Group Wants 90pc Local Music On Private Radio Stations
PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Artistes Association (Karyawan) has appealed to the government to make it compulsory for private radio stations to keep 90 per cent of their music content local.
Its president, Freddie Fernandez, said the local music industry needed airtime for foreign songs to be limited to 10 per cent for it to survive, as many radio stations play mostly Indonesian songs.
On Thursday, Fernandez and musician M. Nasir met Energy, Water and Communication Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor to discuss the problems in the music industry.
They also handed over a memorandum protesting the frequent airplay of foreign songs by private radio stations.
Shaziman said the government was committed to addressing problems faced by the industry, but it needed to hear from the private radio stations as well.
Checks showed that all private radio stations have abided by the content requirements set by the authorities.
Most stations have been given a 60:40 ratio of local to foreign songs, and statistics show that most, if not all of them, play more local songs than mandated, with an average of 70.8 per cent.
Fernandez dismissed arguments that radio stations were only meeting the demands of listeners.
“How could the demand be there if it wasn’t for radio stations which keep playing these foreign songs? And don’t tell us it is because there is a lack of quality songs,” he said, adding there were 68 albums released by local artistes last year.
He blamed the dwindling revenues of the industry on radio stations’ preference for foreign music.
In 1996, he said, the music industry raked in RM315 million, which has now dropped to RM60 million.
New Straits Times