“CCP – INTERIM REPORT”
Event: Digital Future Series Conference at the Asia Television Forum
Theme: The Role of Music in Film and TV
Date: Dec 2
Location: Suntec City Convention Centre
Speakers included: Film producers and directors; Charles J. Sanders, Esq. SongwritersGuild of America; Nina Ossoff, songwriter; Mike Ellis, President and Managing Director, Motion Picture Association (MPA) – AsiaPacific; Li Qiankuan, Chairman of China Film Association and Head of the China Film Foundation; Dick Lee, composer; Frank Rittman, Regional LegalCounsel and Deputy Director of the MPA – Asia Pacific; Leong May Seey, Regional Dir(Asia), International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI); MichaelHosking, CEO, Midas Promotions; YeoChun Cheng, Chief Information Officer, MDA; Bernard Lanskey, Director, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music; Isa Seow, Managing Director, Centre for Content Protection (CCP); PhilipWu, Executive Chairman of GRID MMS Pte Ltd; Allan Nicholls, Department of Graduate Film, Tisch Asia; Lim Sek, Chief Executive, Music and Movement (S) Pte Ltd
Attendance:190 (minus 40 turned away for dress code)
MAIN FINDINGS
· Future of film, music, and TV business largely intertwined
· Industry is affected by piracy and digital music transformations
· TV and films are potential channels for artists, but also other channels such as live performances
· Singapore is young and has much room to grow in this space. Particularly, it will take a while to stimulate music production in this stage of economic development
· Government to play a role in stimulating freedoms, funding, and creativity, but cannot be expected to do everything
SUMMARY
The Centre for Content Protection (CCP) conducted the Digital Future Seminar Series on Dec 2 to engage the digital distribution industry at the Asia Television Forum(ATF) in Singapore.
“The DFS Series seminar was an opportune moment to discuss digital business models across the film, TVand music industries,” says Isa Seow, Managing Director, Centre for ContentProtection.
Speakers reiterated that paramount to the success of media industries is the role of music. “It is critical that musicians can earn income,” said Mike Ellis, President, Motion Picture Association(MPA) Asia Pac. Music can help media industries to grow and vice versa. It costs USD 200 million to make a movie, yet the majority of movies that go out are losing money. The challenge and opportunity lie in the fact that 16% of movie revenues come from cinema, and the remaining 84% from home entertainment.“Our collective futures depend on (our ability to adapt to) the digital transformation that’s going on,” Ellis told the industry players gathered at the conference.
Dick Lee’s personal experience in championing the inclusion of Asian elements in pop music, and five times Golden Rooster winner Li Qiankuan’s point of view on how music affects the theme of film emphasized to the audience of media industry players how the integration of music with regional and national features was crucial for collaboration between western and eastern music. Lee cited Japan for picking up the best of American pop culture, “refitting it to Japanese size,” and becoming the undisputed leader of Asian pop culture.
Qiankuan and his wife XiaoGuiyun later conducted a film masterclass and workshop on Dec 3 with MDA support. The masterclass provided an understanding of China’s film industry followed by an overview of opportunities for partnerships and proposals in the industry.
Looking at the film industry
Panelist Nina Ossoff, who has been writing successfully for movies and TV, including American Idol, advised musicians in the audience to “make your master sound awesome.” She bemoaned the fall in the number of movies with soundtracks. Philip Wu, Exec Chairman, of GRID MMS, conceded that it is a very tough game to live off music. Go around and get yourself known, he advised, submit your lyrics to the movie industry, and put up your talent for review.
Singapore is one of the easiest places to make networking connections, says the director of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Bernard Lanskey. He observed that the educational opportunities here are immense from an international perspective. “We underestimate the professional dimension of musical work,” he said. “Training in professional awareness and maintaining quality should be your priorities,” he told the listening students of music and film in the audience.
Cutting to the recession, Charles J. Sanders, Esq. Songwriters Guild of America, who moderated a panel, recalled how Hollywood came to the rescue when the Great Depression nearly wiped out songwriting in the 1930s. “Now again we’re looking to the film industry,” he stated. Panelist Malcolm Young finds that the challenges are emerging more rapidly than the answers are coming back, with the film industry downturn predating the current economic downturn. Young is soon to produce The Durian King, a zero-budget film set in Singapore.
