The calm atmosphere of the 133-year-old Husi complex, now converted into a creative industry park, reverberated to unique and funky music. 

Visitors to the recent NeoSpring Creative Festival enjoyed watching the performances by eight independent (indie) artistes and bands who did their usual alternative numbers. They were content with the appreciation of the small audience. 

These musicians are looking at ways of reaching out to a greater audience. They post their music videos and songs on the Internet and invite critics to review their music so more people will get to know them. 

Many have gone on to produce albums but still need to collaborate with major music labels for wider distribution. 

“The mainstream media still has limited knowledge and recognition of independent music, which is not well received by the general public yet,” said Luo Hao, who is also known as iloop, from Beijing. 

“Only young people, especially those who are influenced by Western culture, will find our music easy to accept. If they try to listen to our music, I think they will start to like it.” 

The musician said it was hard for indie musicians to get mainstream media in China to help with coverage, and only English magazines were more likely to have an interest in their music. 

“We have not done enough to make our presence felt. I have no idea how to go about it. All I could do is perform more regularly so that people will notice my music,” iloop added. 

IGO, a Shanghai-based electro new wave band formed last year by JJay and B6, may have found an answer through its collaboration with i-amtv, also known as Independent Asian Music Television channel. 

“There is no (independent music) industry here but there are a lot of bands and a few organisations that organise performances for independent bands on weekends. B6’s music is very cutting edge and we are trying to combine pop music with electronic music,” JJay said. 

“The major problem for all independent bands in China, especially in Shanghai, is that we don’t really have the chance to be exposed to the mass population. The best thing about collaborating with i-amtv is you get a chance to let people see and hear you.” 

i-amtv is a new multi-platform music video channel aimed at bringing exciting elements of Asian indie music to 3G mobile phones, personal media players, IPTV and online video networks.  

It sets out to unleash the music programming that probably cannot be found in MTV or other television networks. All indie musicians have to do is send i-amtv their works for dissemination via its partner networks or platforms. 

So far, IGO has given i-amtv two music videos to be featured in various digital platforms. Some of the region’s best acts like Twisted Machine (China), An Id Signal (Hong Kong), Art Thomya (Thailand), Pop Shuvit and Nao (Malaysia), Firebrands (Singapore), Kou Chou Ching (Taiwan) and Suck Stuff (South Korea) have signed up to work with the channel. 

Music Kampany, set up by much-sought-after Malaysian musician Genervie Kam, was appointed by i-amtv founder and Wildwave CEO Stephen McCormack as its sole content acquisition representative in Asia. 

“i-amtv originally came about when we brought Havoc TV, an American independent channel featuring essentially American indie music, to Asia, but it had limited popularity,” Ireland-based McCormack said. 

“A lot of people said why didn’t we do an Asian version as there is a lot of great Asian indie music that is not featured on the best platforms in the same way as European and American indie music, which is 30% of our sales.” 

Hence the idea of launching i-amtv to promote Asian indie music on digital platforms. Wildwave has a wide distribution network including 3G phones, Joost, Apple ITMS, Sony PSP and Microsoft Zune as well as clients and partners like Vodafone, Apple, Telus, Setanta Media, Nokia and Cingular. 

“We will start i-amtv in a digital space first and build it from there. We do have a plan to make a programme, say, for an hour or two, for our music channel before moving to our TV channel,” McCormack said.  

“But the core of our base will always be digital platforms.” 

Wildwave and Music Kampany were in Shanghai recently to promote the new i-amtv channel to prospective partners and Chinese indie bands. 

They also brought good news that Sony Connect would be i-amtv’s worldwide distribution partner, making Asian indie music content available on the Sony PSP platform.  

While hoping to see another similar yet innovative MTV in the making, we will still receive video clips of indie musicians from our friends or be able to watch their music videos on YouTube.