Billy Koh
Billy Koh | |
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Born | Singapore |
Residence | Los Angeles, Beijing |
Nationality | Singapore |
Citizenship | Singapore |
Alma mater | River Valley High School |
Occupation | CEO/ A&R Director/ Music Producer/ Songwriter |
Employer | Amusic Rights Management (2014~pres) /Ocean Butterflies (1986~2013) |
Organization | Amusic Rights Management |
Agent | Amusic Creative Team Pte. Ltd. |
Known for | Kit Chan, A-Do, JJ Lin, BY2 |
Notable work | producer of 心痛,天黑,他一定很愛你,江南,一千年以后,可惜没如果 |
Style | pop, folk-rock, urban. |
Home town | SIngapore |
Title | founder/CEO |
Website |
www |
Billy Koh (simplified Chinese: 许环良; traditional Chinese: 許環良; pinyin: Xǔ Huánliáng) is a Singaporean songwriter, composer and music producer, best known for producing Singaporean singers, such as Kit Chan, A-Do, JJ Lin and BY2. He is one of the most instrumental and influential figures in the Asian C-Pop industry. Since its founding in 1986, together with his team, Billy has transformed Ocean Butterflies Music into the leading independent music powerhouse in Asia. In 2014, he quit as CEO of Ocean Butterflies to pursue his new business, Amusic Rights Management (www.amusicrights.com ) to explore a new music business model for Asia, especially in China. He is also the co-founder of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore, COMPASS.
Career
In his music career, Billy has produced more than 200 albums for singers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China & the US. He is also a mentor who has discovered & produced many successful Asian acts including Kit Chan (陳潔儀) in 1994, A-Do (阿杜) in 2002, JJ Lin (林俊傑) in 2003, BY2 in 2008 and DON in 2012.
In 1994, Koh successfully produced and launched Kit Chan's Taiwan debut album, Heartache.
In 2002, Koh crafted a then construction foreman, A-do, to a singer. A-do's debut album sold for more than 2 millions copies within six months across Asia. Billboard magazine covered the story of A-Do in 8 February 2003's issue.
In 2003, Koh produced & launched another young Singapore composer-singer, JJ Lin. JJ's debut album lead him to win the Best New-comer in 15th Taiwan's Gold Melody Awards.
In 2004, Koh was awarded the 'Best Producer' for JJ's second album, Second Heaven (第二天堂) in China National Music Award (中國原創歌曲獎). This is the first time for a Singaporean to receive musical awards & recognition from China National Statutory Board.
In 2007, Koh was invited to speak at a high-level conference held in Brussels, jointly organised by the European Commission, SABAM (Belgium Society of Authors, Composers & Publishers) and the Music Copyright Society of China. In the same year, he was invited to lecture to a master class at Peking University.
Since 2008, Koh has spoken at several international music forums including: 1) MidemNet held in Cannes (2008).[1] 2) Canadian Music Industry Mission to Asia held in Tokyo, Japan (2008) 3) Canadian Music Week held in Toronto, Canada (2009) 4) Asia Pop Music Festival held in Hong Kong, China (2011) 5) MacWorld Asia held in Beijing, China (2012) 6) CISAC Seminar on Copyright – Beijing, China (2014) 7) Tencent Academy on The Science of Making Stars – Shenzhen, China (2014) 8) MIDEM Conference in Cannes (2015) 9) TED xTencent on K-Pop Rocks - Shenzhen, China (2015) 10) Asia Music Network on Asia Goes Pop- Seoul, South Korea (2015) 11)Sichuan Music Conservatory of Music, China (2016)
Apart from speaking at international forums, Billy has been judging for many popular TV talent shows including "I am a Singer" ,"Super Boy" in China, “One Million Star” and “Chinese Idol” in U.S., “Asia Song Festival” in South Korea, “Asia New Singer Competition” in Hong Kong and “Project SuperStar” in Singapore.
After working as Artist & Repertoire Director for more than 20 years, Billy was elected by the board of directors as CEO of Ocean Butterflies International in September 2013. He quit as CEO of Ocean Butterflies in 2014 to pursue his new business, Amusic Rights Management. Born in Singapore, Billy's footsteps cover Beijing, Taipei & Los Angeles.
Awards
Years | Awards |
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1989 |
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1992 |
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1994 |
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1995 |
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2001 |
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2004 |
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2005 |
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2006 |
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Major Works
As a songwriter:
- Kit Chan ► ‘Heartache’ (心痛) – Top 10 hit in Asia – Chinese-pop, 1994~1995. The same song was recorded by the Japanese artist Yukie Nishimura (西村由紀江) in 1996
- A-Do ► ‘Watch You Everyday’ (天天看到你) – album sold 2 million copies across Asia in 2002
- JJ Lin ► 'Naruwan' (媽媽的娜魯娃) in 2009
- Joey Yung ► ‘Busy’ (很忙) – Top 20 hit in Hong Kong, 2009
- By2 ► ‘You Don't Know Me’ (你並不懂我) – Top 20 hit in Asia, 2012
- Award winning jingle ► ‘Growing up’ (成長成長) for Scott’s Emulsion, 1992
- Singapore’s No.1 radio station ► 933’s Theme(933 醉心頻道) 1993 ~ present
- Singapore Hit Music Awards Theme ► (永遠都有夢要追) 1993 ~ present
- ’Go China Go!' (加油中國) for Chinese Olympic Committee in 2008
- 'Wings of Dream' (夢想的翅膀)for Shanghai World Expo 2010
- ‘Every Touching Moment’ (感動每一刻) for Singapore Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010
As a record producer/A&R Director:
- Kit Chan ► 12 albums throughout her 10-year career with total sales of 2 million copies in Asia
- A-Do ► sales of 6 million copies with 7 albums across Asia. One of his singles, ‘He must have loved you more’ (他一定很愛你) became a No.1 Hit in China in 2002
- JJ Lin ► 8 albums with singles ‘River South’ (江南), ‘Thousand years later’ (一千年以後) and 'If Only' (可惜没如果) the No.1 hits in China in 2004, 2005 & 2015 respectively
- By2 ► Top Teenage Duo in Asia in 2010s
- DON ► 'Don't Be Afraid 2012', a collaborating with Maggie McClure from US in 2012.
- Joey Yung, Echo-Boy, Xusong, Jin-sha, Tao-zi, Liang Wenfu, Eric Moo, Lee Weisong & many others.
Memberships
- 1987~1990 Founding member and first director of the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS)
- 1987~pres. Songwriter member of COMPASS
- 2006~2014 Board of Directors, COMPASS
- 2009~2010 Board member for the Singapore Media Development Authority (MDA)
- 2012~pres. Songwriter member of BMI
- 2014~pres. Songwriter member of Music Copyrights Society of China (MCSC)
References
- ↑ "As Far As It Goes" (PDF).
‘SINGAPORE: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA’ published by the National Heritage Board of Singapore (ISBN 981-4155-63-2)
- Billy Koh a Board member of COMPASS
- Billy Koh & Mathew Daniel: Unveiling the cultural curtain of China
- Billy Koh listed as a founder of Ocean Butterflies