Like singers everywhere, Hong Kong artists are struggling to get their royalties as record sales continue to plummet. Karen Mok Man-wai is now banking on her mainland fans to use their phones to call up her tracks.
The singer (below) is in Beijing today to announce that her latest Putonghua album, Hui Wei, is available to those who sign up with China Mobile. Considering it is the world's largest mobile phone operator, that's a lot of potential listeners for the 10 tracks covering nostalgic Chinese ballads and revolutionary songs from the 1930s to the '80s.
'With technology getting more and more advanced, we all have to move forward,' Mok said.
'I don't mean that no one is going to buy a CD any more, but it will become an item to keep instead of playing it in a machine all the time. When I buy a CD I immediately put it on my iPod so I can listen to it any time. The traditional way of releasing a physical album will no longer be the mainstream method.'
Mok is optimistic about combatting piracy.
'I believe many people download illegally because there isn't a legitimate platform for them, like iTunes in the States,' she said. 'But most people have a mobile phone so hopefully this opens up new markets for singers like me.'
