I more or less agree with most of the above posts... It doesnt make too much sense (if you apply this to nonasian bands) but youve got to realize that most (not all) asian bands play for free...and thats something I know... thats why i am not looking at Japanese bands...
its the exposure that they are looking at... the chance to play in australia.... in comparison.. interstate bands expect to be paid...and paid upfront! in addition to travel and accom.... thats where the difference lies...
Asian bands will do a show out of their respective countries if an organizer pays for transport and accom.... and these bands are GOOD.. not some semi-pro college act...but top notch musicians... does this make sense now??
I totally get what cyanide_christ is trying to say... he most prob plays for an aussie band and sees asian bands taking his/his band's place....
Kinda feels similar to the Business Process Outsourcing concept.... get asians to do an americans job.. at half the price and equal efficiency....
And Just so you know...this WONT take away anyhting from the local (not interstate) aussie bands..coz they get to play alongside these asian acts!
No, that's not the reason for my post. I was explaining that I think your idea of the music 'biz' may be a tad misguided.
Some Aussie bands may expect to be paid upfront but I think you'll find a lot won't and they'll be just like the Asian bands who just want to play. For example, our first Aus tour we funded ourselves with the help of ArtsWA. Payment for the gigs was a bonus to us and was generally an x dollars per head amount so that if the gig was a flop, we weren't getting paid more than organisers could afford. Last time we played a gig there was the metal awards in Sydney which we were ASKED to play. We were offered an amount of money which didn't even cover half the expense of the trip which we had to pay for ourselves but that didn't matter to us, we paid the money so we could play the gig and have a wicked weekend.
I think you'll find most Australian bands will share a similar attitude.
I wasn't trying to shoot you down.
