Indonesian pop music goes pop

By Dini S. Djalal

The Indonesian music industry is booming, with a bunch of young artists trying their luck in the business. But they can not always play merry tunes as climbing the stairway of success is not easy. The Jakarta Post's contributors, Dini S. Djalal, Achmad Nurhoeri, Franki Raden and Helly Minarti, write a series of articles on the industry on this page, page 2 and page 11.

JAKARTA (JP): In a pair of jeans and cut-off singlet, 18-year- old Denada looks like your average teenager. But as she fields questions during a press conference, it becomes apparent that Denada is no ordinary high school student. With a best-selling debut album and an MTV Asia Best Video award for her hit Sambutlah, Denada is one of Indonesia's biggest pop stars.

But there are many aspiring singers and musicians waiting to take Denada's place. Indonesia's music industry is going through a sales boom, and the roster of young hopefuls seeking a piece of the pie multiplies by the day. And young they are: AB Three and Base Jam are in high school or college, while Nugie and Iwa K. have just completed university. Other young ones include Humania, Kahitna and Oppie Andaresta.

But in pop music's fickle universe, image is all, and at times a youthful glossy facade funded by deep pockets can eclipse a lack of talent. In Indonesia especially, pretty boys and girls can gain fame and fortune simply by posing with hired musicians.

Yet as international heavyweights move into Indonesia's fast- growing market, bringing with them advanced technology and management as well as competition from foreign bands, local acts will have to show that they're not just flash in the pans quickly heading toward obscurity. The shortage of professional artists, and management, is only one of the problems facing the music industry. Other problems include censorship, funding, and the tendency to clone western acts.

There is also the sensitive matter of royalties and copyrights. Ever since Bob Geldof scolded Indonesia in the 1980s for not respecting copyright laws following the Ethiopian Band Aid project, the issue of royalties has plagued the music industry.

Influence

Then there is the issue of ethnic influence in contemporary popular music. The efforts of local artists in bridging the divide between eastern and western traditions are often awkward and shallow, using exoticism as a trend only after western acts ventured down the "ethnic" path.

Yet, some bands persist on traveling down this difficult path, such as Kantata, one of the biggest proponents of ethnic rock in the country.

For the younger pop music generation, what concerns them is not nationalist esthetics but growing, unhealthy competition from rich kids who want to be pop stars. "Now there are lots of kids who can play only three chords but have lots of money, so they hire a producer and put out an album. Before you had to struggle to make a demo tape and then beg to record companies to listen to you!" said Armand Maulana, lead singer of pop group Gigi. Armand is confident though, that ultimately, talent counts. "Sooner or later, the customers will know the difference between good musicians and these people with money," he said.

Teges Prita Soraya, public relations manager for Jakarta's Hard Rock Cafe, describes this phenomena as karbitan: "For a lot of people, give them an opportunity to sing, and suddenly they think they're singers."

Running a program every Monday night at the cafe to showcase Indonesian bands, Teges has a personal interest in seeing Indonesian bands improve. In a highly censored industry where government regulations hinder regular concerts and shows, Teges' efforts are a welcome rarity. As Sudesh Nayer, marketing director at BMG Entertainment International, explains: "Bands need exposure in order to sell more records. Indonesia definitely needs to have more concerts".

Ironically, the concerts at the Hard Rock Cafe have not been packed. Teges doesn't mind. "A lot of the bands' fans live outside of Jakarta and can't afford the prices at the cafe," said Teges. "If we lose money, we lose money. But I wanted to show the bands our appreciation," she said.

Echoing Armand's concerns, more worrying is that Teges can't think of any more bands to put onstage. "There aren't that many artists left to showcase. I don't want to showcase bands with only one album and then disappear, because then the older bands get insulted," said Teges.

Halfhearted

Teges is confident of local acts -- "I think they're talented, that's why I'm giving them a stage" -- but she's concerned that it may be a case of too much, too soon. "Our musicians have great potential, but are they diligent enough to make the most of their opportunities? It would be a shame if MTV gives them all these breaks and the bands only give back a halfhearted effort," she said.

MTV is now playing a bigger role in the Indonesian music industry, giving heavy rotation for Indonesian videos. Daniel Tumiwa, marketing manager of MTV Asia, says for each three international songs, they put on an Indonesian song. But the MTV influence is not completely welcomed by Indonesian bands. Armand says: "The positive side is that our music can now sell all over Asia. The negative side is that other Asian artists can now enter the Indonesian market. This is good in providing competition and pushing us to do better but if you look at it from the strictly business sense, it can kill us too."

So now it's up to Indonesian bands to prove that they are worth all the attention from MTV and record companies.