Traders play music for all

Traders play music for all

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Do you have a favorite old band and badly want their tapes?
Or, are you a collector of old recordings wanting to add to your
precious collection?

Then go to the southwest corner of Beringharjo traditional
market on Jl. Malioboro, where dozens of street vendors are
offering secondhand cassettes.

But, don't be mistaken. Unlike other vendors in the market who
start business early, these cassette sellers start at 5:30 p.m.
daily.

"I have plenty of heavy metal, classic rock, or old Western
music cassettes," said Yanto, one of the secondhand cassette
sellers.

The man proudly showed some of his collection, which included
several albums of heavy-metal bands like Metallica, Sepultura and
Aerosmith.

"You will love these," Yanto said, pointing at cassettes of
famous rock guitarists Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman
and Yngwie Malmsteen which were displayed on his simple wooden
shelf. He then picked up Joe Satriani's album and played it on
his outdated tape player which was equipped with modest speakers
and an amplifier.

The sweet sound of Joe Satriani's rock anthems blasted out of
Yanto's loudspeakers, adding to the already-noisy setting of
secondhand cassette sellers. The music was good, indicating the
cassette was still in good condition.

"Give me Rp 12,000 if you like this one," he said after
turning off the tape.

Some cassettes belonging to legendary rock groups that are
rarely found in record stores are also available among the
collections.

Popular rock bands famous in the 1970s or earlier, like Deep
Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and Rainbow, are among their
collections.

Some of the records not distributed in the Indonesian market,
are also on offer.

Ridwan, another secondhand cassette seller, displays cassettes
of Metallica rock music group titled Metallica: The Very Best of
Metallica as well as Metallica: World Tour Live both of which
never entered the country's market.

One of the other rare albums available is of German rock band
Helloween titled Back to 14th Year.

These rare albums, however, are not originals.

According to Ridwan, the vendors obtained them from several
suppliers in Semarang, Central Java, who make copies of original
music albums not distributed in Indonesia.

Moreover, not all cassettes offered are old and rare albums.
Recent albums of young singers or new bands are always available
there, and even the most-purchased cassettes.

On any given day, dozens of university and high school
students can be seen hunting down cassettes of new singers or
groups like Westlife, Red Hot Chili Pepper, Limp Bizkit, Linkin'
Park and Creed.

Indonesian albums -- both old and new -- also have their own
customers.

Tukimin, is one of many sellers specializing in cassettes of
local singers and bands.

"People aged 40 or older usually love to buy oldies by Broery
Marantika, Bimbo, Koes Hendratmo, Koes Plus and others," Tukimin
said.

The secondhand cassette market is packed with visitors, mostly
young people, until stalls close at around 10 p.m. Some just go
there to look around, wishing to "discover music albums of their
favorite singers or bands they can no longer find in cassette
stores".

The lower prices of used cassettes are the main thing that
attracts people to visit the market, considering the prices of
between Rp 21,000 and Rp 22,000 for cassettes in record stores.

Cassettes which are 10 years old or older are offered at Rp
10,000 each, while new ones, for instance those released in 1998,
cost around Rp 12,500 each. Cassettes released in 1999 onward are
sold at Rp 13,500 to Rp 15,000 each.

Not all visitors in the market come to buy cassettes. Some are
students with empty pockets, wanting to sell their own cassettes
to the traders. The students are in fact regular suppliers of
used cassettes, selling their own collections in return for cash.

"I have to sell my collection to buy food. I just don't know
why my parents did not send my monthly pocket-money in the last
three months," said Ponomban, a Gadjah Mada University student
from Manado, who brought some cassettes from his collection he
wanted to sell, including the albums of jazz guitarists Aldi
Meola, John Mclaughlin and Larry Coryell.