The first song, which Nadhira has made into her single and music video, is the song “Tear Us Apart”. A love ballad with a “Dirty South” beat, Nadhira is paired with Australia’s Ron E. Jones and has “commercial” written all over this track. A good follow up to the single is “XXL” which is a creative term coined by Nadhira to mean “Ex Ex Lover.” Nice one.

Whilst the album has a couple of predictable love songs such as “Fairytale” and “You are The One”, it is Nadhira’s lyrical capability to write fresh love themes that impresses us. Take for example the track, “God Made it That Way,” not very often do we hear of “love songs” that are dedicated to siblings. Check out the lyrics:

On “God Made it That Way”
Another year’s gone by and I long to see your face,
Every time oh every single day, but you’re so far away,
All I have are the memories keeping you close it’s always in my head,
And if I must go on, I have to know, that you’re ok,
In a safe place and God is watching you living through your days,
I hope you still remember me like how I remember you always in my prayers.

When you’re grown to understand, please don’t forget that I am here,
If you ever feel lost and cannot find your way, I’ll be waiting everyday,
To see your face, you are my brother,
Today and tomorrow forever and a day,
And if I must go on I have to know that you’re ok,
In a safe place and God is watching you living through your days
I hope you still remember me like how I remember you always in my prayers.

Of course, like Beyonce and Jay-Z’s tracks together, we would also expect a song on the album which features Nadhira’s hubby/rapper Vandal from Canada. Jason “Abdul Hakim” Vandal spits a short but concise cypher to complement his wifey’s dope verses. That made us look forward to a full blown duet in the future. Think “Crazy in Love” or “Bonnie & Clyde”.

>What appears to be a good decision is to include two Malay tracks, “Rindu” and “Sendiri”. Rindu is a catchy and good introduction to Nadhira’s potentials of recording more Malay ballads, probably written by established Malay songwriters. She has as slight Indonesia accent which makes her Malay songs universal this part of the world.

Most of the production on this album is commendable too and much respect goes to Wizzow for the dope beats. Almost all tracks are produced, mastered and mixed by Wizzow who is based in Indonesia, which makes us wonder why The MoveMint did not participate on the productions. Still, much of the songs succeed in bringing their own flavour to the album and this shows variety.

Your traditional R&B album in the 90s would not fail to have a reggae track. 12 Shades follows suit and showcases the talented Ras Muhamad from Indonesia on the Rastafarian tip to complement Nadhira’s vocals on “Kinda Gyal”. A good introduction to Ras Muhamad and we believe there will be more features of him in other Malaysian albums.

All in all, being associated with The MoveMint, you would expect an album with several club bangers with features from local rappers such as Karmal, Jin Hackman, Sona One and more of Jason Vandal. But instead you will be pleasantly surprised by Nadhira’s talented song writing skills. MT hopes that Nadhira would further polish her skills and emulate the mature song-writing styles of Jill Scott, India.Arie and Lauryn Hill. MT would also recommend some insertions of traditional Malay sounds into her R&B tracks to add that local uniqueness.

If Nadhira succeeds to explore more creative angles for her love song like “God Made it This Way” and “XXL” and adds traditional Malaysian sounds into her music, I am sure this would set her apart from the rest in her genre and this could probably be a proud moment for global Malaysian music. Call it “M-Pop” if you want.

Nadhira’s Music

Nadhira’s Social Media

1. Genre muzik Progressive Rock yang bertenaga dan muzik instrumental,
2. Lirik-lirik Motivasi dan Perjuangan dan
3. Imej Islamic Modern Classic yang mendapat jolokan Nasyid Rock atau Islamik Rock dari peminat dan pendengar kerana memakai Serban ketika membuat persembahan.

