Indonesian recording industry at crisis point

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Oka claims that he sells every kind of music available, and has all his wares stacked neatly on a blanket spread on the street in front of West Jakarta's Glodok retail center, the city's largest market for pirated CDs and cassettes.

"Asereje (Las Ketchup) is the hottest thing lately, and I have it combined with some other artists you may like," said the Medan-born youth.

Oka sells one CD for Rp 5,000 (56 U.S. cent) and three for Rp 10,000, much less than the official retail prices of Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 for cassettes and CDs respectively.

"Business is very good. It's as easy as selling peanuts," he remarked.

Oka also offers music from local groups such as Dewa, Padi or Sheila on 7, complete with unofficial versions of their greatest hits.

"On one CD, you can get every song from all of Dewa's albums. It's the same price as any of the others, only Rp 10,000," he said.

Riza Arsyad of jazz group Simak Dialog told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the Indonesian recording industry had reached crisis point.

"Appreciation for intellectual property has reached its lowest level ever from the public, the industry and the government, which is why piracy is so rampant," he explained.

In a bid to raise public awareness of intellectual property rights in the music industry, the government has declared March 9 as National Music Day, coinciding with the anniversary of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, which was penned by composer Wage Rudolf Supratman.

A new intellectual property rights law was enacted last year.

Many musicians, however, have recently questioned the government's political commitment to implementing the law.

"Piracy has been going on for years and continues to use the same modus operandi. Do we see any progress being made by the government in curbing it?" asked Anang Hermansyah, a noted Indonesian musician.

Anang pointed out that the government's lack of political will was also shown by the fact that if an artist scored a hit, retailers would immediately request quick deliveries in order to meet the public demand.

"Often times, however, the bureaucracy delays the delivery of products. It also leads to extra costs, and by the time the CD is on the shelves, the public could well have lost interest," he explained.

Currently Riza and a few other musicians are planning to establish a music industry watchdog to be known as the Indonesian Recording Artists Association (Asari) in an attempt to press the industry to move in the right direction.

Asari's job will include encouraging more top-ranking musicians in the recording industry's hierarchy of influence to become involved as music contract, royalty and piracy monitors.

Asari also plans to become more proactive in promoting intellectual property rights among the public.

"We take the view that musicians must take charge of the music business. We cannot rely on the government or recording companies to set the rules for the whole recording industry," he says.

Indonesia has become Southeast Asia's principal digital piracy center, something that inflicts huge losses on the local recording industry.

The Sound Recording Industry Association of Indonesia (Asiri) earlier reported that currently the percentage of pirated CDs compared to originals amounted to 600 percent.

The is a huge increase over the 12 percent of original recordings back in 1997.

The United States has recently warned Indonesia, and put it on its priority watchlist next to China in terms of the level of digital piracy.

The warning could also be followed by economic sanctions, with Indonesian products being denied access to the U.S., and eventually an all-out embargo.

Riza explained that part of the problem was due to the fact that the public's access to entertainment was being restricted.

"The prices of CDs and cassettes are simply too high in view of the nation's current economic situation," he explained.

Riza suggested that the government facilitate the production of affordable recordings for all levels of society.

Meanwhile, David Tambunan, a spokesman for the PT Aquarius Musikindo recording company, said that currently the recording industry could see no way of providing more affordable products as the cost of production was too high.

However, Riza claimed that the cost of materials, such as CDs and cassettes, for the production of albums was currently next to nothing. He was sure that his idea would be successful if it were acted upon.

"If the street vendors can sell a pirated CD for Rp 5,000, then we should be able to sell the original recording for Rp 8,000. Let the public decide whether they want to buy an original for Rp 8,000 or a pirated copy that is only marginally cheaper," he suggested.