Thai Music Firms Engage in Fierce Competition.

Nov. 5--While many core industries have become reliant on foreign partners, one Thai-owned segment remains strong -- the music industry.

Britney Spears and Robbie Williams are heart throbs in much of the world but they can't lure Thailand's diehard fans away from Nicole Theriault or Dang Pankorn.

Even so, while local music producers are strong enough to compete against Western rivals, they are also battling each other. Competition between the two major camps, GMM Grammy Plc and RS Promotion (1992) Co is the fiercest in the industry.

GMM Grammy, which claims a 50 percent-plus share of the domestic market worth four billion baht a year, refuses to admit that RS is its arch-rival. However, it does need to cast a backward glance occasionally to see if RS is closing the gap.

"I never see RS as my competitor. We are different in business size, revenue, number of artists, well everything," said Grammy's founder and chairman Paiboon Dumrongchaitham.

About two decades ago, the two companies entered the Thai music market which was then dominated by country music and string bands. Since then, the industry has changed dramatically.

Although the two companies are competing head-on in new music releases, concerts, television and radio programmes, films and soap operas, Grammy is by far the biggest player.