No place to go but up for RI music in 2005

Hera Diani,The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Little, if anything, very exciting emerged on the local popular music scene in 2004.

It was so lame and dull that perhaps the "highlight" of the whole year was when then presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sang rock group Jamrud's old hit Pelangi Di Matamu (The Rainbow in Your Eyes) on every possible occasion.

Another highlight that did not come directly from the music industry, either, was the idol search frenzy.

Despite the emergence of a few names with some degree of talent, the commercialization of the process and those so-called new idols was just sickening.

Few good releases

The star search show's contribution to the music industry is still questionable, too, given the poor quality of the albums released by the winners.

During 2004, only a few releases were good or refreshing.

Pop group Sheila on 7's fourth album Pejantan Tangguh (Tough Stud) is a solid work and original, testament to the band's talent and improving craft.

Too bad, the album sold only around 300,000 copies, many fewer than their previous ones, which exceeded one million sales each.

It may have been because it was released only a couple of months after the release of the band's original soundtrack album for the 2004 teen flick 30 Hari Mencari Cinta (30 Days of Looking for Love).

Some other fresh releases came courtesy of Ten2five, whose bilingual debut album, I Will Fly is surprisingly good with songs wrapped in breezy pop, with a touch of light jazz.

Other good releases came from the indie scene: JKT:SKRG, a compilation of excellent, original songs from 12 local indie bands, and the High Octane Rock EP from Seringai, which displays incendiary rock songs celebrating the heyday of rock 'n roll.

Copycat acts, little of memorable quality

Otherwise, the same, ugly scenario played itself out on the 2004 music scene: A legion of copycat acts that had a similar sound, no strong or memorable works from established artists, and a staggering decline in record sales.

As this situation has persisted for the past three or four years, the problems clearly indicate that there is something wrong with the local music industry and its supporting infrastructure.

This is well put by writer/poet Remy Sylado who, in his heyday in the 1970s was a well-known music journalist.

"It's not a matter of a lack of talent, because quality musicians are always available. But people in the music industry act like retail businessmen, selling music like pins!" he said, as quoted by MTV Trax magazine.

"They sell one or two artists who sell a couple of million copies of albums and they think they know everything about the music market. They become this institution that determines the taste of many people. That's what has made Indonesian music stagnant."

The record companies do not wish to take any risks, only releasing the work of artists who produce the same kind of music as their predecessors.

Bands like Sheila on 7 and Padi were able to sell millions of copies of their albums; the subsequent acts are merely their followers.

The companies also interfered so much with the creativity of their artists that a few established artists, interestingly, chose to part company with their previous (major) labels and went indie to obtain more freedom.

The artists include bands BIP, Naif and Netral, each of which has its own solid fan base.

As a result, the market is saturated with the same product so much that people are getting bored with it, which has caused the decline in sales.

The only band that could still sell over one million copies was Peterpan, with Bintang di Surga (Star in Heaven). The songs are indeed catchy, but not that strong, and, with the same formula as their first album, it has started to lose its freshness.

Piracy and technology

True, piracy is still a major concern and has contributed a great deal to the decline in sales. In this respect, some accuse the record companies of pirating their own products to avoid taxes, something that has yet to be proven.

The world is also changing today; the boost in information technology means that music no longer has the largest slice of the pie. Consumer expenditures are divided into buying cell phones, cell phone credit and other paraphernalia, such that only hard core fans buy records.

The rest opt for MP3 and, again, pirated products.

In order to attract customers, it requires strong, memorable music with high quality.

Therefore, it will require people in the music industry to be willing to take a risk, to be open to all types of music, to go out there and find out what people like and what the trends are.

The industry needs to revamp itself by recruiting fresh, young A&R (Artist and Repertoire) people to replace the old players who no longer have the sharp intuition to sense a marketable, new sound that can dominate the scene today.

Another essential thing is to establish good music media, which is currently still absent, although it purportedly provides critical feedback for musicians.

Nowadays, it mostly gives information written seemingly in a reciprocal relationship with record companies and promoters.

"The lack of real criticism has resulted in half-baked musicians and copycat acts in the music industry. Songs now sound the same because of that, among other things, because there is no constructive criticism from music critics," said seasoned music journalist Denny Sakrie.

Maybe all of this sounds like a monumental task, but overcoming it is not impossible.

Hopefully, next year, we shall see some improvement.