Concert destination: Why Singapore is edging out Malaysia

By Min Hani

FARHA Jamil has spent close to RM50,000 trailing her favourite Korean rapper Min Yoon-gi — otherwise known by his rapper name Agust D and more famously as BTS's Suga — all across Southeast Asia.

The money, the 28-year-old Malaysian music fan says, has gone towards concert and flight tickets, official merchandise and expensive accommodation. And she does not regret any of it.

"When Yoon-gi announced the D-Day Tour, I knew I just had to splurge," Farha said.

The D-Day Tour is Suga's first worldwide concert tour in support of the Agust D solo album of the same name. And the response of both fans and critics to the 25-show jaunt has been nothing short of phenomenal.

Unfortunately, while Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore all played host to the Korean performer, with multiple back-to-back concerts in all three countries, Malaysia was conspicuously left out.

"I'm glad I managed to see him, but I still wish he'd toured Malaysia. Nothing beats seeing your favourite artiste in your home country," Farha said.

Malaysia has attracted its fair share of A-listers over the years. Yet it has frequently played second fiddle to its Southeast Asian neighbours.

And the situation with Suga's tour, along with recent announcements by British rock band Coldplay and American pop superstar Taylor Swift indicates that music artistes are not just skipping Malaysia in favour of Singapore, but are also choosing to perform multiple gigs in the latter country.

Singapore Rock City

To be clear, there was initially no mention of a Singapore date when in May, Coldplay announced concerts in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur as part of its Music of the Spheres world tour.

In June, however, a total of six Singapore dates, set for January 2024, had been added to the itinerary. This, despite Malaysian fans having petitioned for a second show in the country after tickets were snapped up in record time.

And then, Swift got in on the action, confirming six concerts in the island republic in March 2024 as part of her The Eras Tour.

None of this is particularly shocking to industry players in Singapore, however. They suggest, in fact, that the Singapore government's strong support for the events industry is what has led to international artistes making the city-state their No. 1 destination.

They claim Singapore has worked tirelessly over the years to position itself as the premier entertainment hub in the region, with aggressive bidding for the world's top performers to stop over in the country of just six million people.

Additionally, there is Singapore's better infrastructure and the efforts of those in charge, making hosting events easier.

"The government here makes everything streamlined and quite straightforward," said a music company executive who declined to be named.

"Also, while we (Singapore) may not have the largest audience in terms of population size, it's important to remember that the Asian headquarters for music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and TikTok are here."

Left behind?

Across the Causeway in Malaysia, meanwhile, within the music and live events industry, the feeling is that it has become increasingly difficult to secure performance visas and approvals for artistes.

And religious conservatism and protests by political parties and rights groups are only part of the problem.

For the record, demonstrations against music events, both planned and held, have long been par for the course in Malaysia, with Michael Jackson (in the 1990s) and international superstar Beyonce Knowles (in 2009) among those affected.

Yet many believe that due to the billions of ringgit at stake currently, the powers that be must move to make things right.

"The government should start taking the creative industry seriously. It's a pot of gold. And music tourism can have a significant economic impact on host destinations. (In fact) the United States leg of Taylor Swift's tour alone is projected to generate economic activity of US$5 billion," said Joe Lee, a veteran entertainment editor and music management consultant.

The problem, he claims, is the seeming unwillingness to change things.

"I've been trying to help the government by sharing frameworks for over a decade now. It's all for free, just let us (industry players and authorities) work closely with one another, iron out things and ease the application process for holding events.

"But everything appears to have fallen on deaf ears."

Concert promoter Rahul Kukreja is similarly perturbed. Putting the numbers into perspective, he says that Malaysia appears to be simply disregarding a huge revenue stream.

"Let's say there are six major tours held in Singapore between January and March 2024, and we take into account that there are 70,000 who can afford to and will travel to watch at least three out of six shows. That's 70,000 Malaysians travelling there in Q1.

"Let's then say a person spends about RM5,000 per trip. That's RM350 million contributed to Singapore's economy from Malaysians alone. And that's a low estimate."

Kukreja added that base numbers, when factoring in music fans from other countries heading to Singapore, indicate potential revenue of S$5 billion to S$8 billion. And that, he said, will change the business of live events and music tourism in the region.

Nevertheless, he feels it is not too late for Malaysia to put together an action plan for Q3 and Q4 of 2024.

And if key decision-makers are keen to turn things around, Kukreja said that he, like many others, would be open to sharing relevant data and stats and working together with the government.

In other words, things could definitely change and fans could see their favourite acts in concerts here. But the ball is most certainly in Malaysia's court.

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