Nama Alfarabiband di ambil dari nama seorang tokoh ilmuan islam Abu Nasr Muhammad Ibnu Muhammad Ibnu Tarkhan Ibnu Uzlaq Al Farabi atau lebih dikenali sebagai Ibnu Alfarabi pencipta alat muzik bertali dan penulis kitab Al-Muziqo Al-Kabir. Pemakaian Serban bermula daripada permintaan peminat dan kehendak Alfarabiband dalam mengikut contoh Ibnu Alfarabi yang memakai serban.

Ditubuhkan pada awal 2009 apabila pasangan suami isteri Nazri Alias dan Fazrina Ghazali bercita-cita untuk melahirkan pemuzik yang islamik di bawah syarikat sendiri tetapi terjadi sebaliknya apabila mereka berdua nekad membuat keputusan untuk mula bermain muzik kembali setelah sekian lama meninggalkannya dan seterusnya menubuhkan AFB secara rasmi pada 1 Mac 2009.

Dianggotai oleh vokalis Nasaie Nawawi (anak saudara kepada arwah Ust Asri Rabbani), keyboardist Samuel Razaque, pemain drum Ameerul dan gitaris Kamarul Borhan (band leader UNICORN yg menyertai pada Oktober 2011) bersama pencetus AFB iaitu bassis Fazrina Ghazali dan gitaris serta ketua band Nazri Alias. Januari 2011, AFB mula berkolaborasi bersama Sound Engineer Shanazron yang pernah bersama M.Nasir, Teachers Pet dan Cradle suatu ketika dahulu.

Mula mengorak langkah tekad pada 2009 berbekalkan album experiment yang pertama berjudul Alfarabiband 1st (5 buah lagu) sentuhan sepenuhnya oleh Nazri Alias atas kemampuan material rakaman yang serba kekurangan tetapi telah mendapat sambutan mengejutkan terutama dari peminat di Myspace dan Facebook. Seterusnya mendapat jemputan media yang pertama dari DJ Ridz Rock Selamba Muzikfm. Meneruskan lagi langkah pada Oktober 2010 dengan album experiment kedua berjudul Alfarabiband The Album (14 buah lagu separuhnya versi akustik). Dan sekarang sibuk dalam pembikinan album baru yang dilancarkan pada pertengahan 2012 berjudul Radiasi 1400 (8 buah lagu) yang dirakam sepenuhnya di Studio AFB Record (milik Alfarabiband).

Telah beberapa kali mendapat jemputan persembahan secara live mahupun rakaman dari stesen TV tempatan seperti TV3, TV AlHijrah dan RTM1. AFB telah menganjurkan Alfarabi Battle Of The Band sebanyak dua kali di Shah Alam dan Klang pada 2011 dengan kerjasama Nasyeed.Com dan terlibat sama dalam penganjuran Battle Of The Band anjuran JAKIM di Putrajaya. Mula di sapa oleh motivator negara Iron Lady Datuk Dr Maznah Hamid pada awal 2011 dan terus berkolaborasi dalam beberapa special project bersama beliau sehingga kini termasuk dalam penciptaan album Rock Ur Soul lirik hasil tulisan beliau yang telah mendapat liputan meluas dari pihak media.

Telah mendapat liputan dari pelbagai jenis majalah antaranya akhbar Utusan, Berita Harian, Harian Metro, Sinar, i luv islam, Dara.Com, Karisma (majalah metal & rock), ROTTW (majalah metal) dan beberapa buah majalah lagi sepanjang perjalanan AFB dari 2009 sehingga kini.

Alfarabiband memegang falsafah yang berbunyi, “Music Are Us And Islam Is Our Way Of Life” iaitu “bukan muzik yang mempengaruhi cara hidup kami tapi kami yang mempengaruhi muzik.”

Matlamat Alfarabiband ialah mahu muzik yang dibawa setanding dengan Metallica, Megadeth, Joe Satriani dan yang lain-lain di peringkat dunia. InsyaAllah untuk 2012, Radiasi 1400 akan muncul bersama 8 buah lagu yang semuanya dihasilkan dengan sentuhan profesional dengan karya dan sound yang terbaru. Sama-sama kita nantikan!

