From Underground To Indie
“As the word independent (獨立) suggests, I think independent music has more to do with musician’s autonomy,” said Jun Ying, the bassist of the band Smoking Area 25.
With the appearance of Internet, the term “underground music” seems to be replaced by a relatively new word “indie.” These two terms are actually quite different from each other. Decades ago, the line between mainstream and non-mainstream was rather explicit — music with or without a label support [1]. Back in that period of time, media resources were limited and usually controlled by those big labels, therefore music that did not have any commercial support could only go underground. It was not easy to get exposure to the underground music as the word itself implies. This music, often shared certain rebellious qualities in it, was not widely accepted and usually regarded as the opposite of the mainstream. Nevertheless, as the internet opens the way for the underground music to emerge, the word underground becomes inadequate to describe the idea, thus, a new term has appeared to make up the deficiency “underground” failed to envelop. Different from the idea of underground, indie music is no longer categorized as an inverse of mainstream music. It is more about the autonomy of creation and the independence of operation.
Independent v.s Conformity
“Some like certain types of music not because they really think it is great but because liking it makes them look dope,” Kuan Yu, the drummer of Smoking Area 25, said. “Some just love the feelings of being different from the multitudes,” said Tzu Ping, the keyboarder.
Human beings can be possessive more or less, and knowing or appreciating things that others don’t can give them a sense of superiority. Indie music, therefore, becomes a tool for a small part of listeners to show off their “good tastes.” When an indie band starts to gain fame and popularize, some of the indie fans will stop liking the music they were once crazy about because it can no longer conduce to their uniqueness. The phenomenon can be seen quite often in the indie music scene, as some of them see popularization as a rampant corruption.
Moreover, there seems to be a bizarre hierarchy that formed to divide true music from pop/mainstream music according to the popularity. There are people that look down on mainstream music, criticizing it for the cheesy melody and lyrics. In Taiwan, the word “Bala” (transliteration of ballad, a slow love song, in Mandarin) is often used to mock those songs, implying that they are shoddy, sleazy and cheap. The term now carries a negative implication for there are too many poorly made ballads prevailing in the market.
Nevertheless, there is no genre that is higher or lower, but rather, only a matter of different orientation. “People should respect and acknowledge different tastes,” said Fan Chun, the vocal and guitarist.
Some fans often accuse artists for changing, saying that they are not the people they were anymore. Signing with a big record label deepens their worries even more. Recent years, with the rapid development happening in the music industry in Taiwan, a lot of indie musicians have decided to sign a contract with a label due to various reasons. Upon learning these moves, some fans will then immerse themselves in their own disappointment, accusing bands of losing their initial faith and pandering to financial interest.
“I don’t think that is bad, with the company’s help, you can actually concentrate more on your music,” Kuan Yu said, “but the prerequisite is that the company cannot interfere in the composition,” he added.
You cannot support your dream or living only with passion, and getting offer from a company does not necessary mean that the music has become money-driven and is now only catering the public tastes.
Commercialization often seems to carry certain negative values in it. However, although it is undeniable that there are some made just for profit, commerce, or money, does not always bring distortion to music. The influential English writer Samuel Johnson from the eighteenth century is the perfect example. He wrote for living, but he still managed to produce tons of great literature works.
“Some will say that we are pandering to commerce,” said Fan Chun, “but we grow up, experiencing various things and it is hard to just leave alone living. Nevertheless, we are certain about every decision we made.” “People grow up and change as time passing and it is natural that the music/work they produce will change according to the mentality then,” added Fan Chun, “the messages you want to deliver just differ as you are in different stages of life.”
Changes are inevitable. People’s mentalities in their 30s will definitely differ from those of their 20s. However, the essence of music is always about the musicians, about themselves. “Art is a way to express one’s true feelings,” said the drummer from Smoking Area 25.
The Boom and The Dilemma
The rise of the indie music in Taiwan can be associated with the digitalization. Indie music industry has witnessed a high-rocket growth in recent years and the launch of we media definitely plays a vital role in the flourishing.
