Last year, an Infocomms Development Authority survey found that more than half a million broadband subscribers in Singapore were downloading music.
"The impact has not been on radio listening, but if this trend is not addressed, this will affect adversely the recording industry, and radio, being engaged in a symbiotic relationship with the recording industry, will naturally, be affected," said Bernard Lim, MediaCorp senior assistant vice-president and host of Wheel of Fortune.
"Recording stars and their labels are interested in territories that render good returns; if the public here chooses to download instead of buy CDs, Singapore will cease to be one of the pit stops for the stars."
MediaCorp is the dominant radio operator, owning nine out of the top 10 radio stations in Singapore. MediaCorp Radio reaches 95 per cent of radio listeners, as ACNielsen end 2002 data showed.
The campaign, designed by Lowe Singapore, covers TV, radio, magazines (Female, NuYou, Torque, Upload, Seventeen, Singapore Women's Weekly, Cleo, Harper's Bazaar, Wheels, Teens, and Eat), postcards and roadshows.
Its youth target presented a challenge to the campaign's creators. Said Andrew Reznik, Lowe's creative director: "How do you persuade a teenager with little spare cash to stop downloading their favourite tracks for free - there were no legal reasons to dissuade them." Lowe chose to make a direct appeal. The TVC features a stream of musicians expressing their views on making music, only to reveal that they are actually seven year olds, dreaming of being those musicians, and the message: "The stars of tomorrow have big dreams - don't take away their chances by downloading music". The print campaign shows what could happen to real groups if the problem is not eradicated - Fatboy Slim ends up working at the Fatboy Slimming Centre.
Said Lim, "Music piracy is very underrated as an illegal activity. If nobody highlights and educates about this wrong-doing, the day music dies is not too far away.
"Can one imagine the day when radio stations play no music?"
