Ministry of Culture Ready to Support the Advancement of Indonesian Music

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Minister of Culture Fadli Zon says his ministry is ready to support efforts to advance culture, including music. In a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, Fadli affirmed that this aligns with the mandate of the Cultural Advancement Act, which includes the arts, including music. ‘We realize that music is an essential part of our lives and also in cultural advancement has a very strategic role, because nearly everyone has an appreciation for music. So of course we strongly support all efforts to create a good ecosystem,’ Fadli said in his remarks at the Congress of Indonesian Composers. Reflecting on the United States and Japan, he said, the issue of music creation has been debated for decades, while Indonesia remains a hot topic. Therefore, the Ministry is preparing proposals for the Copyright Act to ensure composers at least own the first rights to their created songs. ‘And hopefully this can support the music ecosystem, particularly in how everyone receives a fair share, including creators, vocalists, producers, labels and those related,’ he added. Fadli hopes to collaborate and maintain close coordination and listen to arguments from various parties to provide solutions. From the congress or group discussions, he also highlighted the need for collective management for performances, and the issue of direct licensing rights being the rights of the song creator. ‘Because essentially the songwriter has the full rights to their songs regardless of who sings them, whether they sing or not, or even sing themselves,’ he explained. The Ministry also hopes that through collaboration and suggestions from the All Indonesia Composers Association (Aksi) Indonesia can advance Indonesian music and make it more visible on the international stage like the Korean Wave or K-Pop. ‘We hope Indonesian music in the future, once the issues are resolved with a good ecosystem climate, can succeed, because our population is very large, so Indonesian music could become a wave,’ he concluded.