Nonetheless, Sufie admitted that hosting a concert requires “a lot of challenges, considerations and decision-making”.
“It’s just not about who I want to bring or the repertoire of the artiste or their popularity,” said Sufie.
“We have to consider a lot of things like production, production cost and the requirements of the artiste.”
Before deciding to host a concert, Sufie’s team will tabulate the cost of its production, the expected profit-loss and the probability of tickets selling well.
“The easiest way of saying it is ‘Can the artiste sell?’ This industry is a high-risk business. It requires a huge amount of capital to start and if it goes south, it can take a toll on you,” shared Sufie.
He divulged that some of the acts they hosted “have a very huge following in other countries but unfortunately not in Singapore”.
Furthermore, Sufie revealed that there were different considerations when it comes to organising concerts in Singapore and Malaysia.
“[There are] restrictions [on] certain things that you can and cannot do as a promoter,” said Sufie.
For example, he said that in Singapore, venues will ensure that there is a certain amount of space between audiences and the stages, which can sometimes cause artistes to think that their crowd is smaller than it actually is.
With many well-performing shows under his belt, which concert was the most memorable for him?
“[Indonesian pop band] Wali Band,” replied Sufie.
