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AN ELECTRONIC CLEF
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as we move speedily towards digital reliance, so too has
COMPASS¡¯ quarterly newsletter. In our continuing efforts to go green,
we are excited to bring about progressive changes in order to do our
little bit towards saving Gaia.
We humbly present our quarterly CLEF newsletter,
electronically to better suit today¡¯s fast-paced digital reading
habits.
The Annual
Report will also be similarly formatted and be made available on our
website found here: Annual Report ¡Þ
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CHINA: OPENING OF THE NEW
ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL OFFICE
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on January 15, 2014, CISAC opened its new Asia-Pacific
Regional Office in Beijing at a high profile ceremony that was attended
by Chinese officials, CISAC leaders, and representatives from authors'
societies across the region.
CISAC
successfully opened its new Asia-Pacific Regional Office in Beijing on
January 15, 2014. The opening ceremony was attended by 180 guests,
including high-level officials from the National Copyright
Administration, NPC Legislative Affairs Committee, Supreme People¡¯s
Court, China Intellectual Property Society, China Trademark Association
and China Copyright Protection Center; Chinese creators from the China
Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) and other Chinese artist
associations; renowned academics; Asian publishers; diplomats; and
representatives of nearly all of CISAC¡¯s Asia-Pacific authors¡¯
societies. The opening event was followed by a well-attended seminar on
copyright and collective management, organised by CISAC.
The regional
office, which had previously operated out of Singapore, coordinates
CISAC¡¯s activities in the Asian market and provides significant support
to the region¡¯s network of collective management organisations. It is
headed by CISAC¡¯s Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Benjamin Ng.
In a keynote
address at the opening ceremony, CISAC President Jean Michel Jarre¡ªwho
was the first Western pop musician to play in post-Mao mainland China ¡ª
thanked the Chinese government for its support, saying ¡°we are
encouraged by the positive collaboration we¡¯ve had thus far and are
excited to partner with China as it unlocks the huge potential of its
creative economy.¡±
CISAC¡¯s
Director General Olivier Hinnewinkel emphasised in his speech the
importance of recognising and protecting creators¡¯ rights in China and
across the region. He called the opening of the Beijing Office ¡°the
beginning of a new era,¡± and praised the National Copyright
Administration of China (NCAC) as ¡°a valuable partner for CISAC.¡±
Over 40 journalists from both Chinese and foreign news
outlets covered the events, including the major Chinese newspaper, The
People¡¯s Daily. Jean Michel Jarre and Olivier Hinnewinkel
participated in a dialogue program on national Chinese television CCTV
entitled "China's Copyrights Controversy". The
30-minute TV show was broadcasted 4 times in February on
CCTV-news. To watch the show, click on the link: http://english.cntv.cn/program/dialogue/20140210/101068.shtml.
(from NewsLine, CISAC quarterly
e-newsletter) ¡Þ
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MUSIC
TRANSCENDS JUDGEMENT IN ¡°MY
MUSIC JOURNEY 2013¡±
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Oft times when listening to a song, specifics such as race,
age, gender, history, etc.
of the creator matter little. What does matter however, would be
the melody and lyrics resonating with the listener.
With this in mind and to encourage potential songwriters to
bare their soul via music, COMPASS embarked on a short & basic
songwriting course in Singapore Prisons Services in the last quarter of
2013, culminating in participants performing their original
compositions in a showcase competition.
The judges, coaches, guests, Singapore Prison Services staff
and Serendip Productions were impressed as participants gave little
glimpses of their life experiences with these original musical
creations, with enthusiasm and talent clearly apparent. It was a
memorable event where everyone walked away having learnt something from
the exchange ¡Þ
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ELECTRONIC PAYMENT vs
TRADITIONAL CHEQUES
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whenever we make a change in our lives, such as moving to a
new residence, the number of updates required with different
organisations may be massive and cumbersome.
In order to
reduce the stress and loss of post-mailed cheques, we will be
progressively migrating from cheque issuance for royalty payments, to
GIRO payments direct into members accounts instead.
Hence, we
will be progressively updating member records so that eventually, there
will no longer be a need for members to receive their royalty cheques
in the mail and then find the time to deposit the physical cheque into
their bank account ¡Þ
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TRIBUTE
CONCERT: MALAM AKU, DIA DAN LAGU
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Yusnor Ef, more affectionately known as ¡°Cikgu¡± (¡°Teacher¡± in
reference to his former teaching profession) was celebrated at the
start of 2014 when Esplanade held a tribute concert honouring his
musical creations.
The concert held at Esplanade featured more than 20 of Cikgu
Yusnor¡¯s works. Cikgu, a man keeping current with music trends today;
selected younger singers for some of his lyrical creations in order to
connect the young with the old.
The concert also featured some of the original artists to
the classics, including 1970s pop diva Sanisah Huri who came out of
retirement at the bequest of Cikgu, for the concert ¡Þ
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BILLY KOH¡¯S NEW VENTURE: AMUSIC
RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
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Billy Koh, a popular name in the Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong
and China music scene will be embarking on a new adventure also known
as the company Amuse Rights Management.
With this new direction, he has quit Ocean Butterflies as
the CEO, a company he co-founded in 1986.
Under his belt runs a list of notable and non-exhaustive
achievements which includes production of over 200 music albums for
singers from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States.
With his obvious penchant for music, Billy¡¯s new venture Amusic Rights Management, is a
new company which ¡°aims to lift the music business model to a new level
of the digital age. It is not a traditional music publisher or a record
label¡±.
In the new digital
age, it will be exciting to watch as Amusic Rights Management grooms and manages potential
artists and upcoming singer / songwriters ¡Þ
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VETERAN
COMPOSER KASSIM MASDOR, PASSES ON AT THE AGE 76
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The Singapore music industry suffered a loss when veteran
composer musician Kassim Masdor passed away in January 2014.
The prot¨¦g¨¦ of P. Ramlee and much sought-after composer had
written more than 400 songs since the 1950s with almost half of these
collaborated on by Cultural Medallion winner and good friend, Cikgu
Yusnor Ef. Cikgu Yusnor would pen the lyrics to Kassim¡¯s melodies and
arrangements.
Kassim¡¯s passion for music was evident with his involvement
in the industry from 1950s, right to the days before his demise where
he had called his good friend Cikgu Yusnor from the hospital,
requesting that Cikgu Yusnor ¡°look after¡± (his musical works).
Dr. Edmund Lam, CEO & Director of COMPASS attended the
wake and had expressed that the industry has just lost another music
legend. Dr. Lam had reiterated that many of Kassim¡¯s works are still
very much loved, treasured and broadcast in both Singapore and Malaysia
and it has formed part of the Singapore Music heritage ¡Þ
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