A thriving business - Concerts Promoter

[ 25-12-2009 ]

A thriving business

Hard work and determination pays off for showbiz king

When Alan Chan started off with organising a mini-performance for not-so-popular singers in night clubs in the 80s, little did he know that nine years down the road, he would turn out to be the Chinese showbiz king in Malaysia.
     Chan, the founder and managing director of Galaxy Production Sdn. Bhd, has dominated the Chinese concerts in Malaysia for the past two decades involving China, Hong Kong and Taiwan singers like Sam Hui, Jacky Cheung and A-Mei.
     Concerts organised by Chan have drawn a huge crowd like the Jacky Cheung 2002 Music Odyysey that attracted 50,000 people as well as Sam Hui’s The God of Songs Concert 2005 that managed to attract 80,000 fans in two sessions.
     Even with this year’s economic slowdown, Chan has succeeded in organising concerts including for Eason Chan, LeeHom, Fish Leong and Superband.
     He has concerts lined up until 2011.
     “People thought that we should cut down or slow down during the economic downturn but I did not agree as wheather there is good or bad times, we need to relax and cheer us up,” he said in an interview recently.
     Chan has found sponsors for each concert organised by his company.
     “With good strategies and programmes, you able to make your clients stand out and shine among their competitors,” said Chan, whose concerts received sponsorship from firms such as Celcom, Digi and Maxis.
     Concerts and performance tours are great marketing tools to boost consumer demand,” he said.
     Chan’s 29 years track record in showbiz has built up confidence among the sponsors and artistes who enjoy a good partnership with him. Currently, he has also organised concerts in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia.
     “It never crossed my mind that I will be able to organised concerts for superstars including international singers of different eras such as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Anita Mui and Jay Chou when I first started in the 80s,” he said.
     Recalling his early days, Chan said he ventured into the industry due to his father Chan Chak Ming, who was a famous Chinese physician and acupuncturist.
     “My father had a lot of high-profile clients in the Hong Kong entertainment scene. I befriended them and they later suggested I organise their performances here,” he said.
     When he first started out, Chan had to arrange everything by himself with the help of his two assistants.
     “It was tough as I had no experience in organising concerts then. The entertainment industry is different from others as there are no books to refer to.
     ”I just kept trying and learned from failure. I worked steadily and progressed one step at a time,” said Chan.
     He said his journey in the showbiz had not been a bed of roses and he had thought of quitting when an artiste threatened to get an underworld tai ko to “teach him a lesson” after she accused Chan of not paying her.
     “The artiste was banned from performing in Singapore after she failed to pay her taxes for her previous performance years ago on the island. That was not my fault but she insisted that I had to pay her even though she could not get on stage,” he said.
     Chan set up the Galaxy Group and graduated into the world of concerts and promotional tours in 1992. Besides organising concerts and performance tours, Chan, who has diversified his business over the years, also organises shows for property giants to attract the crowd for the new property launched.
     “The property show is different from concerts. We must pick artistes who can pull in the crowd as the main objective for the show is to attract buyers,” he said, adding that his company also produced albums and had their own singers.