As a former executive at music companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles, Wendy Ong certainly has the world-class credentials to help a roster of musical artists including Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding and Noah Cyrus navigate an increasingly global business. But Ong charted the flight path she took for her current role as global co-president/chief marketing officer of artist management and publishing company TaP Music largely on her own because, she says, they are mentors to an Asian American/Pacific Islander ( API). musical staffs were almost non-existent then.
As a result, Ong – who grew up in Malaysia and Singapore and has worked at BMG, Arista, RCA, Metropolitan Opera, EMI, Capitol, Interscope and Roc Nation – says she prioritizes being herself. , particularly for Asians and Asian Americans. Her mentorship was aided by her involvement in Gold House – a community of Asia Pacific entrepreneurs, creatives and other leaders – after she was invited to one of the organisation's dinners “by accident”, she says. He adds that when the opportunity presents itself, “it depends on what you do with it.”
Ong sat with me Advertising sign to discuss the continued importance of music festivals, the work of Gold House and the promise of artificial intelligence (AI), among other topics.
Lana Del Rey returned to Coachella this year as a headliner. Are festival bookings still moving the needle?
When you're strategic about it, it allows you to make entering smaller markets cost-effective. It's hard to do a proper world tour these days, and even in the US, festivals allow an artist to supplement their overall touring strategy. From TaP's point of view, it's still a very essential component, especially for developing artists. It's the same reason collaborations work because it gets through to the audience of other artists. And not just for young people. I'm supposed to be the jaded music executive, but I'm not. The Justice set [at Coachella] it captivated me. I went and checked right away [to see if they’re touring] because I wanted to see it again.
Before Coachella, what other major wins did TaP score in the last 12 months?
Ellie [Goulding] he is one of the most versatile artists anywhere. He had a No. 1 single and album last year [with “Miracle” featuring Calvin Harris and fifth full-length Higher Than Heaven] same week in the UK This was amazing. And Caroline Polachek's album [Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, which debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top album Sales chart]. I love this Caroline and Mookie Singermanwho manages it, has been together since its beginnings [Polachek’s former band] Chair lift. There is something to be said for faith. Sometimes when an artist gets older, they feel they have to change their team. He is the CEO of their company, so they need to make tough calls sometimes. But it's nice to see those who remain faithful.
After Ong spearheaded a Fifty Shades of Gray classic compilation at EMI, she says writer EL James' lawyer sent her a cease-and-desist notice. “I flew to London,” she says, and successfully pitched the release of Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical album, which put her on the radar of radio stations in Capitol Hill when programmers called to say, “We heard you had a classic BDSM album out. .' “
Yasara Gunawardena
How do tag layoffs affect management?
Importantly. I always try to work with our major labels as best I can, and when things are up in the air, it's very difficult to understand how much support we're going to get. The company that [TaP co-CEOs] Ben [Mawson] and Ed [Millett] they have relied heavily on the ethos of self-sufficiency. Going back to Lana, at the beginning of her career, they had a lot of pushback. She signed to Universal Germany because no one believed her. And that was and still is today a big solution to how we operate as a company. We try to do as much as we can for our artists without relying too much on third parties, whether it's a label, a brand, a social [platform] or a [digital service provider]. We need this organization to be able to make a difference.
What does this entail today?
All anyone wants to talk about right now is the super fans. And it's such a wake-up call. Fans want that close, direct relationship with the artist, and we've all been slow to realize that we need to take control of that relationship. We, as a management company, have made great strides in CRM [customer relationship management]. We have someone specifically employed by our company to do CRM. We are platform agnostic, be it OpenStage or Community or Laylo. What is important for us is to be able to get the data back. I say “data,” but that's the fans. Artists need to be able to talk directly to their fans and I think we're leading from the management side. It's a testament to how [much] we appreciate the fans of our artists.
Ong's great-grandmother, who she lived with in Malaysia while she was in kindergarten, gave her this locket.
Yasara Gunawardena
You talked about not having a mentor in the industry. When you moved into management, was it even more apparent?
It was blatant. I wish that wasn't my answer, by the way. I wish I could say that, “Oh, yes. So-and-so really lifted me up and helped me so much.” Younger people, whether it's on social media or in real life, often reach out to me and I do my best to play whatever small part I can because I think my path might have been a little less difficult if I'd had more guidance early on in my career. And the very reason I didn't have mentors is because there weren't enough people who looked like me when I was coming up in the industry. Now there is K-pop, so that has changed things in the best possible way.
How does Gold House encourage more mentorship and exposure of the AAPI community in music?
With Gold House, I think it's the first time I've been a part of something bigger for the AAPI community. It makes it easier to give back and promote minority communities like ours. I am also very proud to be part of the Gold House Music Accelerator program. The spotlight that K-pop has put on the AAPI community is great, but being a judge on the Gold House Music Accelerator program helps shine a light on other types of artists, whether it's indie-rock or R&B.
Why has K-pop become the umbrella term in the United States for all Asian music right now?
Because we're dealing with the bigger non-Asian media, they overshadow all these other interesting artists and music coming out of countries like Indonesia and the Philippines and Taiwan. Nowhere else in the world would you put South Asians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos, Indonesians under one umbrella. It makes no sense outside of America. We have to do it in this country because we are all minorities and we can have a bigger voice if we unite. It's a challenge, though, because K-pop has changed so much from what we think pop music looks like. So now that we have a small opening, I hope that through Gold House's efforts we can show, for example, other kinds of music from Asians.
A sweatshirt embroidered with the face of Ong's recently deceased dog Patches, who she rescued 16 years ago on the island of Tobago and “was my rock inside and out.”
Yasara Gunawardena
Which genre would you like to see gain prominence?
I am so excited about South Asian Desi music. It's so much fun and joy and rhythm and bass. This joy is similar to how I see Latin music. It's inevitable that a Desi artist is going to break through, and I'm excited for him to make his way to America.
TaP has publishing, charity, fashion and sports divisions, but is there another area you'd like to see the company tackle in the future?
I am very excited and a huge advocate for all the positive changes that AI can bring. But I also have that early adopter personality. I think in two years the music industry will look extremely different — maybe more so on the publishing side because that's where it's scariest. When things are tough, that's when opportunity comes. It's if we can find a way to leverage it.
Besides new music, what are you looking forward to this year?
The Gold Music Alliance. It was really encouraging when [the organization] had the opportunity to do the event around the Grammys this year. It was the first experience for me as a member of the Recording Academy that I realized there was an interest in growing the AAPI membership base. Because I don't think we are represented very much.
Yasara Gunawardena
Do you think that will change with this year's nominations?
In 2023, two AAPI trustees were elected to the academy's national board of trustees. I think that's a sign that we have more representation. And I want to use my platform to encourage more AAPIs to join the Recording Academy. I know K-pop dominates in terms of consumption, but recognition is what I'm talking about. I would be very excited to see an award without fan votes with K-pop. We need to represent ourselves not only inside Advertising sign sales charts, but also in accepting reviews. Once again, I hope K-pop paves the way for other genres of Asian music.
The academy added a category for best African music this year. Would you like to see a similar addition for K-pop?
How amazing that would be, but it's a double-edged sword. So why isn't K-pop just part of pop? Of [like asking] why is there a best actor and best actress at the oscars? Sometimes I think it's necessary because we can't [bestow] the right amount of acknowledgment and recognition by putting everyone in the same bucket. We will see more changes due to AI than anything else. If only technological advances could help foster this type of conversation — perhaps that's the challenge.
This article originally appeared in the April 27, 2024 issue of Advertising sign.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/aapi-music-exec-wendy-ong-mentors-k-pop-changed-music/
