Hawaiian music industry looking to boost slumping sales
By David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Hawaiian music industry needs a hit, and many music executives are hoping tonight's Na Hoku Hanohano Awards provides it.
Advertiser library photo • May 16, 1996
Sales of Hawaiian music have slumped this year, according to industry execs, leaving music dealers longing for another blockbuster like the ones in recent years from Hapa, Keali'i Reichel, Na Leo or the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole that pulled customers into stores where they bought offerings from not only the big names but lesser-known artists as well.
Keali'i Reichel and Na Leo, represented here by Nalani Choy, were among Hawaiian music's hottest artists during the 1990s. Music dealers are hoping for new breakthrough acts to help the industry regain its momentum.
Hawaiian CD sales are off 5 percent from last year, said Mathew Koenig, the manager of Tower Records' Ke'eaumoku store and product director for Tower Records Hawai'i.
"It is a little bit softer than a year ago," echoed Tim Mathre, sales manager at recording company Navarre Corp., which produces CDs for Olomana, Kalapana, Kapena and others. Mathre is hoping the momentum will change tonight. "The Hokus always provide a pretty good bounce."
Tower Records and other retailers are building advertising campaigns around the Na Hoku Awards, which are held at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel and broadcast live on KFVE-TV at 7 p.m.
"I always get a bump out of the Hokus," Koenig said. "Whoever wins gets the bump. A lot of people do believe in the Hoku awards."
For each of the past seven to eight years there has been a hit CD that brought people into record stores to buy Hawaiian music.
"In the last six months there hasn't been a new artist breakthrough," Mathre said. "That has probably had the greatest impact for Hawaiian music."
A slowing economy and lack of hit CDs from hip-hop or contemporary adult artists have also cut into sales of Hawaiian music, which benefits when other genres bring customers into record stores.
Apart from the drought this year, Hawaiian music is still gaining popularity outside of the state.
"Hawaiian music is thriving," said Suzi Mechler, vice president of Mountain Apple Company Inc., which, markets Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's music, among others.
Many large retailers nationwide now have a separate display for Hawaiian music, where they used to clump it together with world music, Mechler said.
"Markets that several years ago wouldn't take a phone call are now ordering all kinds of Hawaiian music," she said.
Another sign of growth is that membership in the Hawaii Academy of Performing Arts, which is host of the Na Hoku Awards, is at an all-time high of nearly 600, said Alan Yamamoto, a member of the academy board.
The nonprofit academy also sold a record 1,000 tickets at $95 each for tonight's award ceremony, Yamamoto said.
The academy joined with the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism on a project this year to place Hawaiian music displays at Borders Books and Music stores in California. The displays list previous Na Hoku Award winners and will post this year's winners after tonight's ceremony. Yamamoto is hoping that will help lift sales.
The Na Hoku Awards "make a big difference in the bottom line" for Hawaiian musicians, he said.