“With the advancing technology, we no longer have to promote ourselves through news or activities,” said Jun Ying, the bassist. The ways of promotion are no longer confined to those traditional media such as television, radio and newspaper. People lately receive information mostly from their mobile phones and Internet. This then creates an open field for musicians from small labels to promote and present their music to public at low cost.
The blossom online platforms also help musicians to mitigate the impact that stems from the cancellation of major music festivals and the recent quarantine. The flourishing online platforms like Facebook, YouTube and so on, enable musicians to interact with fans and release songs without being restricted by the current situation.
Nevertheless, Internet has its limitation. Though the online platforms can offset parts of the brunt of recent cancellations, the problem of its audience is still there.
“Compared to previous years, indie music industry has expanded remarkably, but the actual audience is still insufficient,” Fan Chun said. “It has a lots to do with the listening habits. The audience of music festivals and gigs is still partial.”
Music environment is relatively better and more prosperous recently, however, the sale of the music festivals or live shows is still not enough to sustain the whole. Along with other reasons, we had witnessed the fall of Wake Up Festival and other festivals.
The band Smoking Area 25 also mentioned another predicament independent musicians may encounter during their career. Major music streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, etc, all state that a registered distributor is needed in order to release songs on their platforms. So for independent musicians, who take care of everything mostly by themselves, it is extremely difficult for them to launch their songs on those popular platforms, thus, the publicity is limited.
The growth of the music industry in Taiwan can be attributed to the various assistance programs the government has provided. “This bolsters the industry because, as a lot of people know, it is hard to make a living through music,” Jun Ying said.
Recent years, Taiwanese government has put a lot of effort into cultural and creative industries and the subsidies it provides indeed helps enrich the music environment by bringing more voices and choices to the market. “The government serves as a helper in the industry. If there were no subsidies, the market would be confined to people who are already very famous,” Kuan Yu said.
With the help, the music scene now has a much more diverse genres and thus enables the audience to have more choices when listening to music. However, for every plus there is a minus. The beneficial policy has a latent problem. “If you see government as an investor, you will have to value the interest it can generate,” Jun Ying said. “The policy is beneficial to bands, but from a capitalist point of view, maybe it is not. The money comes from tax payers, and it can be a waste of money if you consider the profit only,” said Fan Chun.
Taiwan’s Indie Music In China
Taiwan’s indie bands have gained growing popularity in China in recent years partly because of the melancholy realities and wearing everyday life that people are facing right now. Taiwan’s indie musicians often express feelings that modern people share in common, the irritations, indignation or bewilderment, in their music; and these then resonate strongly with the misanthropes. Nevertheless, even though the music has received a lot of love from China on Internet or streaming music platforms like Streetvoice or Netease Cloud Music, a Chinese music streaming platform, it can still be onerous to really perform or expand their career in a wary country which has comprehensive censorship of music and activities.
In order to perform in China, especially major music festivals like Midi Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival, every song on stage has to be “reported for approval” [2]. Songs contain political content are definitely prohibited, and things that are considered too sexual or too violent will also be forbidden from stages.
Even though the songs and musicians fit the standard, the processes can be too strenuous. It usually requires the host or the place manager to report for approval and the process is usually time and energy consuming, therefore, for musicians who do not belong to any label, it can be very difficult to hold a tour in China.
Despite these restrictions and cumbersome processes, considerable number of Taiwanese indie musicians still continue to expand their business in China. “Because they have a larger audience,” said Fan Chun. This then brings out the crux of Taiwan’s indie music scene — people who attend music festivals or live shows are still confined to specific group of people and the number of audience simply can’t sustain the industry.
Nevertheless, with more and more indie musicians being nominated in the national music awards, the Golden Melody Awards, the potential of Taiwan’s indie music indeed starts to shine through. The future is promising and the diversity that indie music brings can also breathe new and fresh life into the current music scene.
Reference:
[1] Oliver 奧利佛. “獨立 VS 主流？.” Blow 吹音樂, 9 Dec. 2016, blow.streetvoice.com/22425/. Accessed 8 June 2020.
[2] Oliver 奧利佛. “想去表演先過這關！一篇看懂中國演出「報批」制度.” Blow 吹音樂, 9 Dec. 2016, blow.streetvoice.com/4185/. Accessed 8 June 2020.