Hear our work on SoundCloud

Alfarabiband’s Social Media

Shinji Moriwaki

Shinji is Japanese by birth and raised in Kuwait, known as Figure of Speech, he grew up as a globalised youth exposed to spin-doctors like CNN and BBC. Like most of us in our 30s, F.O.S saw several catastrophes in his life time, including the Iraq-Kuwait wars, famine in Third World countries, glamorization of violence and the social decadence in the West, 9-11 and the Middle-East turmoil. That explains why F.O.S is active in organisations like Viva Palestina and OrphanCare in his pastime.

Listening to “The Veil”, we would realize that all the above events have shaped the mind of F.O.S and naturally, this has trickled down in his music and lyrics. For the avid Hip Hopper, F.O.S’ lyrical content can be compared to the likes of Talib Kweli, Immortal Technique (The Martyr) and Paris (Sonic Jihad). Also known as a Spoken Word poet, F.O.S touches on subject matters that most activists are struggling with on a daily basis. F.O.S does it through his rhymes:

On “God as a Weapon”:

An now we live in a state of emergency where they profit off of the tragedy both sides in the war guilty military mentality,
Fear and intimidation is now the weaponry to be used in a battle where there’s never gonna be no victory,
And it’s sick to see so frequently civilian death on a TV screen anybody tell me what it all means,
When the life of a human being is much less important than the value of the green,
And the war machine and the oil and the price of gasoline it comes down to this it’s the dollars and the cents,
You call it terrorism they call it development and your third world country is the lamb to the slaughter,
‘cause money is the only god in this new world order

On “The Last Winter”:

It’s the hole in the ozone the smoke and the fumes the greenhouse gases and the fossil fuels,
The polar ice caps the natural disasters the car you drive the factories and contractors,
The temperature’s rising and I can hardly breathe animal species extinct an increase of disease,
Toxic waste in the lakes and a situation we’re facing is this the environment for my kids to be raised in?
With the concentration of hazardous gases trapped in the atmosphere,
Animal habitats and plants disappear ‘til there’s nothing but concrete and metal,
When the dust settles and no solutions to the coronary artery diseases respiratory seizures,
The number of cases increases complications showing no indication
Of ever changing taking hold for generations the corporations the billion dollar contracts and,
Governments worldwide who refuse to take action the general public who don’t believe change can happen,
This problem is much bigger than you could ever imagine.

Shinji Moriwaki

On “Wild is the Wind”:

Just another urban fable about a girl named jean couple of months pregnant by the age of fourteen,
From a single parent household looks a lot like her mother too young to remember being abandoned by her father,
Her first taste of love was also when her problems begun this came before the family planning for an unborn son,
She really thought he was the one but it was all just speculation her friends time and again warned her about his reputation,
Still remembers the details of their first kiss at one point thought about marriage and suburban bliss,
With the white picket fences house pet and shopping list in reality all shes left with is morning sickness,
The fact he’s never there affects her self-esteem and self-worth can’t help but wonder about the pain of childbirth,
And like most the girls her age she’s worried about her figure putting her hands on her stomach trying to feel if it’s gotten bigger,
Can’t help comparing herself to all these anorexic models airbrushed worried about stretch marks and baby bottles,
Had a feeling he would leave her when she started to gain weight she knows about five other girls who had to suffer the same fate,
It all happened when he asked to take the relationship further she made it clear she wasn’t ready but he never even heard her,
And although these events unfolded last year the exact words that he used echo in her ear,
If you really love me then show it by doing this but she’s too young to even know what love is,
In a world of peer pressure hormones and mood swings sometimes she wishes she could just disappear like smoke rings.

