Hong Kong crowdfunding site Music Bee hopes to generate buzz about indie artists
Chet Lam initiative intended to help careers of musicians the risk-averse recording labels won't pick up
Singer-songwriter Chet Lam Yat-fung, who has more than 10 albums under his belt, first considered having a new project crowdfunded several years ago, but discovered that pioneering site Kickstarter is not available to creators from Hong Kong. He got to talking with fellow songwriters Vicky Fung Wing-ki and Victor Tse Kwok-wai, and Music Bee was born.
The idea is to enable a greater variety of music to flourish in Hong Kong, says Fung, who has written a number of hits for pop stars including Joey Yung Cho-yee and Kelly Chen Wai-lam.
By setting up Music Bee, Fung says, “we hope [backers] can get to music that they might never have found if not for this platform, and so they can directly support certain types of music or artists, creating a new market.”
Among the indie artists they hope to champion is 25-year-old Stephen Mok. An audio engineer who also plays the guitar and sings in two bands, Mok is keen to become a full-time musician but has had a disappointing reception from local music labels.