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Your year in music
It will be a lively year for our music scene, with a little help from some friends, writes Hamish Mckenzie
They’re not a label, promoter, or even a management agency. In fact, even after talking to CEO Patrick Lee, it’s difficult to grasp exactly what AliveNotDead (www.alivenotdead.com) is. Yet in 2008, the small startup had an appreciable impact on the Hong Kong music scene, not only serving as a conduit for communication between musicians and their fans, but also hosting events and supporting the CD launches for the likes of Hardpack and Audiotraffic (both of which were raucous, crowded and successful affairs). This year, we’re picking that the team (pictured left) will make an even more significant contribution to Hong Kong music.
In some respects, AliveNotDead is a platform – much like MySpace, the website serves as a free portal for artists to publish blogs, photos, and advertise their shows. But it’s also a network – it links artists with each other and to their fans, and serves as a way to build connections and solidarity. According to Lee, there are already 350,000 registered users, and more than 1,000 artists regularly maintain profiles on the site.
“We just want to help artists,” insists Lee, who along with cofounder Stephen Wang is funding the company with the money they made by selling their previous venture, the immensely popular film review site Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com), for US$10 million in 2004. Continues Lee: “We don’t care if you’re independent or with a label or whatever.”
Plans are afoot for the company to host more music events in 2009, including one or two mid-sized shows on the scale of Let’s Fight and Wild Day Out. With support from acts such as 24 Herbs, Audiotraffic, Hardpack, and Josie Ho – all of whom have benefitted from increased exposure and new fans courtesy of AliveNotDead – they stand poised to make the step up to the big time.
“AliveNotDead has proven to the Hong Kong industry that there are a big bunch of very valuable and very creative artists in town that nobody has discovered,” says rocker Ho. “I think if we put more effort into this, we can turn this industry over.”
2009 planner:
| January | 17 X Japan, AsiaWorld-Arena 18 Mogwai, HITEC 19 David Byrne, HKCEC |
| February | 3 The Ting Tings, AsiaWorld-Arena 10 & 11 Chick Corea & John McLaughlin, Cultural Centre 20 Omar Sosa, Cultural Centre 21 José González, TBC |
| March | 4, 8 & 9 Lisa Ono, Cultural Centre 7 Rod Stewart, AsiaWorld-Arena 20 Duffy, AsiaWorld-Arena TBC Battles, TBC |
| July | 31 Live ’N Loud, AsiaWorld-Arena |
| August | 1 & 2 Live ’N Loud, AsiaWorld-Arena |
| September & October | Global Battle of the Bands, TBC |
| November | 7 & 8 Clockenflap, Cyberport TBC Hong Kong International Jazz Festival, TBC |
Read our other features:
Your year in art
Your year in stage
Your year in music
Your year in film
Your year in food
1 reviews Add a review
Was just wondering if any indie rock bands ever come to HK? Like the Arcade Fire, the Shins, Interpol, Architecture in Helsinki, Wilco, Nada Surf, etc. I'd LOVE to see these bands play in Hong Kong!
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