Heather MacLachlan offers a detailed and compelling insight in the pop music industry of Burma, with a particular focus on the capital, Yangon, where most of the industry's activity is located (p. 3). Building on interviews and ethnographic work, she gives ample voice to a range of people working in music including musicians, teachers, industry professionals and censors. Her account is detailed and shows how the current music industry is deeply rooted in the multiple layers of the country's historical and political context, by exposing the links between the aesthetics, politics and economics of music.
The engagement with the logic of the Burmese pop music industry in its own right is tremendously insightful. Chapter 1, on the ‘creators’ of Burmese pop music, describes how musicians create music and meaning in practice. Chapter 2 explores the ‘sound’ of Burmese pop music, and it shows how Burmese musicians equate copying with respect for the original, and not with theft (pp. 57–9). At the same time, they adapt the lyrics to change the meaning and function of the songs. This is a crucial point of the book, because it undermines the common argument that this is merely watered down Western rock music (p. 5). MacLachlan argues that the very limited (journalistic) literature that exists on the subject provides a too simplistic view of the music and culture of Burma (p. 5). The book focuses on ‘stereo’ – which refers to Western pop music with Burmese lyrics, in contrast to ‘mono’ or ‘kalabow’, which has its origins in mid-20th century fusion (p. 2). Chapter 3 focuses on the ways Burmese musicians learn their trade, formally and informally. She also tackles the limited attention for feedback in music, stressing that both practising and criticism are ‘the exception rather than the norm in Burmese pop music culture’ (p. 108). Chapter 4 provides detailed insight into the precarious balance between music, meaning and money in a context where the cost of an original CD is around 1,600 kyat, more than most people's 1,000 kyat daily wage (p. 111), while the pirated copy retails for about 400 kyat, or three for 1,000 kyat (p. 125).
The political context of Burma (or Myanmar, as the junta calls it) features prominently throughout the book. This is hardly surprising given the formal state censorship that exists in the country (as discussed in Chapter 5). Musicians have contradictory relations to the military regime of the country, as their personal work is formally subject to censorship (pp. 141ff) but they can also be summoned to produce music that serves as propaganda (p. 15). Despite this tension, ‘Burmese pop musicians are not mere puppets of a repressive junta’ (p. 45). MacLachlan argues that they are following ‘a line of action akin to what Gautama Buddha called “the Middle Way”’ (p. 43), although it seems as if she equates artistic and political expression with some very covert messages in lyrics. In terms of the relation between individual musicians and the government, this could make sense, yet this approach largely ignores more general tensions between different ethnic and religious groups in the country. While MacLachlan mentions the Muslim minority in passing, she does not engage with the implication of the ‘national races’ politics of the country. Similarly, while she addresses the disproportionally high involvement of the Christian minority in the Burmese pop music scene (p. 21), there is little clarity on the implications of this in a country with a nationalist assimilation politics. There is thus a certain wry irony about the Buddhist ‘third way’ considering the power relations between different religious groups in the country.
It is clear, however, that MacLachlan opted to focus on the workings of the pop music industry and not the political regime of the country. I see this as a great merit, since it does not frame praxis as exotic, nor does it reduce the music scene as a mere result of global and local politics, that is imperialism and censorship. Yet, while discussing the particularity of the music business, the frame of reference for comparison remains the music industry of the USA (e.g. the link between Burmese and US American concerts, p. 49; or the notion of celebrity, p. 27). In terms of aesthetics, the comparison is valid, since much of the ‘copy thachin’ music builds on Western (i.e. often US American) pop and rock songs. But, beyond this there is hardly a reason why the music industry or celebrity culture of the USA should count as a frame of reference, particularly since fame and fortune are not synonymous in Burma, as ‘it is possible to be famous without being rich’ (p. 27) and Burmese rock stars also aim to lead a life of social respectability (p. 29), unlike most of their American counterparts. But while there is some attention to ‘similar examples’ of indigenised covers of Western music in other countries (pp. 69–71), perhaps those practices would be a basis for comparison to better understand the logics of the Burmese music industries. I would have appreciated greater engagement with Thai, Indonesian, Cambodian and other music scenes that may show greater similarities with the Burmese context that that of the USA, and because the latter is not a universal frame of reference.
A discussion of the multi-faceted industry shows that while piracy is an issue, the precarious condition of artists and industry workers cannot be reduced to the lack of a copyright regime alone. On the contrary, while the formal commitment to join the WIPO may provide some benefits for the rights holders (a notion that remains socially and legally vague in the current context), running a collective management organisation and exchanging royalties with WIPO member states may be more cumbersome and financially detrimental than music workers realise (pp. 129–34). MacLachlan's discussion of the topic builds on Peterson's approach to the music industry in six facets. She posits that the Burmese pop music industry could perhaps benefit if ‘one of the Big Four multinational record companies were to establish a business presence in Burma – that is, if it were to operate as an oligopoly’ (p. 140). This is based on the premise that ‘oligarchic companies would likely give musicians contracts and pay them large advances and royalties’ (p. 140). Apart from the fact that one company cannot form an oligopoly (which is by definition the partition of the market among a few major players), the premise is optimistic at best. The challenges faced by current structures (limited spending power of audiences, piracy, modal shifts in listening habits, etc.) would apply to the Big Four, too. Moreover, the idea that their premise could be beneficial to musicians forgoes the fact that ‘majors’ hardly pay anyone large advances anymore. This particular section of the book illustrates how the theorisation of the observations of the rich ethnography could be more extensive and connect better with the literature. Much of the theoretical debates throughout the book are written like a postscript to the empirical analysis, and do not feel sufficiently connected to the book as a whole. This limits the extent to which the book contributes to the literature beyond its valuable empirical insight.
In sum, the book provides a rich engagement with one of the many paradoxical instances of cultural globalisation. MacLachlan rightly indicates in the conclusion (pp. 179–80), that this detailed ethnography gives voice to protagonists of the Burmese pop music industry, which is both extremely outward looking and hitherto virtually closed off to the rest of the world.
