'Good live performance more important than selling records'

By Rachel Lee

Most of this year’s international music festivals having finished, leaving planning and anticipation for next year’s events. And the local music industry is mulling how to sustain the strong popularity of Korean music in the wake of Psy’s recent success.

Malcolm Haynes, program coordinator for the United Kingdom’s Glastonbury Festival, was especially keen to discover talented Korean artists as possible acts for next season’s festivals. He was one of the participants at last week’s “MU:CON SEOUL 2012,” a global music conference and showcase hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency.

“I am here for two reasons. One, to talk about what I do at Glastonbury, how I think that people might be able to get to play there, but also in return, I am over here to check out the music scene over here,” said Haynes Thursday in an interview at Nuridream Square in Seoul.

With over 25 years in the music business, Haynes also promotes successful club nights and gigs in Bristol, England including the world-renowned Pussy Parlure and The Parlure, a new addition to the Brighton Fringe Festival.

The music expert said that Korean acts need to tackle the language barrier to grow. “With even today’s technology, with the Internet, there is still that language barrier but it’s slowly breaking down. And also I think media needs to feature more Asian music so that there is more opportunity for people to find out about it,” he said.

Regarding Psy’s massive hit “Gangnam Style,” Haynes said: “I see that song as a novelty and comical one, which has been the main attraction in England. (But) for me to be able to make an informed, critical choice of him, I would need to hear more of his stuff.

“Is his success in the U.K. because of just that one song? I think it probably is and I will be interested in how he follows that up.”

He also pointed out a big difference between Korea and other countries including the U.K.; the size of the singles market and its importance.

“In England, with the digital age now, it’s possible for bands to sell out a concert even up to 2,000 people without releasing a single. Because it’s all done on YouTube and Facebook but generally what happens with the English market is, an artist will release one or two singles, then they will release an album. But in Korea, there is no singles market. In Korea it’s more of an album market.” Haynes said.

He added, “There isn’t a lot of money in album sales anymore but more money in live music.” Bands are earning money by playing live and selling merchandise. “And also if you are successful as a live band, you will get on to more festivals, and they will pay you decent money.”

“MU:CON SEOUL 2012,” which attracted some 100 local and international production companies, ended Saturday.