Radio station offers locals rock nostalgia<\/p>\n
By Yoko N. Sari<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Fans of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Uriah Heep,
\nGrand Funk Railroad, Genesis, or other rock bands dating back to
\nthe 1960s and 1970s, now can enjoy their songs on local radio all
\nday long.<\/p>\n
Just tune in to M97 FM radio, a local station which has been
\ntaking Jakartans back to the \"good old days\" with \"classic rock\"
\nsongs every day, starting in October last year.<\/p>\n
Hikmat Darmawan, a member of the station's program department,
\nsaid recently that his radio station offers Jakartans, who grew
\nup with this kind of rock music, a chance to walk down memory
\nlane to the accompaniment of their favorite songs.<\/p>\n
This nostalgic music is interspersed occasionally with tunes
\nfrom younger rock bands, such Guns n' Roses and Europe, in order
\nto capture the attention of teenagers as well as their older
\nsiblings and parents.<\/p>\n
But the majority of the programing is based on broadcasting
\nclassic rock songs because there's a large market for it.<\/p>\n
\"The management is aware that there's a huge market out there.
\nMany people like to listen to such old songs again. Most were
\nregular listeners of Prambors radio in the 1970s,\" Hikmat said.<\/p>\n
Another reason for the radio station to specialize in classic
\nrock songs is the tough competition, especially in Jakarta. In
\n1994 alone there were 29 FM radio stations in Jakarta, out of the
\n169 privately-run radio stations throughout Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"With such stiff competition, it is important for a radio
\nstation to specialize for the sake of its own listeners with
\ntheir own tastes,\" Hikmat said.<\/p>\n
\"Tough competition means facing more rivals in getting
\nadvertisements, which help radio stations to survive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking of commercial prospects for his station, Hikmat, said
\nit is still just \"a baby\". The radio needs time to exist in the
\npublic's heart.<\/p>\n
\"But we are optimistic about that, because the listeners'
\nresponse has been very great. Some of them praise the station and
\nsay they have been waiting for this kind of radio for 20 years,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He added that his station is still listing potential
\nadvertisers.<\/p>\n
\"The station tries to fulfill the listeners' demand for
\nclassic rock by playing the songs clear through, even if it takes
\n29 minutes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Most of the listeners are fanatics about their own favorite
\ngroups and they would be disappointed if the songs were cut
\nabruptly, he said. \"For such fans true fans each song is not just
\nan ordinary song. It has special meaning and it will lose its
\nsoul if it's not played clear through to the end.\"<\/p>\n
In order to be sure it has the best selection possible, the
\nstation is working on collecting more than 6,000 songs by rock
\nbands from the 1960s and 1970s to be broadcast, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes it's difficult to get a CD of certain groups here
\nin Jakarta,\" he said. He refused to say where his station is
\ngetting them.<\/p>\n
Hikmat said that his station is also preparing its radio
\njockeys so they will not only play the music but also be able to
\ngive comments on the songs.<\/p>\n
The radio management is carrying out training programs for its
\nradio jockeys. This training program includes lessons on the
\nbackgrounds and histories of the bands, the music itself and the
\ncurrent affairs of the times the music was produced, as well as
\nhow to present classic rock to listeners, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Such matters are very important because during the initial
\nairing of our programs there were complaints from listeners about
\nour radio jockeys' ways of presenting the songs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prambors Group<\/p>\n
Radio M97 FM is owned and managed by the Prambors Group.<\/p>\n
Prambors Group has six radio stations and all of them have
\ntheir own specialities and listener targets.<\/p>\n
Delta FM specializes in pop songs from the 1950s, 1960s and
\n1970s, Female is especially for career women, Prambors for
\nteenagers, SPFM plays dangdut music and two other stations cater
\nto the tastes of teens in Bali and Bandung.<\/p>\n
Prambors radio first went on the air in 1967 as an unlicensed
\nstation. It got its license in 1971. Established by teenagers
\nliving in Menteng, Malik Syafei, Imran Amir and Mursid Rustam,
\nPrambors has since been very popular among teenagers.<\/p>\n
Hikmat said that Prambors listeners in the 1970s are older
\nnow, but their taste in music has not changed. \"They are still
\ncrazy about rock music from that era.\"<\/p>\n
When Prambors took over Monalisa radio, which used to cater to
\nfemale listeners, last October, the management decided to
\nspecialize in classic rock music to meet the existing demand for
\nradio broadcasts of such music.<\/p>\n
\"We called the radio M97 FM because we don't think that
\nMonalisa is an appropriate name for a station that caters to both
\nmale and female listeners,\" Hikmat said.<\/p>",
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