Music, Is It Here To Stay?

THE FALL

Is it the real death of the music industry?

How many songs do you have on your iTunes? Have you ever check? How many of them are ripped from the original CDs and how many of them are legally downloaded?

On my desk right now, I have a stack of CDs, original not pirated. It’s like a self-evident that I still appreciate musicians. But I cannot doubt that I do illegal download too. I don’t have to give you the reason why I do that; you must smile at yourself now too.

The music industry is shrinking after years, or I might say the recorded music industry. People these days are paying less for music. I actually a bit curious to be able to get good data on how people listening to their music nowadays. For sure the Internet has truly transformed music distribution. In other words, downloading illegally is flaring up.

CD selling is suffering. It is one of the longest death rattles in consumer product history, and it is becoming painfully clear that digital downloads are no knight in shining armor in music business. Even though one of the biggest telecommunication company in Indonesia is targeting revenue of USD 120 to 140 million from digital services alone in 2011, still one website of free sharing alone, can cause USD 90 million of loss in a month, assuming that one song is priced 0.99 cent.

Sad, really. People will continue to file share and steal music. They’ve been doing it for 10-plus years and they’re not stopping now. Even Steve Jobs raking off 30% of everything they sell on iTunes doesn't help either. Piracy remains a worldwide problem.

SELLING TOURS

In the past, people would tour to promote theirs albums. Today, they put albums to promote their tours. The pendulum has swung (Guy Oseary, Madonna’s Manager).

It’s actually now like “chicken or the egg” quandary. Do musician tour to sell album or sell album to do tours. As the matter of fact, the industry is not dead. It’s just people stop buying albums. By giving us the option of not buying whole albums, just to get at two or three songs, the digital distribution of music smashed down the old power structure.

This, disturb the major labels around the world. We are now seeing the major label signing full services with artist including the artist management, because concerts or touring are now making more money than selling CDs. And this give the labels a cut of virtually every revenue stream artists can tap into – fan sites, concerts, merchandise, endorsement deals, and everything else.

INDONESIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY

Is it here to stay?

Talking to Adib Hidayat, the Editor In Chief of Rolling Stone Indonesia, is creeping me out. He stated that lots of people say there’s no music industry in Indonesia. There are only entertainment and stars business. Plenty of musician or bands are taking advantage of one-hit-wonder. While their songs are on heavily played on radio or television, they will maximize the income that they can get. In the end, it’s all universe selections; the one who survive is the one who appreciate the process of being a real musician. The same thing also alleged by Erdian Aji, former vocalist of a band, DRIVE. He said, “If you see the music industry from the entertainment side, Indonesia has a very good industry. But if you talk about numbers, it doesn’t sound sexy to my ears.”

The piracy that happens in the world also happens in Indonesia. Pirated CDs are everywhere; every body does file sharing. According to Heal Our Music, a non-governmental organization for saving Indonesian music, in total there has been 104 million free music downloading from 15 Indonesian sites in April 2011. And unfortunately, 51% of the downloader is not aware that it is illegal.

Indonesian musician also try to survive by doing tours. They sometimes only release single as their existence in the industry. As to music genre, Adib believes, “Pop is still the king in the market. But it’s no guarantee either, sometimes it’s luck and momentum.” Aji also added, “Music is not something concrete. Every music has their own listener. Sometimes, you cannot describe which sells or not.”

To sum up, the music industry is really look glamour from outside, but the truth is, it’s poor inside. Do musician nowadays making a lot of money? I don’t think so. Making music will be a lot like painting pictures - something that takes a long time and even for the best people doesn't pay as well as a job at restaurant. Anyhow, music is here to stay and the industry simply has to evolve with the changes. Some companies will fold, some will adapt, and new players will emerge. Whatever happens, the need to create and entertain will always be a part of human culture.

published on Jakarta Expat #47/2011