Beyonce, Rated G

Beyonce will be performing a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 25th this year. This is noteworthy because just two years ago, she didn’t play a concert because of dress code requirements which went a little something like this:

Female performers are required to cover up in the country, which has various rules for performances, including no foul language, or kissing or hugging audience members of fellow performers.

Cultural norms and expectations are an important consideration for artists performing overseas. This is a high profile case, and somewhat humorous, but artists must be aware of language, hand signals, and dress styles that could all be considered extremely offensive in the wrong context.

In the same manner as doing business in a foreign country, it would be wise for artists to study up on a culture before a concert. It could also be a way to involve the local crowd. For instance, if the country of the concert has a unique musical instrument associated with their culture, it would be a neat option to have a local artists play that instrument on a song or two of yours.

Beyonce could be viewing these restrictions in a negative way, but she could also flip that around and look at the bright side of the culture and try to involve her audience in better ways.

Stay tuned,
Erik
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