IFPI Asia-Pacific Regional Board chairman Norman Abdul Halim said the idea was inspired based on the success of music cities like Toronto and Nashville.
With an eye on turning Bukit Jalil into a music city, Norman said a paper is being developed to see how the music city can be implemented and rolled out in the capital.
“Music cities create a whole new economy and bring business to the country. It creates a whole new ecosystem within the country.
“(It is about) having the perfect ecosystem, a public-private partnership, engaging with consumers, fans, artistes, recording companies, merchandising companies, and promoters, among others. It is what we would like to see.
“We started our engagement with the government earlier this year. The paper is already with the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
“We hope this forum can serve its purpose to explain to the players in the industry, for KL to be a fun music city,” he said on the sidelines of the Malaysia Major Events (MME) Symposium 2017.
“We want to see more music cities being formed across the region.
“I do hope Malaysia and KL will be the first music city in the Asia-Pacific region.”
IFPI is a trade organisation representing major record companies and thousands of independent labels around the world, such as Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific.
Norman said the existence of a pro-music policy will not only help the economy of the country, but also the branding of the city locally and internationally, building a music ecosystem that covers anything educational to selling music instruments, radio broadcasting, merchandising, studios and so on.
“We are not talking about major investments. We want to create some sort of positive policy that can actually stimulate the growth of the music industry.
“We are asking the government to form or allow us to form a government-endorsed music commission, which can comprise both the public and private sectors in one committee, to design policies that are pro-music.
“There are challenges that come with organising live events, such as the revocation of permits at the last minute.
“We hope to have some form of control and certainty of an event to be organised,” he said.
A music city, he said, would comprise artistes and musicians, a thriving music scene, access to spaces and places, a receptive and engaged audience and record labels and other music-related businesses.
Norman noted that KL as a whole can be a music city, but said it is very large.
He stated that entertainment tax waivers in Bukit Jalil can be a miracle for the industry, as it can create more investments, more jobs, and allow the private sector to thrive.
The ripple effects, he said, will also be felt by those in the food and beverage industry, as well as the hotels.
“That is why we are proposing Bukit Jalil. With minor tweaks here and there, Bukit Jalil can actually be a music city pretty fast.
“We are not looking at an empty land (in Bukit Jalil). Basically, Astro is there, the stadiums are there.
“What we need are some smaller venues that can house 200 patrons, up to a 1,000 people. Venues that can accommodate 10,000, or 100,000 people … we already have that,” he said.
Norman expressed hope that the music city can at least be included in the 2019 Budget.
He stated that they were not looking at an exorbitant amount of money, just a policy that is positive for the industry.
He said the music city would be a quick win, and that the question that should be asked was how they were going to help up-and-coming artistes to get a start to their career.
“To help them be an opening act, have accommodation that is not costly, to create that vibrancy, to attract and be like a magnet to bring all these personalities to one place.
“These are little things that can be very useful to make this happen and fast,” he said.
Norman said some cities around the region, which were bigger than KL, had interest in becoming music cities, but stressed it was not about having the infrastructure but the talent.
“We have a very diverse talent pool here, and we can attract different markets around the region, whether India, China, Indonesia, and even the US. We have seen our artistes travel and having songs charting in billboards.
“It is a good time for us to look at the resources we have, and see how we can nurture them to the next level,” he said.
Norman also put forth the idea of having a music museum, considering Malaysia’s rich culture and rich history in music, going back over half a century.
“Hopefully, by doing this, the public as a whole would be receptive towards music,” he said.
Norman added that by having a proper framework and policy, whoever runs the ministry or the government can see that this is good for the community, the people and the country.
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