Digital music store set to create waves

Digital music store set to create waves

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Move over iTunes Music Store! a new independent online music
store has began its operation by offering new songs from local
performers, including some of the more obscure acts from the
country's remotest regions.

The online music store IM:port, which stands for Independent
Music Portal, began its operation on Nov. 25, offering over 1,000
copy protected tunes for customers to download.

Each song is priced at Rp 5,000 (50 US cents), slightly
cheaper than the 79 US cents offered by Apple's iTunes.

But unlike music from iTunes which can be played on an iPod,
songs from IM:port are only playable on cellular phones, after
customers download them from an online store or vending machine.

Yes, vending machines. Given the limited use of credit cards
among the youth and the low Internet-literacy among the general
public, IM:port has decided to provide vending machines available
at Fuji Image Plaza shops as its surrogate to sell songs.

One vending machine provides -- similar to those available at
every mall in the city which sell ringtones or wallpaper for
bored cell phone users -- a screen from which customers can
choose songs.

With a blue tooth connection, cell phone users can download
songs from the vending machine.

Songs can also be downloaded using a short message service
(SMS) to IM:port number and buyers will be given a code to play
the selected songs. The cost for downloading the song will be
automatically deducted from the buyer's credit.

Songs cannot be downloaded directly to a personal computer, as
such a method would encourage piracy.

A number of local acts, including the likes of rock n' roll
band Slank, Malaysian pop crooner Siti Nurhaliza and pop singer
Kris Dayanti have signed deals with IM:port.

IM:port co-founder rock producer Anang Hermansyah said that
the online service was conceived to nurture the independent
spirit among the country's aspiring musicians.

"Bands or musicians from all over the country can record their
songs, mail them to us or register with us and we will upload
them in our store and they can monitor them through the Internet
in real time," Anang told a press briefing recently.

The husband of pop singer Kris Dayanti said that online music
publishing was a must in the digital era. "Some of the songs that
succeed in earning spots on the Billboard chart are from
independent artists who publish their songs through online music
stores," he said.

Anang added that only songs that have good sonic quality and
contain no explicit contents could be put on offer.

Another co-founder of IM:port jazz musician Indra Lesmana said
that although individual songs with an MP3 audio format have been
compressed to less than one mega-byte, it still will be of good
quality, listenable enough on gadgets like Nokia N Series and
SonyEricsson Walkman Series.

Researchers at IM:port however, are now working on building an
iPod-like gadget, that will serve as a player for tunes
downloaded from the online store.

To build the much-needed hype for its new service, IM:port has
struck a deal with Miles music, a new record label subsidiary of
Miles Film, for the release of soundtracks to the studio's
upcoming film Garasi.

Two songs from the film Bukan (No) and Hilang (Lost) are
available for download from www.importmusic.com or can be
purchased from vending machines at Fuji Image Plaza shops in
seven locations in Jakarta and Bandung.

Executives at Modern Putra Indonesia, the parent company of
Fuji Image Plaza are optimistic that hundreds of such vending
machines will be in operation in early 2006.

On the net: www.importmusic.com