Recording companies urged to pay royalties honestly

JAKARTA (JP): Local musicians yesterday urged the recording industry to be honest in paying royalties unless it wanted international companies to take over.

"International music companies are here in Indonesia. If the local recording companies fail to apply the royalty system, the local musicians will sign up with them," said Samsudin Hardjakusuma, lead singer of the Bimbo band, on Tuesday.

Samsudin, who claimed to represent musicians, accused local recording companies of cheating musicians by lying about the number of cassettes sold, thereby paying musicians less royalties.

"If we ask for sales data, they (the recording firms) show us a figure which is different from the one on their computers," said Samsudin.

He was addressing an awards presentation at the Kartika Chandra hotel to celebrate Indonesia's best royalty payers. The event was sponsored by the Indonesian Creative Works Foundation (YKCI).

On hand were Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono and a handful of musicians.

Samsudin said this dishonest practice had lasted many years. He said it was partly caused by local musicians who were mostly ignorant about their rights.

Local recording companies, which number about 100, reportedly make over Rp 1 trillion each year, while many musicians who sell their works to them live in poverty.

Moerdiono said he was appalled by the musicians' grievances. "All the pirates should feel ashamed now," he said.

Moerdiono presented awards to the best royalty payers for 1996, according to YKCI's data. They were Sempati Air (for the airlines category), Indosiar Visual Mandiri (broadcasting category), Chiko and Ira Productions (entertainment promotion category), Hero Supermarket (shopping center category), Kentucky Fried Chicken (restaurant category), Hilton International (hotel category), Auto 2000 (exhibition category), Bali Hyatt Hotel (category for cities outside Jakarta), Lone Star discotheque (nightclub category) and Jari-Jari Ampuh (pub and bar category).

The awards presented were busts of the late Indonesian composer Ismail Marzuki.

YKCI named Terlanjur Sayang the most popular song of the year. It is composed by Adrian Ipey and sung by Memes. (jsk)