What will it take for an Asian to be an international music phenomenon and achieve global commercial success?

Question

In my experience as a record label executive, it takes more than just talent to have an international 'smash hit'. Breakthrough acts need certain 'magic elements' falling into place in order to make it big globally - having the right song, at the right moment in time, with the right audience, and access and doors opened to the right contacts. What's it going to take for an Asian to have a worldwide hit that transcends borders?

Answer 1

We've all seen some seriously questionable acts making it big thanks to one killer single and the reason is simple - contacts and promotional push. Remember that novelty act Shampoo that probably made millions from their annoying hit single "Trouble" ( uh uh we're in trouble...), or the two old guys behind "Macarena"....not the best songs or talent but both became international superhits.

If an Asian country ever has a song/star package that could be the "next big thing", maybe all the record producers in that country should collaborate in terms of contacts to help hook this person up with the right people at MTV etc. If you have the right hit in English, sung by an act with the right look,
then it should be sellable across markets. Although i dont see it happening commercially, i think it'll be good in the long run, as it'll create publicity for that country's music industry.
If a Philipino artist made it big internationally, then naturally the whole Philipino music industry will come into focus and everyone benefits.

Answer 2

First of all be original. Create own song that cannot be sang be other people. Then be educated, which means singer must not only can sing, but know a lot about vocal, can read notes, can play certains music instruments and can understand a lot about the song.
Sometime it is not be necessary that Asean singer must be able to sing English song, but the most important thing is the quality of the song and the originality and the quality of the singer that carry out the song.
The examples is how Indian from Bollywood can hit the world of Hollywood just by bring the Indian song to the same or better quality than Hollywood song. Last Kecthup from latin also hit American Top 10 while even the singer doesn't know the meaning of the song, but since there is originality that no toher singer can sing the song, It's become hit.
In team of traning, artist must be traning the early age as possible. The proof tha be found the biography of black female singer like Diana Ross, and other, all of them were a backup singer at their church, and then from there, they undergo training and not to be surprise most of them have a degree in performaing arts. And this take time.

Answer 3

Dont think language is a major issue, you have better chances in English but when you look at the Ketchup Song and Macarena, both were massive hits in Spanish, despite most ppl not knowing the langauge.

I thnk the genre that trancends all markets globaly is dance/pop. Make sure it has kller hook, killer production value
and killer marketng plan thats strategic to ensure the right people in US/Uk/.Europe/Asia hear about it.

Marketing goes beyond publicity - think of a killer PR gimmick that launches the single into space, some some really good cross promotional tie-up or product placement.
everyhting's for sale these days and record labels must be smart on how they want to position the artist/song.

Few weeks back on Idol, some singer Robin Thicke was a guest - who the hell is he? Nobody, and he was quite awful too = but clearly his label managed to get him onto the most watched TV show in the world/US, because that a perfect platform where the captive target audience is - teenage girls!

Launching a star these days isnt neccessily about havng the best song/artist. Its about looking at the market , figuring out who the "influencers" are, and "crafting" the artist image, song, whole packaging to appeal to that.

AsianRecord labels need to start thinkng of their artists as "products". And of course if the product has quality and strong music talent., voice etc, then the better the chances he/she will be more than a one hit wonder.

Answer 4

In a nutshell, you have already answered your own question.
No matter what race the singer may be, it is still the same 'magic elements' required to be globally successful.
However, if someone wins a singing contract but does not use it wisely, it will just be a waste of everything....I am sure you know where I'm at....lol.
Like one answerer replied...lots of exposure and airplay.
To have a 'smash hit', a good song-writer-composer, lyricist and musicians play a great part besides the voice.
You surely know better than us at Yahoo Answers, En. Izham :)

[edit] See, so many people with so many correct answers!!! But, what is the local music industry doing? Or, can't afford to do so by taking ''risks''?
For example, The Strollers, Alleycats, etc....they are all fine but didn't get anywhere beyond Malaysia....if Malaysia Boleh, then why not this?.....

Malaysian music industry certainly has a very long way to go!!!
It really sounds like a joke now, doesn't it? Especially with the false English accents!!! Originality, man, originality boleh or not??