F.O.S uses complex and sometimes fragmented sentence structures to deliver equally complex issues that might not appeal to the mainstreamers. Still, the reviewer feels that F.O.S’ Conscious contents push much needed “intellectualism” back into Hip Hop lyrics, for the sake of Malaysia’s boozed-out Hip Hop scene. The reviewer however was far more impressed with F.O.S’ on point but concise rhymes and conveyed through slick delivery on the track “Autocratic Minds” off MicWrecka’s The Wrecktifier album, and hopes he’ll do more of those in the future.

Overall, “The Veil” encapsulates amazing delivery, relevant content and gives us a glimpse of what F.O.S has to offer. MT.com is happy to have Shinji as a “Malaysian Talents” and cannot wait for more “science” through dope delivery, in his next offering.

Shinji Moriwaki on YouTube

Shinji Moriwaki’s Social Media

When Positive Tone recognized and signed OAG to their label that was the beginning of a whole generation of indie bands Malaysia has today. The front man of OAG was of course Mohd Radhi Bin Razali a.k.a Radhi OAG, who was a talented and colourful persona. Any band would be lucky to have such a gifted and strong front man like Radhi to represent them as a band.

With a career spanning almost 20 years, it is amazing to see Radhi, especially, still in the music scene. This longevity however was not a stroll in a park. Just as soon as we saw Radhi with his ex-wife in “Sehati Berdansa” and a full-length sci-fi film, “Antoo Fighter”, the mainstream news reported that Radhi had self-admitted himself into Persatuan Pengasih Malaysia, a rehabilitation centre based in KL. That was a blow to his beloved fan base and a shock to others.

Much respect to Radhi however, for recognizing in the first place, that he needed help. That decision was a brave one as any A&R would advise otherwise from a PR point of view. Radhi could have seek help independently and kept it on the down low. But that was not Radhi. This man was a brilliant singer-songwriter and you could tell he had the bravery to admit his mistakes and seek help even if it meant losing his dignity, which in actual fact, only increased public admiration towards him.

We hear reports of stars and superstars falling overnight because of their vices. The temptation surrounding the music scene and bad influences from peers, are both potential factors of an artiste’s downfall. For Radhi’s 10 year addiction, he admitted that his addiction started from his peers. From cigarettes during his teenage years, he slowly upgraded to other forms of substance abuse. One thing which he felt thankful for until today was his decision not go into needles.

In Pengasih, Radhi finally found the peace of mind he was searching for. With the NGO’s spiritual and emotional empowerment approach, Radhi was able to transform himself not only to a drug free person, but also renewed his faith in Islam. If anyone from the days of 60’s TV were to see him now, they would be amazed with how far Radhi has grown into the mature and spiritual man he is today. But one thing never changed about Radhi, and that is his passion for music.

Through Pengasih, Radhi realized that he can use his gifts and experience for good. Drug cases amongst youth are on the rise day by day in Malaysia. We know of those reported cases, but those that are not reported, only God knows. After leaving rehab, Radhi decided to perform and give a talk at a school in Selangor. Needless to say, the kids listened attentive to Radhi’s advice and sang with him when Radhi took out his guitar.

Radhi was so thankful to Pengasih that he decided to write a special song from his experience. The title of the song is “Si Pengasih Muda”. MT.com is sure that this is just the beginning. The former IKON (a music programme in Astro) is set to make an awesome comeback. Today’s indie bands should not only pay attention to his musical skills, but also learn from his past mistakes and gain from Radhi’s experience.

The British Council, maybe around 2006 began an event called Wayang Kata that was co-organised by Troubaganger – Jasmine Low and Jerome Kugan. These spoken word performances with local poets held at la Bodega then eventually the Annexe Gallery, usually preceded by a series of workshops with a visiting poet from the UK who would have been specially brought it. the likes of Francesa Bears, Polar Bear, Jacob Sam-La Rose, Charlie Dark, Malika Booker, Benjamin Zephania and a few others. I think around the same time, Word Forward, an organisation based in Singapore, organised a poerty slam with Sharon Bakar (Readings) and Daphne Lee and called it the Cross Causeway Slam and it featured both local poets and Singapore ones, the likes of Sheena Baharudin, Fynn Jamal and Sharanya Manivannan were competing. After a few slams, one in Zouk co-hosted by Tshiung Han See before it was refurbished back in 2008, I decided to co-host the slam with Word Forward. I think the first one was hosted at KLPAC at it’s open day and then I took it to Lepaq in Sri Hartamas.

