New star in Sony stable

New star in Sony stable

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

How popular is dangdut music in Indonesia? Famous dangdut
singer Camelia Malik places it in comparison with pop music.

"People are shocked that pop band Sheila On 7 can sell one
million copies of one album. In dangdut (popular local music with
a strong Arab/Indian influence), that's nothing extraordinary,"
she claimed recently.

"And pop singers are now making a fuss about holding solo
concerts. Dangdut performers have been doing that for a long
time. In fact, when it comes to concerts, we have always been
solo," Camelia asserted.

And here is more proof of the genre's popularity. Record
company Sony Music Entertainment Indonesia -- a subsidiary of
Sony Music -- has just established a new label called Sony
Dangdut.

The new label was marked last Monday by the launch of singer
Ikke Nurjanah's new album Selalu Milikmu (Always Yours), which is
her first for Sony.

The new label is Sony Music's third aimed at a general
category, after Mega Music for Indian and Malay music and Sony
Wonder for children's music.

The establishment of Sony Dangdut is a response to the
business slowdown of the past three years, Sony's A&R manager,
Sylvia Theorupun Pontoh, said.

Despite having two artists, Sheila on 7 and rock group Padi,
who can each sell over a million copies per album, Sylvia said
sales for all music genres were sliding.

"People are getting more selective because their financial
situation isn't as good as it used to be," she said on the
sidelines of the launch of Selalu Milikmu.

Sony managing director Sutanto Hartono said the company
had been eying dangdut for a long time.

"But we're a new player in this category. Most of our products
are pop. We have so many limitations and so many things to
learn," he said.

Sutanto said dangdut album sales had been on the decline since
1997, when the economic crisis first hit the country.

"But we're optimistic. We see that the market has a lot of
potential, based on dangdut concerts and shows. We don't expect
much in the short term as this is a long-term project for us.
We're pretty sure that within three to five years, dangdut will
reign supreme again," Sutanto said.

With Ikke Nurjanah being the first artist signed to the new
label, it appears that Sony wants to reach middle to upper-class
consumers.

The 27-year-old Ikke is one of a number of younger singers who
have revived the image of dangdut. Instead of wearing glossy
dresses in vivid colors, big hair and being overly sensual, Ikke
wears more simple and trendy clothes, giving her the appearance
of a pop star.

Married to Aldi, the vocalist for the pop band Bragi, Ikke has
also released a duet with her husband titled Memandangmu (Staring
at You), a mixture of pop and dangdut.

She said the deal with Sony was the kind of cooperation she
had been looking for with a record company, as Sony provided her
with greater space and freedom.

"Through this deal, I want to improve the image of dangdut
artists. That's why, from the beginning, I insisted that the new
label must have Sony's name on it," she said.

Ikke has had some bad experiences with former producers, who
placed many restrictions on her because she is a dangdut singer.

"Our creativity was always being limited. Like, for example,
pop musicians often collaborate with orchestras, but we were
never allowed to do that because we were told that it was too
expensive.

Camelia, who has been part of the dangdut scene for much
longer than Ikke, agreed, saying that she often fought with
producers over the lyrics.

"They think vulgar lyrics will sell, but I think dangdut also
has to be classy, especially if we want to reach upper-class
consumers. I don't want to fight them, but for me it's not just a
matter of earning money. It has to do with building a career,"
said Camelia.

On Selalu Milikmu, which Ikke produced with Aldi, she
collaborated with such well-known dangdut musicians as Marakarma,
Imam J. and Eddy Nuansa, as well as pop musician Raidy Noor.

Ikke also incorporated elements from other types of music in
the album, like salsa for the title track and Malay music for a
number called Gundah (Restless).

And she abandoned her signature melancholic sounds for a
series of up-tempo danceable dangdut tracks.

"I really want this album to be great so I put extra effort
into it. Besides, I have made many demands of Sony, so I have a
responsibility to make it something special," Ikke said.

As for Sony Dangdut, its next projects are a compilation album
of old dangdut songs and an album by Camelia.