New media are taking eyeballs off traditional media, says Wu. This makes it imperative that the movie industry work across all industries. Creating legitimate business models rapidly would enable survival on ever-emerging new platforms.
The Singapore opportunity: Networking and self-belief
Panelists pointed out that Singapore is uniquely placed in world terms. As a modern bilingual society, it is uniquely connected to South East Asian countries. The Singaporean awareness of the global community is unparalleled, says Lanskey. “What will drive internal passion is networking and self-belief.” He compared Singapore to where Paris was in 1900, or to Vienna in 1750. “Change can happen fast. The speed at which Singapore’s evolving is phenomenal.”
Wu touched on the country’s three strengths: trust, technology, and the financial system. “We might not make a Titanic,” he said, “but there are niche areas we can come into with these strengths: post-production and songwriting, for instance.” There are many who dare to dream, but many other Singaporeans are pragmatic. Singapore has not reached the critical mass of talent and we should aspire to reach that, said Wu.
“We are always calling ourselves too small and berating our lack of a long history. We must think big; we must think differently,” observed Joshua Simon, a student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Spell out rights: IFPI
As music is the primary driver of the entertainment business, be it karaoke or nightclubs, it is important to clearly spell out rights, concluded the panel on copyright and legal issues.
Leong May Seey, Regional Director (Asia), International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)recommended the ISO standard to identify the country of origin and the first owner in every commercial sound recording, and the embedding of the ISWC(International Standard Musical Work Code) to protect composers.
Frank Rittman, Regional Legal Counsel, MPA – AsiaPac, suggested a centralized licensing corporation that would allow a producer to pay a single fee, rather than needing to conform to varying structures in each country of release. Complicated sets of rights exist separately in different countries for the two pieces of intellectual property in music: the underlying musical composition, and the performance. For instance, said Sanders, US law has so many anomalies, despite being a pro-copyright country. Compulsory licensing exists, but once the song is released, anyone can make a cover of it. The licensing also does not extend to synchronization rights.
Embrace local artistes
The panel on Asia strategies recommended that Singapore embrace local artistes. “There’s great music in Singapore; you just have to play it,” observed Allan Nicholls, Department of Graduate Film, Tisch Asia (Singapore). Stefanie Sun had to leave the country and be endorsed by Taiwan before she got accepted here.
“We are not hungry enough as a nation. That said, I’d rather have the security of Singapore, than professional footballers and recording artistes if they come at the cost of security,” says Michael Hosking, CEO, Midas Promotions. He suggested introducing a radio station that played local music.
To meet the challenge of changing the Singaporean mindset, Lim Sek, Chief Exec, Music & Movement (S)Pte Ltd, said that the Republic of Pop has been started with MDA support. It is an umbrella of local talents and a movement to appeal to the Singaporean audience. The website will launch in the first quarter of 2010, detailing agents, contacts, and a step-by-step guide for talents.
Talks are on with MediaCorp to get airtime for local talent, said Yeo Chun Cheng, Chief Information Officer, MDA, and the second round of proposals for music has just opened. “But I don’t think the government is the solution to everything,” he said. “Be careful of government officials telling you what is to be done.” The solution was instead, to be “really, really good at what you do.”
The DFS seminar is an initiative under the MoU signed with the Media Development Authority(MDA) on Sept 9, as part of MDA’s agenda to develop a conducive business environment with a robust intellectual property regime and a pro-business regulatory framework.
Contact: Junaidah Arifin, Assistant Coordinator, Centre for Content Protection, 21Science Park Road, Science Park 2, The Aquarius, Office Suite11, #02-01, Singapore 117628
Office : (65) 67772854 Fax: (65) 6255 1838
Mobile :(65) 8201 4421(Isa Seow, Managing Director) / (65)91830593 (Junaidah, Coordinator)/ (65) 91282125(Anna Thomas, Communications Dep