Hee-sun Kim_Professor at Kookmin University

The 2020 Asia Music Network Meeting was focused on the sudden crisis faced by global theatres amid the pandemic, suspension of international exchange and responses from different Asian countries as well as the relevant roles and future outlook of the Asia Music Network. Since then, deglobalization, statism and regionalization (concepts which have emerged during the prolonged pandemic) have also become major topics. Although the supply of vaccines has led to a partial resumption of international exchange, challenges still exist due to the music industry’s crisis and weaker mobility that have been caused by the year-long pandemic. That is why the theme of the 2021 Asia Music Network Meeting was “Post COVID-19, Building a Partnership for Coexistence of World Music in Asia.” To discuss how to redefine the Asia Music Network and how to make the network actually exert power, the meeting limited its participants to world music festival planners from Asian countries.

2021 Asia Music Network Meeting

Inequality in the Music Industry Worsened by COVID-19
With the pandemic continuing to rage for the past two years, the music industry’s inequality of regions, genres and generations has worsened. Under these circumstances, the sustainability and survival of the musical ecosystem have constituted a very important topic. In particular, such inequality has been more visible in non-commercial, non-mainstream genres such as traditional music, world music and local music. So the meeting’s first item on the agenda was about sharing Asian countries’ situations and discussing practical alternatives and the future outlook.
In Indonesia, social networking services have played an important role in the country’s music industry during the pandemic. Nevertheless, the generational gap between emerging artists (who actively use such services) and established artists was also noticeable in people’s consumption of music and participation in online festivals during the pandemic. It is true that emerging artists had new opportunities through such online performances but they couldn’t perform live. So support from the music industry (e.g, festivals) for emerging artists will be very important in the future.
Taiwan had a chance to diversify its music industry, which has gone through strong regionalization amid the pandemic. In particular, the pandemic led people to realize the importance of music in daily life, resulting in vitalizing different types of music shared on online platforms. Moreover, the country’s artists came to further focus on creating music and to become more interested in online international collaboration with artists from other regions. Indeed, they had experiences of active international collaboration with European festivals but it is regrettable that they didn’t collaborate with Asian partners more actively.
Compared to other Asian countries, India has complex cultures which are different from each other. In this country as well, the pandemic period was an occasion of new creative attempts for young artists and producers. In particular, this period led to invigorating some genres such as digital music and electronic music. However, traditional music, which exists in local communities, has been paralyzed amid the pandemic, with its ecosystem threatened during such a challenging period. Nevertheless, artists look forward to a bright future, still believing that online performances won’t be able to replace live ones. They expect that live performances will resume to ensure artists’ survival and to restore the ecosystem of the arts.
Singapore’s Esplanade has made continuous effort to strike a balance between the commercial and non-commercial arts. During the pandemic, the country focused on supporting and promoting the non-commercial arts and traditional artists. World music, which is based on traditional music, could contribute to dissipating the inequality between genres, particularly in Asia. That is because world music could lead artists to support each other through cooperation and constant dialogue.

The art of indian percussion (source: Youtube channel of the Esplanade)

From Korea, Victor M. K. Kye explains that not only Korea but also the entire world has seen the inequality between countries, genres and generations due to the pandemic. In particular, the gap between the commercial and non-commercial arts is epitomized by the inequality between K-pop (led by BTS) and non-commercial genres in Korea. Even within the same genre, there is a gap between established artists, who experienced international exchange before the pandemic, and emerging artists. Since emerging artists may be marginalized afterwards, it is necessary to come up with new post-pandemic measures to overcome this.

Attracting Audiences at Asian World Music Festivals during the Pandemic
During the pandemic, live performances have been largely prohibited. In such an unprecedented situation of contact-free performances, the music industry found it difficult to attract audiences. However, the crisis has turned into an opportunity. Festivals in different regions have resumed performances, with their audiences maintaining their interest and participation. Meanwhile, they have attracted new audiences through online events. This has been an positive aspect of the pandemic period.
In Indonesia, festivals on islands presented small, meaningful performances for local residents. It was an reflective experience. A performance taking place in a local area was shared online for those in other areas, leading to new movements. In particular, the convergence and collaboration of different genres (e.g. traditional music performed by emerging artists) constitute a very positive case. In Taiwan, a music festival offered an event of experiencing the “world” and “travel,” which generated an enthusiastic response from the audience. Such a process allowed visitors to learn and take interest in new genres, preparing themselves as the potential audience. In Singapore, special programs (e.g. Jazz in July) were planned to connect specific genres (e.g. jazz) to loyal audiences in a sustainable manner. When it comes to some genres (e.g. world music) that need certain means to link artists and audiences, online platforms and videos successfully played a role of attracting new audiences and generating interest among young people. For those in other local areas who cannot come to a live performance, an online show enabled them to participate so it was an useful tool of attracting people. Online performances, which won’t replace live ones, could serve as a catalyst for attracting new audiences. During the meeting, some participants suggested that we categorize those watching performances as “audiences” (the existing concept referring to those who watch shows on the spot) and as “viewers” (those who watch online performances). So even after live performances resume everywhere, the online space, which has been invigorated during the pandemic, is expected to invite “viewers” as a new category of audiences. The viewers could also join those who watch live performances.

Future Solidarity and Cooperation for the Sustainable International Exchange of Asian Music in the Era of Deglobalization

CULTURAS 360° (source: Homepage of IndiEarth XChange)

The last item on the agenda had two parts. First, the participants shared cases of regionalization in the era of deglobalization characterized by limited international mobility. Second, they discussed ideas about international cooperation for musical exchange. The discussants all agreed that not only the sustainable solidarity of Asian world music but also the global network of world music festivals should exert more power amid today’s crisis. Above all, they emphasized the role of festivals as intermediaries in order to sustain the ecosystem of the music industry, to support artists and to strengthen musical diversity. The online collaboration between Taiwanese group Sauljaljui and Korean group Hey String, which took place as part of the Asian residency at the ACC World Music Festival, was considered a representative case of online international collaboration between Asia’s emerging artists during the pandemic. Meanwhile, CULTURAS 360°, which currently involves eight music festivals in Asia, Europe, North America and South America, will be expanded to 17 global festivals this November. So some participants suggested that world music-related festivals in different Asian countries actively participate in CULTURAS 360°. That is because the Asian festivals could use it as a platform for introducing their countries’ artists, sharing resources from different regions and building partnerships. The discussants also requested the Korea Arts Management Service to add a platform connecting music festivals from different countries. To be able to run such a platform immediately, the discussants reached a consensus to share the websites of festivals and institutions that participated in this year’s meeting through this issue of TheApro. The websites are found below.
The participants concluded that a sustainable and serious dialogue, rather than hasty and short-term international exchanges, would be the only way to ensure true communication. In the heart of such a conclusion was their belief in the major role of music that contributes to the sustainability of the musical ecosystem, respect of artists and maturity of society. The pandemic urges humanity’s solidarity and companionship. Through communication, solidarity and companionship based on mutual respect, we will be able to go beyond the simplistic international exchange (which is just about going global unilaterally and introducing a country’s local music), thus overcoming the inequality between countries, regions, generations and genres. Going further, we will be able to achieve cultural inclusiveness and the true understanding of humanity’s cultural diversity, which constitute values pursued by world music.