OPINION — It’s an issue that’s been lamented for decades among fans and stakeholders in the local music scene: Singapore radio just doesn’t dedicate enough airtime to Singapore music.
On one side of the fence, people could argue that homegrown acts just don’t bring in the listenership — people want to hear international hits and world-renowned artistes. On the other, it could be argued that Singaporeans aren’t giving love to local music because they don’t even get enough airplay on radio — thus preventing homegrown acts from taking off and going big beyond our borders.
But lo, how some noble radio stations have tried their hardest to promote Singaporean music despite discouraging airs by the powers that be. Back in 2012, Communications and Information Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim noted that there wasn’t a need to impose a quota for local music on radio as there weren’t enough broadcast-quality local music.
Quota or no quota, the passioned advocation to hear the local likes of Charlie Lim, Cashew Chemists, Linying, and many, many more on regular rotation shouldn’t be an issue in the first place. If you Singaporean radio, play Singaporean music lah, what’s the big deal?
One saviour that the local music scene has right now is clearly Lush 99.5FM, whose dedication to homegrown talent is nonpareil among fellow Singaporean radio stations. Pushing forth local-centric campaigns like #LushLovesLocal; featuring local musicians as their artists of the month; playing all Singapore music all day for National Day — they’re probably treading a very fine line between commercial interests and independent art.
Though the fight to normalise Singapore’s music among audiences here marches on, the battle to win the hearts of overseas audiences is being engaged in a collaboration between the Singapore Tourism Board and internet radio service Pandora.
Subscribers of the service can now listen to Singaporean music all day, everyday, by way of Pandora’s dedicated Singapore station, featuring around 90 songs by 30 selected local artists. Curated by The Music Society Singapore, the roster of acts featured ranges widely — from the critically-acclaimed grindcore tunes of Wormrot to the smooth lyrical flow of rapper The LionCityBoy. Of course, the obligatory Sam Willows, too.
Aside from music, there’ll also be spurts of accompanying track commentary by musicians on their creative processes and Singapore’s influence on their music, The Straits Times reports.
Alas, the internet radio service is only available in US, Australia and New Zealand, depriving the people in need of some local music education access to a station that plays way more local music than most local platforms. Nonetheless, there’s always Spotify’s playlist of Singapore’s Top Acts.
