After four decades of rivalry in Thailand's music industry, two music labels -- GMM Grammy Music and RS Music -- have surprised fans by teaming up to hold the trilogy concert series "GMM RS Concerts".
At a press conference Phawit Chitrakorn, chief executive officer of GMM Music at GMM Grammy, and Wittawat Wetchabutsakorn, chief financial officer of RS, announced that the two music labels established "Across The Universe Joint Venture" to organise trilogy concert series for three years. Each concert will feature artists from the 90s and 2000s, which were the golden era of Thailand's music industry.
This year, the concerts will take place on July 29 and 30, Sept 9 and 10, and Oct 28 and 29 at Impact Arena.
It will be the first time fans can experience renowned singers who were once competitors performing together. During the press conference, many artists revealed that despite being friends, the marketing strategies made people assume that they were rivals both on and off stage. Mos Patiparn and Tao Somchai, who have been best friends for decades, are an example. Dan Worrawech, a member of the duo Dan Beam, expressed his delight because he had always wanted to attend a GMM Grammy concert, but the staff at RS Music told him that it was not appropriate to go.
Singers from the 90s will share the same stage at ‘Grammy RS Concerts’. (Photos: Varuth Hirunyatheb)
The long list of line-ups includes Jay Jetrin and Touch Na Takuatoong, Parn Thanaporn and Beau Sunita, and Mos Patiparn and Tao Somchai. Popular artists Tata Young, Peck Palitchoke, Dan Worrawech, Beam Kawee, Nook Suttida and Aof Pongsak will also make an appearance.
The price of concert tickets will range from 2,000 to 6,000 baht.
Phawit revealed the deal that led to this event happened after executives from both companies discussed their partnership five years ago. When questioned about what made them finally settle on the agreement, both executives said it was the timing.
"It is the right timing and a new generation for both companies. We both agreed that we should move forward with our partnership endeavour since it is an excellent opportunity. GMM Music has continued organising concerts and RS Group recently announced its return to the music business after a 15-year hiatus. We looked at consumer data and discovered that people were interested in this kind of event, so this is our response to make them happy," said Phawit.
"RS Music and GMM Music are colleagues who contributed to building Thailand's music industry. This collaboration is a special phenomenon that will have surprises and different themes at each concert. I am confident the concerts will make fans happy," said Wittawat.
The two companies joined forces in a form of a joint venture. According to Phawit, since they share the same goals, both companies make decisions together on every issue such as selling tickets, creating the concert concept, and presenting creativity and production.
Wittawat explained they chose to work as a joint venture instead of a corporation because it makes the workflow more convenient. "Establishing the joint venture makes it more effective in terms of managing the business. Setting up a corporate generates more expenses and complicates work. A joint venture is as effective as a corporation, so the form of the organisation is not essential if the agreement is clear. A joint venture is an appropriate format for this project where both companies invested 50-50 equally and will split the profit 50-50," said Wittawat.
Phawit Chitrakorn, left, CEO of GMM Music, and Wittawat Wetchabutsakorn, CFO of RS Group. (Photo courtesy of GMM Music)
Due to digital disruption, RS put its music business on hold for 15 years. Now, music labels can earn money from artist management and digital businesses.
The founder of RS, Surachai Chetchotisak, announced that RS Music would return to run the music business. Does the return of a competitor make the executive of GMM Music feel threatened?
"We do not really see it as a threat since there are numerous music labels in the market. Listeners do not listen to only Thai songs; they listen to music from all around the world. GMM Music collaborates with many companies to organise music festivals. At the end of the day, consumers are the ones who decide which artists they want to pay for. I think it is great to have RS Music back in the business," said Phawit.
Wittawat added: "We do not think that we compete with GMM Music either. At present, we focus on serving listeners the kind of music they like and improving our artists to build up assets for the future."
The success of South Korea's music industry on the international front eventually led to the question of how the companies could help Thai artists gain international success like their South Korean counterparts.
"Thailand's music industry can grow tremendously, but the growth does not need to focus on achieving global recognition. Being loved by the local audience is enough to make the company grow. Having global recognition is great, but it is not necessary. At GMM Grammy, we have a label, YGMM, which is a joint venture with South Korean music label YG, but it will take time to achieve our goal," said Phawit.
"To help artists gain international recognition requires factors like the potential of the artists themselves, their fan base and global partnerships. RS Music is discussing global partnerships and we are open to opportunities to help our artists broaden their audience," said Wittawat.
The executives aim to generate an income of at least 220 million baht annually from the trilogy concert series. Thailand's concert industry is estimated to be worth 5 billion baht. It is divided into concerts featuring Thai artists worth 2.5 billion baht and concerts featuring international artists worth 2.5 billion baht. Fans listen to 85% old songs and 15% new songs. Wittawat hopes that the concerts will encourage Thais to listen to Thai songs.
"The event is a phenomenon that can create a trend. It may encourage people to listen to old Thai songs."
The concerts have received positive feedback from music fans as well as sponsors. Due to the overwhelming response, Wittawat hopes the concert tickets will be sold out. If the tickets do sell out, it is possible to add more concerts later. He asked people to stay updated via social media at facebook.com/GRAMMYRSCONCERTS and @grammyrs.
Phawit has high expectations for the trilogy concert series.
"We want to make history. Even though we have been competitors, we are not enemies. Market competition is beautiful and we now can work together. This event is a case study. We hope to give back to people because they have been waiting for 40 years to see artists from both music labels on the same stage. People expect to see battles between artists, but that is a cliché. We are putting pressure on our creative team to make the concert the best," said Phawit.