Eye-opening Encounter

Hey awesome interns! Crazy week huh? Hope that all of you are coping well. As for me, there's always something new everyday.

My early prediction on how the music business works completely changed once I'm involved with the whole process from start to finish; from attending a meeting between the songwriter/producer and the artist, discussing the genre and the personality of the artist which is important to suit the song with the one who is going to sing it, studying contracts once they reached a mutual understanding, and finally recording.

However, that was only a portion of the whole process. For instance, Taja will come out with the melody and the lyrics, record it, playback only for hundred times!, and present it to the artist. The music arrangement, the feel of the song, will be considered by the artist, and once approved, he will record all the instruments used in the song separately to be arranged in the song. Should the artist have any idea or changes for the song, they must project their views before this stage. After recording the proper yet basic version, the next stage is the producing and mixing of the song, until the producer and artist have mutually agreed.

The promotion requires a strong concept, media coverage and event, especially if the artist is a new comer to the industry. If the artist already have a good standing in the society, then the media will be anticipating and we will even get sponsors to invest on the event or promotion etc. That's the power of networking in the local music industry. Media reacts really well towards gossip. Gossips always sell but we feel that it is never a good angle to start anything with gossips.

For every song written, there are four forms that must be filled in for the Music Authors' Copyright Protection (MACP) Berhad, a body that will calculate and collect the royalty for the singer, composer, author (lyricist), and publisher for that particular song.

I can go all day explaining and make you listen to some songs if you're sitting with me now. Because let me tell you guys, every day is like Christmas with these guys, I get freebies all the time; at events, our own merchandise, and gifts from sponsors. I love my job!