From there we have done slams under the name ‘The KL Poetry Slam’ hosted by Poetry Cafe KL, which is just a group I started for the purposes of having a host that was not an individual. Using the Poetry Cafe KL I organized a few spoken word performance that were not slams for various events, events like Sister in Islam’s ‘Banned Books Day’, and Urbanscapes. I helped put together an ensemble poetry group to bring to Singapore for the Lit Up Festival in 2009, I think, which included myself, George Weilgus, Mooza, Illya Syahirah, and Afi Momo. We wrote original ensemble material and performed in fromt of kids for the festival and facilitated workshops, traveling from school to school and eventually performing at the National School’s Poetry Slam.  Since then the slam moved to MAP@Publika and then had a short lived presence at The Bee at PJLA. With these events and slam I tried to bring in poets and performers from outside Malaysia, just as the British Council did. We had Matt Sion (USA), Berko (UK) Hugo Farrant (UK/OZ) among them.

Each time there is a slam or any other event, I see more and more people coming to support the event and more poets getting involved. Last year Jamal Raslan co-oranised the 100 Thousand Poet’s for Change event, a worldwide campaign, which saw over 30 poets come together and perform in the name of change. It was a spectacular result for years of building and developing the so called scene. Over the years spoken word and poetry has received much deserved street cred in Malaysia with poets like Jamal and Thato being asked to perform at Ted X and Bar Camp. Myself and Jamal were also asked to perform at a Women’s Day event for Kakiseni last year,  the Deen Tight screening, and generally more and more people are wanting to include the medium or use it as part of their own events and campaigns, recognizing it as an art form in its own right that is particularly meaningful and relevant. On the 31st of January I will be launching a new spoken word event called ‘The Big Fish – Stories told live.’ at Italian Jazz restaurant, Nerofico which will focus on storytelling.

2. How far have Malaysians embraced spoken word/slam poetry to date as an art form by itself, compared to other countries you’re familiar with?

Of course the scene is not half as big or developed, as say, the ones in London or Edinburgh or San Francisco, but it is developing, and society is learning about it. People are generally very impressed with the events and the people who perform at them. It’s just getting them to the event that’s the challenge. Anything deemed literary or artsy will not be mainstream and keep people away. The trick is to show people that it’s not exclusive, poetry and spoken word can be extremely democratizing. I am already teaching performance poetry in schools which means that people are really warming up to the idea of just how powerful and useful the art of spoken word is.

3. Looking back at 2011, what were some of the best moments and challenges you had to face in organizing events, raising more talents etc.?

Best moments – Cross Causeway Slam – KLPAC – MY v SG. Malaysia kicked ass! (Not to mention), being asked all the time to organize events. That’s a real sign of success and of course, validation. Challenges – organizing on no budget, therefore relying on volunteers and the generosity of the community to help out, having a rather small but fractured community, the perception that the events are only for English speakers (which is crap), the segregation of the Malay speaking scene, and generally poets not really being group minded but solo fliers.

4. What can we expect for 2012 from the poetry movement?

With so many groups out there organizing their own poetry events and slams in universities and colleges in all languages, I think the movement can only grow. For myself I am looking forward to the Big Fish and what it will inspire and produce from the scene and I am always looking for different and new places to showcase and use the art form be it theatre, education and activism, corporate events, or spontaneous recital on the street

5. Personally, what are some of your resolutions (with regards to your chosen art form)?

Write more and less facilitating!!! As much as I love to find new ways and opportunities for myself and others to perform and express our art, I myself need to spend more time on the actual writing part. I want to be better. I want to be a better performer and writer. It’s hard to facilitate and perform at the same time.

