Can an album published by a one-man operation make it into Taiwan's most prestigious music awards? When that man is Charles Cho (卓煜琦), this kind of dream can be made to come true.
Cho, 35, is the owner of A Good Day Records (風和日麗唱片行). There is only one employee in the store -- himself. But the man who gave singer Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), who is a contender in this year's Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎), a leg up in her career, has seen his niche marketing idea prove remarkably successful.
Chen is not the only singer which Cho has help to islandwide recognition. He is also the man behind C'est La Vie by band Nature Q (
"In C'est La Vie I did everything, from marketing, finding partners, distribution to CD cover design," said Cho. "It was indie music with a small following, but now it is stocked by major music chains like TRC and Rose."
A Good Day Records was founded in January, 2003. In the beginning, it imported and sold foreign independent music. Though the business wasn't profitable, Cho didn't mind. "I didn't do it for money. I want to share music with people who think indepen-dently, who believe in their taste rather than follow what the mainstream media promotes," Cho said.
When Cho released two EPs by Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), A Good Day Records tasted success, with Meaning of a Tour (旅行的意義) and Sentimental Kills selling an estimated 20,000 copies without any mass media commercials.
These figures astonished major record labels, and even Cho could hardly believe it. "The EPs were only sold in 10 cafes, but we sold 2,000 copies on the first day. A cafe near National Taiwan University sold 500 copies almost in a single go," said Cho. "All I did was to release the information (about the EPs) on the Internet."
The Internet plays an important marketing role for Good Day, helping Cho keep close ties with his target market and reducing costs. "Blogs and BBS link groups of people with the same interests and hobbies, therefore the information will soon spread to the target audience," Cho said Cho carefully chooses where to place the CDs. He has tirelessly traversed Taiwan to find coffee shops with "a sense of living," which suit the mood and feel of the records he wants to place. He also arranges live performances at carefully selected venues. If the store doesn't express the spirit of the album, he will not distribute through it.
A Good Day Records itself is operated out of Yard (院子), a cafe run by Cho's wife. Although record covers decorate the walls, most of the music is stored on iPods, which can be accessed by customers.
Good Day didn't follow an established business model, and Cho said he felt his way forward, step by step. His long-term goal is to satisfy the needs of non-mainstream market audiences, so he pays particular attention to the balance between popularity and exclusivity.
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