Wings Completes Its Takeoff In Asia

This time last year, Paul Ewing was raising money in Asia to launch an independent music company there. He's glad he's not doing it this year.
The region's financial turmoil has forced Asian entrepreneurs in every business to postpone or scrap start-up or expansion plans. Ewing, former VP and regional director for Warner Music Southeast Asia, says he is able to proceed with his fledgling Wings Music Entertainment because the groundwork--including financing--had already been completed. (The identity of Wings' backers is a point of interest and speculation in industry circles in Hong Kong, partly because Ewing declines to reveal them.)
'The Asian situation has certainly affected us,' Ewing says. 'Has it frightened us? No.' The company, with offices in Hong Kong and a payroll of seven, has issued its first album and signed its first artists.
That debut release was a Christmas album, 'Gloria,' by American guitarist Frederick Clarke, recorded in the U.S. and licensed by Ewing directly from the musician. 'It sold quite well, from what I understand,' says Anders Nelsson, managing director of Media Bank, a competing independent.
Next up from Wings is an album by Canadian jazz/AC combo Monsoon, obtained from Attic Music Group in Toronto. Attic president Al Mair has been touting the trio since 1996, and Ewing--who likens its style to that of Kenny G, who enjoys widespread popularity in Asia--says his label will promote the release in Hong Kong and Taiwan during March and April.
New to the Wings roster are songwriter Ah Tong, who has written material for Chinese pop icon Faye Wong, and Lulu, a Tokyo-based Chinese singer. Also signed are Cry, a teenage quartet from Hong Kong that Ewing says combines a 'boy band' flavor with a dash of Radiohead, and Thumb, an Australian trio in the Soundgarden mold whose lineup includes Ewing's two sons.
Wings handles its own distribution and marketing in Hong Kong; its operations there are under the direction of GM McVicar Wong. Elsewhere in Asia, releases go through a network of independents: Forward Music in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia; P.T. Aquarius Musikindo in Indonesia; and Seoul Records in South Korea.
In Thailand, Ewing expects to link with the new venture being formed by Wasana Silipikul, formerly managing director of Warner Music's affiliate there. (Silipikul sold her D-Day and Muser companies to Warner while Ewing was regional chief.) In the Philippines, Wings is working on firming up a licensee.
'We're concentrating on developing newer acts,' says Ewing, 'although the money would be there if major acts were to become available. Obviously, we aim to keep operating costs to a sensible level (in the current business climate) and try to be as smart as we can. And because we're an indie, we don't have to get permission from 101 people to do something.'
Ewing is pragmatic about conditions in Asia, calling on his 24 years of experience in the region. 'I've seen it go from no music market, when there was 100% piracy, to the size of business today. What we're going through now is what the U.K. was going through in the '80s. Life goes on, and people still like music. The problems are quite serious, but Asia will come back with a vengeance. People here are resilient.'

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