Salleh worked in several jobs. At the tender age of 17, Salleh already worked as a cashier and a pump attended in a petrol station to gain working life experience. He also attended a Building Facilities Management Training Program with the Human Resource Ministry. He was then a Fitness Instructor for a year. That would explain his toned and fit demeanor. He has also been active in modeling and appearing in commercials. He has been commissioned in international ads such as Pepsi in Pakistan, Zara in Singapore, Levi’s in Thailand, Digi in Malaysia and others. Truly inspirational and a go getter.

Salleh Mahfooz

During his early years, he could not be too picky on the roles he played. But from the beginning, his talents could have been seen and anyone could tell that this KL-nite had the potential of making it big one day. Although he may look like the Khans in Bollywood, it’s his substance that actually matters.

His biggest offer so far was to play the villain in an international film titled, “Mantera” a sci-fi movie with a lot of CGI. The film is anticipated to make waves locally and abroad. Hopefully, this film will further showcase Salleh’s talents and open more doors to good quality productions. With polished acting skills, he could even land starring roles such as Shah Rukh Khan’s in RA-One or Amir Khan’s 3 Idiots. Salleh Mahfooz is also currently starring in TV3’s Dingin Lavenda every Friday at 9pm on primetime.

As a business graduate, Salleh also had a hand in establishing a few business ventures. Among them include, Radhikal Films and Creative DNA Studios. Radhikal Films was a venture he embarked with fellow veteran actor, Radhi Khalid. Although they came out with some good projects, the partnership did not last. Salleh then pursued with his day job and worked with American Express during night shift and helped the Pakistani Embassy in several projects during the day. Still, his acting ambition did not die.

In 2011, he formed Creative DNA Studios and is now its’ Talent Director, which is set to make waves in the industry. Visit Creative DNA Studios’ page in Facebook and get in touch with Salleh and his team.

Salleh Mahfooz’s Social Media

Cinta Muka Buku literally means Facebook’s Love. She sings about a couple falling in love from the popular social website, Facebook and with all the relationship ponders. Just like any other youth is facing in a boy girl relationship. Najwa is only 16 years old and she plays three instrument; guitar,piano and drum. And, obviously she loves the guitar more than anything else.

Najwa shares that she is in love with music since she was a little girl. She went to many performance, but back then, it’s just her and my voice. Today, she found her new love and passion, which is Guitar. My dad bought her first guitar which is Santa Cruz. He send her to guitar class when he knows that she is pretty much in love with guitar. So, she took that chance to learn and it was love at first sight. And from then on, she always performs with her lovely guitar.

Now, she have 5 guitar, which is Santa Cruz (kapok) , Yamaha (classical), Ibanez (electric) , StarSun (acoustic), and her latest baby, Epiphone (acoustic). Currently, she us still learning guitar, and to explore new love in music, she picks up piano lesson and also drum lesson.

Najwa Latif’s Social Media

In June 9, 2011, Andi launched his MTV Solo (featuring Altimet) on YouTube. Today, his MTV has reached more than 60,000 viewership. Andi is one of the boys behind Malaysia Talents, decided to bring his music work to another platform into the area of New Media.He formed a team and lead this eMagazine called Malaysian Talents. Lead by an example, with his MTV, Andi is working hard to create an opportunities for all his friends to shine.

On Sound Cloud

Purchase the single – Solo on BandCamp

Andi Medrican’s Social Media

Farouk went to a religious high school. There upon, he continued his studies in an Islamic University to do law. It was there that he discovered his first opportunities to make it in the arts. He took part in performances in university and tried his hand in musical activities outside. He stumbled across a group of guys who thought he had the gift to sing. They hounded him to join their Nasheed group and they managed to record a track which was featured in a compilation later. As the genre of music was not what Farouk was into at the time, he left the group soon after. That group would later be known to the Nasheed industry as, In-Team, one of the more successful independent Nasheed labels in Malaysia.