I sincerely hope someone would truly do something for the contestants who won in talent search shows......Jaclyn, Daniel, Suki, John.....where on earth are they now....???
Daniel and John are around town but is the publicity enough?
Would Suki really go off to Taiwan? Hello?
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Answer 5

IMO, it's down to the basics. for one thing, to have an international hit you would most probably need an english song. and from what i hear on local radio, a lot of malaysian bands and artists try way too hard. i mean, have you heard the way some of them sing? they try to force an accent or try to imitate western slangs and they end up sounding rather silly. sorry to say, but this is especially true with local hip hop bands. they try to walk the walk, talk the talk but only end up mumbling and stumbling. i'm no recording expert, but i doubt international listeners want to hear bad english.

on the other hand, i've heard hip hop songs in malay and tamil which sound a lot better than the (local) english ones. maybe its because they incorporate more local elements into these songs. you know, the way they fuse kompangs into a hip hop beat? that kind of thing. it makes the song more.... exotic? and with those 'magic elements' you mentioned, there's probably a chance a couple of these songs would take off.

on the rock side of the industry, there seems to be more bands that sound better in english nowadays. although some are still quite crappy. and lately local artists have also been trying out Indo-styled pop/rock, and these sound pretty good, but you can only go so far.

at the end of the day, it would come back down to the language barrier. you can't forever speak to an international audience in a tongue they don't understand. so our artists could probably do with a few oral english classes before they try to get international.

anyway, just my 2 sen.

Answer 6

Well, everyone has their own say, but based on my experience, (my dad is a musician) I guess my answer would be resilience. Asian performers tend to stay in their 'comfort zones' like the ones my dad used to play with, or work with, mostly having great talents but after a few hits, forgotten that in the end it's all work and passion. That's what kept my dad going all these years. No 'magic' elements here either. He went through a lot of rehearsals to achieve his place in the entertainment industry and most of his time spent to practice, his colleagues would go out and have a drink instead. Asian performers need to know that being in the music industry is not all about glamour and money, but doing what you love best, groovin' to the music!

Answer 7

If people knew the answer to this question wed all be famous singers and performers. It takes tons of hard work and a rock solid belief in your abiities, skills, talents and looks too. Music is so dependant on looks these days its almost criminal how dolled up tramps are now seen as excellent singers when in reality most are just good lookers who use clever studio technology to fix up their bad singing. And yes there are software programs that can make you sound like youre singing in tune or have a beefier voice etc. Music these days is al about stylists and dancing. In the old days (70s and 80s) I could always tell a fake because they always trotted out heaps of dancers to take your attention away from the average singing, Im still seeing the same stuff now only theyve gone more soft porn to sell more CDs.

Answer 8

People are becoming more open-minded about music from new places, but honestly, if an Asian wants to have an international commercial hit,they're going to need tons of major A&R, endorsement from MTV across markets and of course massive radio airplay.

It has to be a catchy pop hit that takes the world by storm, like
"The Ketchup Song" by those Spanish girl trio, nobody knows or cares who they are now, but for a while, they were "IT" all over the world. Whoever produces it has to make sure it has that killer hook and whoever sings it has to have mass appeal.

Answer 9

Problem with our music industry is that we immitate rather than create. There's no originality, the music & selection of artist are cheap replicas of what the west (USA) got to offer. We need to produce more singers who are original in sound & delivery, who can write their own music by being different and experimental and who can by all mean entertain! We lack that enormously. If global commercial success is what we are looking for, the marketting tool must be extremely hard pressed. Promotion, air play, recognition... these are not scopes to be burdenned to the artists I must guess. Start on a smaller scale, tackle the regional market n then only try to dream it big. No point of wasting lots of money and energy by trying the US market if the product cannot even penetrate... say... Indonesia. Produce consistency. We might not be able to make it big with one artist, but if we have a range of good singers/song writers... one day, it will be heard... i hope.

Answer 10

A good package will do, voice, face, background and supporter. Of caused you have to follow the flow of music. Be flexible, dancing is one good talent. hardwork, head strong will help a lot. Give what the crowd want, not what you or your artist want. All the reality show such as AF will be successful platform for the winning singer if they can limited each voter to cast only one vote during the final. Only then you will know, who actually gets the highest vote. Who can actually survived in the real world and capable of hitting the international market.