Curtin Malaysia academics conduct research on Miri Country Music Fest 2022

Miri – 9 December 2022 – Two academics from Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia), Dr. Adriel Sim and Dr. Ho Jie Min, were appointed to the research committee of the recent Miri Country Music Fest (MCMF) 2022 to conduct relevant research aimed at advancing knowledge in the field of events management.

They also collaborated with Dr Tan Kim-Lim from James Cook University Singapore in the research which was funded by festival organiser Place Borneo Sdn. Bhd.

After a successful inaugural event in 2014, the Miri Country Music Fest has continued to attract thousands of country music lovers from all over the region since. It has featured country music artists from all over the world and served as a platform for local artists to showcase their talents in country music.

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the festival was revived this year with an impressive lineup of international and local performers. They included Indonesia’s most popular country singer Tantowi Yahya and Malaysia’s own international multi award-winning singer, songwriter and visual artist Lyia Meta. International groups included the Johnny Loda Trio and Cambodia Country Band with multinational performers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Thailand, the United States and Cambodia; as well as Ramon Cedillo of Singapore.

To help the MCMF stay ahead of the competition in the events industry, the research committee explored opportunities for improvements in the planning and staging of future editions of the MCMF, as well as enhancing its marketability and attractiveness among music festival-goers domestically and internationally.

According to Dr. Ho, the research committee has been formulating the scope of the research and collecting and analysing relevant data. On completion of their study, they will be reporting the findings to Place Borneo and the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts, as well as Tourism Malaysia.

The study is being conducted in two phases. The first phase involved capturing feedback from MCMF attendees so that the organiser can get insights into their perceptions of the event. On-site data collection was carried out during the MCMF on 25 and 26 November 2022 with the assistance of 10 student research assistants from Curtin Malaysia.

In the second phase of the study, the research committee will seek to understand the perspectives of host communities’ perspectives on the impacts associated with organising international festivals as such as the MCMF. The data collection is ongoing and residents of Miri are welcome to complete the research committee’s survey questionnaire at: https://survey.sogolytics.com/r/ck3Z5I.

Information on Curtin Malaysia can be found on its website at www.curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or TikTok.

On-site data collection at MCMF2022 coordinated by Dr Adriel Sim (far left) and Dr Ho Jie Min (far right)

Curtin student research assistants who carried out data collection at MCMF2022