the launch of the policy. The spokesperson said the production technique for loca pop music was simply putting Chinese lyrics to the melodies of foreign songs. And this made local pop music only an extension of foreign music. Furthermore, in pop music awards ceremonies at the end of each year, more than half of the awards went to cover versions. This phenomenon would never make the local music industry exceptional, said the spokesperson for Commercial Radio. Besides, under the dominance of cover versions, job opportunities for local musicians were highly reduced. Therefore CR2 finally decided to carry out the policy as a way to make more room for local talent. The channel director of Hit Radio and Metro Broadcast programming controller, Mr. Wallace Kwok Kai Wah, was working as a creative director at CR2 between1988 and 1995. And he was one of the advocates of the policy. Mr. Kwok mentioned that in 1995, when cover versions dominated the music industry, CR2 was determined to promote high quality local music and help Hong Kong develop its own music culture. According to Mr. Kwok, the policy was launched mainly for two reasons. First, they thought that record companies had neglected local composers and were just concentrating on finding cover versions. Second, they thought that it was crucial for a major radio station to take the lead in changing the unhealthy situation. In fact, before 1995, CR2 tried to organize a series of activities, such as concerts for local composers, to promote original music. However, the result was not good. Mr. Kwok said limited production time and a lack of passion on the part of the record companies were the major reasons for producing cover versions. On average, Hong Kong singers produce two to four albums in a year. And therefore, the production time of each album is only about 3 to 6 months. “It is impossible for composers like Mark Lui and Anthony Lun to compose so many good songs to be shared by all the singers within such a short period of time,” Mr. Kwok said. As a result, some record companies may involuntarily turn to cover versions. Mr. Kwok said, “Straight adoption is unacceptable. It is better if the cover versions are made with new ways of interpretation or arrangements.” As the main concern of record companies is profit but not quality, the lyrics and melodies of cover versions are usually tailored for karaoke, making the songs very similar. Mr. Patrick Lee Joi Tong, the head of Radio 5 and convener of the Chinese Pop Chart Committee of Radio Television Hong Kong, said he objected to CR2’s policy on cover versions. “It was only a commercial consideration. It’s nothing more than a gimmick and a slogan,” he said. According to Mr. Lee, RTHK has its own way of promoting originality. For example, RTHK gives an award each year for the best local original song. Mr. Lee said people should pay attention to the quality of songs, not the origins. He said, “We have to admit that foreign music is better than local music.” In his opinion, local singers should open their minds to foreign music and combine them with local elements to create a unique genre. He added that getting the best parts from both Western and Asian music is the way to nourish Hong Kong pop music. Moreover, he said in the past two decades, cover versions had played an important role in the development of the Hong Kong music industry. He said cover versions had already become part of Hong Kong culture and it was inappropriate to stop broadcasting all cover versions. Said he: “We just could not simply stop broadcasting cover versions as a means to promote local originality.” Mr. Lee said the policy is too narrow-minded in its planning and execution. “We should open our eyes to what’s going on in the world rather than isolating ourselves in our own world,” said Mr. Lee. Mr. Chow Kwok Fung, a member of the Chinese Pop Chart Committee for about 5 years at RTHK, said Hong Kong pop music has been an “East meets West” phenomenon. This means Hong Kong’s music culture is under the influence of foreign music. In his opinion, cover versions can dominate the market easily, as they already have been big hits in other countries. He also pointed out that new singers are themselves more confident in following the original presentation style of the songs, especially since most singers have acquired little proper musical training, unlike their foreign counterparts. Mr. Chow said another reason for the popularity of cover versions is that Hong Kong has limited music training for musicians, making the number of professional composers available very limited. He said the number of local composers could not meet the sudden rise in demand for originals, so the policy had forced them to mass-produce songs within a short period. This lowered the quality of local originals. Mr. Yang Kut Si, the head of programme development and presentation at RTHK, was once deputy head of CR2 and a member of the Chinese Pop Chart Committee. He agreed that promoting original songs is good, but he takes issue with the method used. Mr. Yang said CR2 should understand there are insufficient composers to produce originals, and therefore it is inappropriate for CR2 to force record companies to stop using cover versions. He said that was one of the reasons why the music industry in Hong Kong has been drying up over the years. Mr. Yang also pointed out that after the launch of the policy, local record companies found a cunning way to create “originals”. According to him, some record companies have tried to negotiate with overseas composers to get the rights to their songs before foreign firms published them. If negotiations succeeded, Hong Kong singers could have used the songs first. After that, composers could sell the songs to foreign singers and publish them in their own languages. And according to CR2’s definition, songs obtained this way are considered original. Mr. Yang said, “If music is obtained this way, the local music industry is still unhealthy.” Mr. Yang said it was correct for Hong Kong people to boost originals, but he said they should not do it in a narrow way. Despite the loopholes in the execution of the policy, Mr. Kwok said he still believed that the policy had sown the seeds of originality and original music would continue to grow. He said the policy was quite successful in upsetting the imbalance between cover versions and original music. He said that nowadays, locally produced music is dominating the market. Moreover, he said the policy had increased the demand for original music and more room is now provided for local composers. However, Mr. Chow and Mr. Lee of RTHK opposed this point of view. They said it is not healthful to upset the imbalance by forcing record companies to use originals for every song. Mr. Lee said the mass media have no right to boycott an important component of local pop music culture. Furthermore, Mr. Lee said the policy failed to create new local composers. He said the increased demand provides more job opportunities only for well established musicians, so the policy did not lead to a large variety of music. Mr. Chow said the Hong Kong market is too small for different kinds of music. However, the spokesperson for Commercial Radio said it is common for songs to have similar styles or even melodies and this is not a result of the policy. The spokesman said creativity in composers and their productivity are not directly related. Highly productive composers can still write songs with plenty of creativity. In spite of all the criticisms of the policy, Mr. Kwok still had optimistic views on the policy’s ability to help the growth of original music. Said he: “On the one hand, whenever a new policy is passed, conservatives will say it’s too radical. But on the other hand, radicals will criticize it as too conservative. “I think the policy came out too late. We should have started it much earlier. Hong Kong artists had already been immersed in the culture of cover versions too long. “Without local input, the Hong Kong pop music industry is nothing more than a copying machine.” Mr. Kwok said the policy might not be the ultimate solution to the problem, but at least it is a good starting |
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