Farouk Sulaiman

After that experience, Farouk played around with the genre of music he is more passionate with – R&B and Hip Hop. He had a group with fellow law buddies, called Believers Unite (BU). They recorded a single called “You’re Gifted” and had it played for friends. His former group members went their separate ways after graduation and two of them formed the Hip Hop group “DNA”, a nominee for the Best Hip Hop Group in the first VIMA Awards and starred in the award-winning documentary, “Who Speaks for Me?”

Thereafter, Farouk did not pursue with his law degree as he felt it was not what he wanted to do. Hence, whilst his buddies continued to go their practical and join the government, Farouk decided to get into the Club scene and see how far he could go with music. Farouk was in several groups, notably, one called “Havoc”. Havoc performed in several parts of KL town notably Armada Hotel and Sri Hartamas. Leaving law school however did not mean leaving the student life. Whilst waiting on his next move, Farouk decided to enroll in university again, but this time in human sciences.

After 5-6 years of doing the Clubs, 2011 would be new chapter of Farouk’s musical life. It was fate that Boy Razak, a local indie producer attended a few of Farouk’s live shows. It was not long after their music chat that they got into the studio and recorded what would be known as the Adaptasi mini album. I asked Farouk what was significant behind the word “Adaptation”. According to Farouk, “Adaptasi” was almost like his life philosophy. In everything we do we have to learn to adapt, for example, his role as a student as well as a performer, at the same time. His music is very diverse, from R&B to Dance to Pop, with some T-Pain effect. With hits like Berdua Selamanya and Anugerah, this is just the beginning for Farouk. MT.com believes that although his blend of music is unique to the Malaysian market, but with the right work ethic and musical direction, Farouk will be a household name in no time. His personally dream of having a concert tour is also not impossible at all.

Farouk Sulaiman’s Social Media

A look at the music scene in Malaysia will show that it is far from being a lucrative business to be in compared to their counterparts in other countries. In most cases, the hours, energy and costs put in by these creative people simply do not add up to what they are rightfully due.

The following is a summary of the different stages of a music production process and the legal relationships created along the way:

1. Artiste Management
Not many artistes have the luxury to record their own album. Before securing a record deal, an artiste needs to appoint a manager who will be able to advise him on his musical career path. The manager will get paid his portion if he succeeds to secure a record deal.

2. Recording Label and Publishing House
Upon securing a good record deal with a record label, the manager will have to look for a publishing house that would be able to house the artiste while he comes up with his first single or album.

3. Agents and Promoters
The Manager will also look for agents and promoters that can provide the artistes with shows and media appearances to further promote and market the artiste in the public and media.

4. Music Production
In case where the record label does not have its own in-house producers, an outside producer will be appointed by the record label to produce the artiste’s singles and album. The producer will in turn hire musicians, songwriters, sound engineers and technicians to assist him in the production.

5. Manufacturing and Distribution
Once the production of the album is complete, the record label will proceed to send the master recordings to manufacturers to produce the physical compact discs and album cover. Upon completion, the physical compact discs will be given to distributors hired by the record label to mass distribute the artiste’s album and promote them to record stores and the public.

6. Merchandising
The albums are but one source of income for the artiste and record label. Other ancillary products from the artiste’s music can also be produced to exploit the artiste’s celebrity status such as apparels, stationeries and DVDs that carry the artistes’ identity and performance.

As Malaysia moves towards becoming a high-come nation, the contributions of the creative industry cannot be taken for granted. While popstars in the US and the UK catapult into royalty status, Malaysian artistes and the people behind them should be given an opportunity to create creative works and subsequently receive what is due for their hard work.