RETAILERS of musical instruments have been forced to do niche marketing to survive amid a limited market and a sluggish music industry.
Joshua Abraham, marketing manager at one of the industry players, Starmakers Music Sdn Bhd, said the industry consists of niche areas.
“I have been to the other music shops and spoken with the owners and managers. I have seen the way they do business and I realised that each of them are specialised in their own niche areas. One will be focusing in providing instruments for beginners. Here you can get really cheap stuff. I cannot speak for their quality but the prices are very good and competitive. Others will focus on pianos, classical instruments as well as cheaper products from China,” he said.
“Our niche is the high-end market where people are more concerned on the brand, origin of the instruments, lifetime guarantees and brand name. Sales have been very good because we offer products that no other companies offer,” he added.
He told The Brunei Times that he had spent a lot of time trying to make prices more competitive so people will not have to go to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur just to buy instruments.
“We get them directly from the official distributors so we offer them quality branded products at a very good price. They can get stuff here for the same price that they would pay if they have to fly to Singapore and KL. This excludes the cost of tickets … you pay $1,000 here for stuff that you will have to pay $1,000 in Singapore,” he said.
Abraham said that Starmakers also houses its own recording and jamming studios which allows the firm to help develop the talent in Brunei.
“We have people coming in, songwriters with no bands or instruments and at the same time bands skilled at playing cover songs but do not write their own music. We are very privileged to be in the position to bring together these people who usually do not meet,” he said before providing advice to up-and-coming music enthusiasts in the country.
“I don’t know if you can become a musician if you just play guitar as a hobby, but if it is something that you are passionate about then go for it.
“You only live once so you might as well do what you love. To me music is something that is meant to be shared,” he added.
Abraham, a Malaysian native with a permanent resident status in Singapore, comes from banking, finance and business management background. He had however always been involved in music growing up, with some 12 years of experience as a choir boy.
“I also played in various bands in Singapore since I was 13 years old so music has always been my passion. When the opportunity arose for me to manage a retail shop with a jamming and recording studio, I thought that this was a good opportunity so I took up the job,” he said.
He has been the marketing manager for Starmakers Music for the past seven months.
Abraham said for the music industry to truly develop, steps have to be taken to change mindset associating the music industry with alcohol and drug use.
He said Brunei’s music industry is unique in the sense that there is a lot of “red tape” when it comes to music due to past incidences.
“The music industry here cannot compare with Singapore and Malaysia because whatever the reason is Brunei’s music industry is just not as developed,” he said.
“There is a music scene here, but (there is) no one to bring it to the next level. Those who want to make it big have to do it outside of the country,” he said.
He said that “people in power” have to realise that music is not a bad thing.
Young musicians performing. Picture: BT file
“Sometimes people associate alcohol and drugs to music but this correlation is ridiculous,” he said, adding that baby steps will have to be taken to change this mindset.
“We will start with maybe one or two family oriented performance and when the people in power realise it’s good, with integrity and family (orientation), they will start to open up.
“I don’t know how to change people’s mentality but I know that anything is possible with baby steps in the right direction,” he added. He said there are a lot of things going on in Brunei’s music scene but these are all very “disorganised”.
“From my observations, everyone is doing their own thing. There is no proper integration or communication. Everyone is either on RanoAdidas or Brunei’s Independent Music.
“My hope is to integrate everyone so we can communicate and grow together,” he said.
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