Giving a fillip to Singapore music with Hear65
The Sam Willows (L-R): Benjamin Kheng, Sandra Riley Tang, Narelle Kheng and Jonathan Chua. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Homegrown talents like pop group The Sam Willows, Mandopop stars JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun need no introduction, but indie-electronic artist Linying or singer-songwriter Gentle Bones might not be as familiar to some. To raise the profile of local music and musicians, a new microsite will be launched in April, announced Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Baey Yam Keng on Thursday (March 8).
A play on the Republic’s country code, Hear65 will allow Singaporeans to discover, listen and discuss local music across different genres, languages and eras.
It will feature an extensive list of some 1,800 albums from a mix of more than 350 established and emerging artists, “including artists from more niche genres or earlier years who may not be making music today”, said a Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) spokesperson.
Asked how far back the site will go, the spokesperson said the aim is to “go back as far as we can”. To that end, Hear65 is “working via streaming services such as Spotify for listeners’ easy access”. It is set to grow with more music content.
Speaking at MCCY’s Committee of Supply debate, Mr Baey said the site is a partnership between The National Arts Council (NAC) and music media company Bandwagon.
Visitors to the microsite will be able to access works by local musicians and artists streamed on it. The mobile-enabled site will also allow users to filter the listings by year of release and genre, which will include pop, rock and folk and English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil songs.
Users do not have to pay to access the site, and will be able to preview the music by the artists. Details are still being worked out and will be announced at the launch.
To further pique Singaporeans’ interest in local music and help them stumble upon new artists, there will be an interactive section of crowd-sourced reviews of albums by local musicians, such as the likes of home-grown singer and songwriter Aisyah Aziz, as well as the xinyao pioneer Liang Wern Fook, who is behind Mandarin ballads from the 1980s like Xi Shui Chang Liu (Friendship Forever).
Singaporean artists will also be able to submit their music to add to the collection.
Asked how Hear65 might be profitable for local artists, the MCCY spokesperson said: “As we are using a streaming service, songs played on Hear65 are added to the artists’ streaming plays and (are) paid out accordingly by the service.”
The microsite is among the latest efforts to spur a stronger appreciation for the local music scene.
Last year, the NAC commissioned its first-ever nationwide survey on music consumption habits. It found that while two in three Singapore residents say they are proud of homegrown musicians and their works, just one in three will actively seek out musical works composed or performed by Singapore citizens and permanent residents, or know of any new local talent or song that has emerged the past two years.
Among the reasons cited for not listening to local music include a lack of exposure or interest. Respondents also said such music was not readily available, of low quality, or lacking in variety.
Beyond the microsite, MCCY and its key partners will also promote ground-up music events that feature local musicians. Hear65 is in talks with partners such as media brands; lifestyle, food and beverage companies; performance venues; and other government agencies on this.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, who spoke at the debate, also noted that Singapore’s arts and culture scene has come a long way.
About 78 per cent of Singaporeans indicated that they attended at least one arts and culture activity in 2015, an increase from just over 40 per cent in 2011.
“The arts scene is more vibrant today, with more Singaporeans recognising the value of the arts to the individual, community and our larger Singapore society, and more agreeing that the arts help to improve our lives.
“We believe our efforts have borne fruit,” said Mr Baey, adding that the MCCY is reviewing its plans to strengthen its efforts to develop the local performing arts, literary arts and visual arts this year.
Acknowledging that while the local literary scene (SingLit) now has a “strong talent base”, especially in English, with more platforms available to reach readers, he said there “remains much room for us to promote the Chinese, Malay and Tamil literary arts”.
To that end, all primary and secondary schools will be given a set of SingLit books for their libraries in the four official languages, spanning works from local writers like Francis Wong, Huang Shu Jun and Ai Yu. This early exposure to SingLit would help them develop an interest in the local literary scene, he said.
And to inject more life and into character Singapore’s landscape, the NAC will be encouraging more public art displays across the island.
In commemoration of Singapore’s Bicentennial next year, two new signature public artworks will also be commissioned in community spaces.
Sites have been freed up for artists to create public art, with more than 30 spaces secured to date, areas like town centres and sports centres in Bedok, Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Panjang, Woodlands and Clementi. The initial list of sites will be released in the middle of the year.
Beyond efforts to target the public, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sim Ann also reiterated the NAC’s efforts to promote the arts to under-served communities such as elderly, low-income families, at-risk youth and persons with disabilities, under its ArtReach initiative that was launched in 2012.
In June, the NAC will be launching a befrienders arts toolkit to provide social service organisations with arts-based activity ideas to support the process of befriending seniors.
