Piracy still haunts local music industry

Piracy still haunts local music industry

Hera Diani
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Many consider the 1980s the best period for the local
contemporary music scene. Come to think of it, the opinion is
quite valid as among the best collections of Indonesian popular
music emerged during that particular decade.

Back then, the genre was varied, and included jazz, fusion,
pop and rock, and each had its own musicians and singers who,
although many are now on a permanent hiatus, remain respected and
irreplaceable figures in the popular music scene until now.

To name a few, there were the likes of Fariz RM and Vina
Panduwinata and groups like Karimata, Krakatau and Chaseiro which
have produced albums that many of us still play.

Another great thing about the decade was that the sound
appeared were pretty much original. The songwriters also managed
to come up with lyrics that were not cliches, and often witty and
intelligent.

Fast forward to two decades later, in the big picture, nothing
much can be said for the local music scene, as we look back on
what happened in 2002.

Quantity-wise, there were dozens of newcomers, and their
albums sell quite well. But as we sit and listen to them, can you
really distinguish which one is Shiva, which one is Peter Pan, or
Element? They all play the same kind of music, with the same
lyrics, and without any distinguishable style. Worse they are
just a rip-off.

Even the reportedly highest paid band, Dewa, could only come
up with a highly pretentious sixth album entitled Cintailah Cinta
(Loving Love), which lacks in any defining character.

According to noted musician Erwin Gutawa, 40, today's local
music industry is stagnant.

"I see that record companies are being more transparent now,
which is good. We know how several groups can sell over one
million copies. That's not a new thing, though, it's just that
the companies are now willing to be more transparent," he said
earlier in an interview with The Jakarta Post.

Regarding the system and creativity, it is not getting better
-- and perhaps is getting worse.

Royalties and piracy are still major problems, and promotion
of Western artists is still preferred by the people, perhaps due
in part to MTV and fast marketing and distribution.

"Concerning creativity, there are not too many variations. Too
typical. Indonesians are indeed copycats," said Erwin who once
was a bass player in the jazz band Karimata, before the group
disbanded in 1991.

Sharing the same opinion with Erwin is jazz singer Syaharani
who said the development of the local music industry in the past
three or four years had been static.

"The newcomers are great in some senses, though. They work
hard, their physical condition and their stage acts are great.
However, (musically), the pattern is similar and the material
sounds the same. The same kind of pop, the same kind of R&B..,"
he said.

Erwin said record companies were responsible for the stagnancy
and lack of creativity. He discovered that record companies only
want profit, without such things as dedication or loyalty to the
music itself -- killing certain genre, like jazz, in the process.

On the other hand, however, it is probably understandable from
an economic perspective, as the record company does not want to
take much risk, because trends show that the album sales have
continued to decline in the past three years.

As Sony Music Indonesia managing director Sutanto Hartono put
it, "we used to be able to sell up to 30,000 albums from new
artists. But now selling 10,000 copies is considered good".

Besides the prolonged economic crisis, another thing that
contributes to the decline is the soaring rate of piracy. Though
it's not a new thing in this country, piracy this year re-
emerged, reaching a whole new level with counterfeit products
finding their way onto record store shelves.

Unlike the existing pirated products which were clearly
distinguished -- bad quality cover and all -- today's counterfeit
items look identical to the original, even have tax stickers on
them.

While the police have arrested a few of the usual suspects and
investigated the case, nothing seems to get done to curb the
worsening trend.

Data from the Anti Piracy Communication Forum (FOKAP) shows
that piracy is currently 650 percent larger than the legal sales
of three million copies each month. The number took a great leap
from the 558 percent figure last year. The financial losses
caused by piracy to musicians and record companies is estimated
at Rp 11 trillion (US$1.196 billion) annually.

The Forum and other associations and the members of the music
industry also launched a campaign to combat piracy. But given the
complicated problems, many doubt the effectiveness of the
campaign.

With such obstacles, what is left to be said then for the
domestic music industry?

As they say, there is a silver lining behind every cloud, the
year 2002 actually had some good news on the music front.

Yogyakarta-based pop band, Sheila On 7, for example, have
proven themselves to be a talented group of quality musicians
with their third outing 07 Des. The catchy, crisp and
unpretentious songs showed they were not just a flash in the pan.

Other highlights of 2002 included the soundtrack from the teen
mega-hit movie Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What's Up With Love?)
produced by Melly Goeslaw and Anto Hoed. The two managed to
produce an album which is not only suitable for teen flicks --
with catchy, funky and lovey-dovey songs, but also good enough to
stand by itself as an individual work.

The year also was marked by the appearance of some fresh new
female artists who fill a void that has long been vacant as the
existing female artists are just too typical of all the other
pre-fab pop artists here, and they usually just occupy the same
old genre -- if not pop, R&B.

The first to emerge was Tere, 23, who came up with a slightly
alternative pop sound with her debut album Awal Yang Indah (A
Beautiful Start). And then there was 25-year-old Cindy with Kala
Kunanti (When I Wait), a pack of varied sound -- from sequencer-
laced pop, Britpop, to rock and trip hop (ala Portishead), which
surprisingly sounds decent.

Surpassing both girls was singer/songwriter Sarah, 26, whose
debut Akhirnya.. (At Last) is a simple, yet catchy pop album,
with piano-based sound in the Vanessa Carlton mode, which is
quite powerful.

There were also some old-timers, like Chrisye who came up with
a good tribute-to-old-musicians album, and Asian idol Iwan Fals
who became more contemplative and introspective with Suara Hati
(Conscience), his first studio album in years.

There were also nice attempts from artists to come up with
less mainstream acts, such as Naif who stayed consistent with the
retro sound and former grunge vocalist Ipang who turned to trip
hop and succeeded both commercially and critically.

Singer Syaharani who is known as a jazz singer, also veered
heavily toward trip hop with her sophomore effort.

"The market has potential. So, I want to get a piece of the
segment that is still vacant. I'm pretty sure that there are
people who'd like to listen to it," Rani said.

Potential market, indeed. It only takes more courage and and
open minded record companies to produce "less mainstream" and
more varied products, rather than being uniform and just ripping
off other styles.