Manike Mage Hithe: Sri Lankan music industry and creative economy

• “Sri Lankan singing sensation Yohani of ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ song fame in Hyderabad”- Indian Media

First time in Sri Lanka we can see that a Sri Lankan singer performing in India and as we know the Indian music industry is one of the largest in the world, Youhani has created history in Sri Lanka. This is important as these days we do not have many celebrations as a nation. 

Yohani Diloka De Silva will be on the list of most memorable females in Sri Lanka along with names such as Sirimavo Bandaranaike (world’s first female Prime Minister)  Susanthika Jayasinghe (Olympic Silver medallist) and Jacqueline Fernandez (actress). 

There is a strategic window that has been opened for Sri Lankans in the creative economy. We need to exploit this with opportunities that have been created in both local and global markets.

What is this creative economy and how can we link the music industry into this? It is worthwhile to understand the meaning and implications of creative economy (sometimes referred to as creative industry). 

According to John Howkins, the author of ‘The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas’, creative industry refers to a range of economic activities, which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information. 

Howkins divides the creative economy into 15 sectors, which are: 1) Advertising; 2) Architecture; 3) Art; 4) Crafts; 5) Design; 6) Fashion; 7) Film; 8) Music; 9) Performing Arts; 10) Publishing; 11) Research and Development; 12) Software; 13) Toys and Games; 14) TV and Radio; 15) Video Games.

According to Landry & Bianchini (1995), “The industries of the 21st century will depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation.” 

Human capital can be considered important and KSA factors – namely, knowledge, skills and attitude – as prime factors that will govern the world economy at this moment. 

As the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCAD) “significant 3 percent contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP) makes the creative economy as a powerful emerging economic sector that is being strengthened by a surge in digitalisation and services.” 

So, the effect of  the creative economy for any country cannot be underestimated

The concept of creative economy is a new development for Western countries as well as in world trade. It is better to discuss the creative economy with ‘Nollywood’. The emergence of Nollywood is remarkable and it came into the world picture within 20  years.  

According to PwC.com, “The Nigerian Film Industry (Nollywood) is globally recognised as the second largest film producer in the world. The industry is a significant part of the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, which contributed 2.3 percent (NGN 239 biliion) to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016. It is one of the priority sectors identified in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria, with a planned US $ 1 billion in export revenue by 2020.”

We have to study the success story of Nollywood to see whether we can apply that to our Ranminithenna Film Village, which is also with more potentials. University undergrads In Sri Lanka can do a study on Nollywood and see the Key Successive Factors (KSF) and uniqueness in the film industry. We can then see how we can apply these models (with some modifications) in the Sri Lankan context with Ranminithenna.    

The popularity of the song of ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ in social media can be considered as a message reiterating the power of creativity and innovation with the essence of new technology. It is truly an internet generation that articulated the fashion and trends in the world. There is a responsibility from all the stakeholders in the country to have a proper mechanism to respect the creativity and imagination of our young generation. 

We have discussed the concept of creative economy and its importance to Sri Lanka for decades but could not see any positive feedback from the administrators (refer A Creative Economy For ‘SL’s Future Development: Much More To Be Done To Realise The Goal’ by Dr. W.A. Wijewardnea -https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/a-creative-economy-for-sls-future-development-much-more-to-be-done-to-realise-the-goal/). What we have to understand is the importance of moving away from the traditional markets such as manufacturing and see the creative industries as a key strategy in a new knowledge economy (Abeysekera, 2011).

I think the success story of  ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ is a message sent from Sri Lankan youth that they can move this country forward. Anyway, we, as a nation, there should be a better government-industry partnership along with proper reforms to education on creative economy and creative entrepreneurship, which can be considered as important in this stage. 

As we know, Sri Lanka is looking for a paradigm shift in the economy and I think this is the best time we need to have better value co-creation by focusing on sustainable economic development.   

(Nalin Abeysekera, a Professor in Management Studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka, can be reached at [email protected])