Malaysia is offering concert organisers rebates for reeling in global stars with an eye on the tourism bounce that major acts have brought to neighbouring Singapore, but promoters warn that increasing red tape and censorship may ward off the biggest names.
From May 15, event organisers in Malaysia can claim rebates of up to 1.5 million ringgit (US$340,000) to help cover the cost of major concerts by international artists, in what the government says is recognition of the spin-offs for airlines, hotels and small vendors.
But at the same time the government has also formalised the adoption of a “kill switch” – a mechanism imposed after an LGBTQ controversy at a music festival in 2023 – as part of foreign-artist performance guidelines for all concerts hosted in Malaysia.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the kill switch was the “biggest element” in improvements on “incident management”, after the onstage kiss by male members of British band The 1975 at a music festival two years ago. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Malaysia.
The foreign artist approval agency (Puspal) reportedly ordered the cancellation of at least three other concerts that same year.
