M.Krishnamoorthy
A media coach, adjunct professor and author
Malaysia lost more than RM1 billion (S$285 million) in potential entertainment tourism receipts 2023. This was due to concerts being scrapped amid stringent government rules and protests from religious parties.
Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) Malaysian Correspondent Zunaira Saieed reported that four concerts were scrapped in 2023. Another two were turned down in 2022 by the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) told The Straits Times (ST).
Among the concerts not approved in 2023 were those planned for renowned Indian singer Karthik and Irish band Kodaline, as well as the arts and music festival Pinkfish Live, featuring American rapper Lil Pump.
An industry source told ST that American singer-songwriter Lauv’s tour in Malaysia, slated for September 2023, was also cancelled due to heightened political scrutiny of concerts amid opposition by Islamists who opposed foreign performers.
Zunaira’s report quotes Malaysia University of Science and Technology economics professor Geoffrey Williams, who estimates the lost revenue at over RM1 billion. He said “onerous regulations” were to blame. “They create risk and make it more difficult for event organisers to put on shows,” he told ST.
“If the missed gigs had taken place, receipts from entertainment tourism—which includes all ticketed entertainment events—would have been at least 30 per cent higher than the RM2.4 billion received in 2023, according to the local live performance association, the Arts, Live Festival and Events Association (Alife).
“The association said concert-goers who flew in from overseas alone generated over RM800 million in tourism receipts and contributed about RM83 million in taxes in 2023.”
Correspondent Zunaira is a PhD-qualified and multilingual business journalist who specialises in business, and economic affairs noted that Industry players expressed that a strong government mandate is needed to boost Malaysia as an attractive destination for concerts in the region.
This comes after Singapore hosted an exclusive six-show Southeast Asia tour stop for American pop superstar Taylor Swift earlier in March. The stop sold over 300,000 tickets and attracted thousands of fans from across the region, noted Zunaira in her business feature.
“We are very much below our potential. The year 2023 was the biggest year of concerts globally. Still, we lost hundreds of millions due to our poor reputation affected by protests and strict regulations,” said Alife president Rizal Kamal. Industry magazine Pollstar reported in December 2023 that ticket revenues from the top 100 concert tours of 2023 jumped to a record US$9.17 billion (S$12.3 billion).
Experts estimated tourism receipts for the Swift shows in Singapore at between $350 million and $500 million.
“Malaysia is a jewel in Southeast Asia. We have the largest stadium in Southeast Asia – the Bukit Jalil National Stadium – (and) we’re cheaper for tourists in terms of food, hotel room rates and transportation, compared with Singapore and Indonesia,” said Nur Jasni Mohd, founder of sports and events advisory company SportsWork Group.
“We enjoy 30 per cent lower production costs than Singapore, so this is a good time to push for an overall nation-building plan that includes concert economics,” Mr Jasni added.
British rock band Coldplay’s concert in November 2023 at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil National Stadium drew the largest crowd concert in one night in Coldplay’s career, with over 81,000 tickets sold worth RM51.9 million.
However, the youth wing of Malaysia’s opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) called for the concert to be cancelled, saying that the group promotes “deviant cultures.”
The concert went ahead after strong pushback from moderate Muslims on social media, and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stepped in to defend the band, saying it supported the Palestinian cause.
Freelance Writer M. Krishnamoorthy (www.imkrishna.net) is a media coach, adjunct professor and undercover journalist. He has freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns.
M. Krishnamoorthy is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
