Wanting To Imitate Singapore About Taylor Swift's Concert, The Government Should Not Think Partially

Singapore is the only country in Southeast Asia Taylor Swift visited in a series of concerts titled The Eras Tour. (Instagram/@taylorswift)

JAKARTA The Indonesian government is considered to be too partial in thinking that it does not consider the concert performance of foreign artists as something that can bring in money. When Singapore succeeded with Taylor Swift's concert, Indonesia was just moving to imitate what neighboring countries were doing.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan initiated the holding of an exclusive music concert to match Singapore's signing of the singer from the United States, Taylor Swift.

"What Singapore has given, we give it to him (the artist). We must dare to compete, if Singapore can make a profit, can't we?" said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at the close of Business Matching 2024 at Sanur, Denpasar, Thursday (7/2/2024).

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan gave a speech at the closing of Business Matching 2024 in Sanur, Denpasar, Bali, Thursday (7/3/2024) (Betara/Dewa Ketut Sudiarta Wiguna)

Luhut's statement seems to be in response to the news circulating about the government's interference in bringing Taylor Swift to Singapore. Before the 34-year-old musician held his concert in Singapore, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin accused the country of establishing an agreement to ensure the singer did not appear elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The Thai PM also said the Singapore government offered a surplus of 2 to 3 million US dollars or around Rp. 31 billion Rp. 46 billion for Swift's exclusivity in the country with the lion's head icon.

Singapore did not deny the news, but they claimed the money given to Taylor Swift was not as big as reported. Singapore's Minister of Culture, Community and Youth rejected the actual figure for reasons of business secrets.

Singapore's admission that they were'monopoly' in signing Taylor Swift immediately took a stir. A member of the Philippine parliament said what Singapore was doing was not a 'good neighboring country' attitude. However, this claim was denied by Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He called what happened was a negotiation between their agents and Taylor Swift and resulted in a successful agreement.

Singapore can obviously be proud to be the only country in Southeast Asia to be visited by the Cruel Summer singer. When they later claimed Taylor Swift's concert was very successful, maybe it was true. The 12 Grammy Award winner performed at the International Stadium Singapore for six days, on March 2-4 and March 7-9, 2024, each day crowded with tens of thousands of Swifties, as Taylor Swift fans are called.

Gegap gempita concert sang artis bahkan sudah terasa sejak penjualan tiket pada 5 Juli 2023 melalui sistempresale dan tiket umum dijual pada 7 Juli 2023. Seluruh tiket ludes terjual hanya dalam sepanjang.

Taylor Swift's six-day concert in Singapore immediately became the center of attention. Hundreds of thousands of fans from Southeast Asia were forced to flock to Singapore to witness the chanting of songs from their favorite artist through a concert titled Eras Tour.

For Singapore, this is a success. Singapore earns a super large income, not only from ticket sales, but also full hotels, dense flights, and others.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno acknowledged the concert as a very smart investment. According to estimates from his side, as many as 20 or 30 percent of the total number of concert audiences came from Indonesia.

"As of the concert, the impact estimate is around 93 million US dollars (Rp1.4 trillion), which means that there are 15 million US dollars - 20 million US dollars (Rp234 billion - Rp312 billion) contributed by the audience from Indonesia. That's just from the concert. Not yet from the hotel room, shopping for merchandise, "said Sandiaga.

Meanwhile, CEO of PT Rajawali Indonesia Communication Anas Syahrul Alimi said, Indonesia has the ability to compete with Singapore in holding a concert similar to Taylor Swift's concert. The condition is that the state supports in terms of funds, exactly as neighboring countries do.

Anas said that he had actually seen music concerts as a source of state income for a long time. But unfortunately, Indonesia still doesn't see music performances as a source of foreign exchange. With the government stepping in directly, Anas is optimistic that Indonesia can imitate Singapore.

Citing Kompas, director of macroeconomic research at Maybank, Erica Tay said Taylor Swift's six-day concert in Singapore could generate tourism revenues of 350 million to 500 million Singapore dollars or equivalent to IDR 5.8 trillion.

"It's very possible (like Singapore). Actually, if the government is ready, if the state comes with support from the side of the fund, it's very possible," said Anas when contacted by VOI.

Singapore's business political strategy is more powerful than Indonesia. They know very well that their market is Indonesia. On the other hand, Indonesia always thinks partially, very sectorally, does not think of the interests of a bigger country. We as promoters are always left alone," he added.

The presence of Greek maestro Giannis Chrysomallis alias Yanni at the 2019 Prambanan Jazz Festival and Indian composer AR Rahman who will be one of the fillers of the 2024 edition in early July, is proof that Indonesia is actually able to bring in foreign artists exclusively.

As a promoter who has successfully held a local to international music concert for a long time, Anas knows very well how to fall in the building after this field. Anas said, one of the obstacles in bringing in international artists was that the promoter was allowed to work alone.

In fact, he believes that international music performances have great economic potential as a coffer of income in the form of foreign exchange. Not only from ticket sales, but also the hotel occupancy rate, flight tickets, to merchandise.

"We as promoters do not have strength from a financial perspective. If the state helps, the money is much greater. So that's what Singapore is doing," said Anas, who is also the promoter of the Prambanan Jazz Festival.

So far, we have not realized how many trillions have fled to Singapore. We have shouted from the start but we are not aware, when Singapore confessed, then we realized," he said again.

Coordinating Minister Luhut admitted that he had held a meeting regarding the plan to hold a season concert to match Singapore, and decided in six months. One of the entertainment business actors who brought in foreign artists has obtained an activity permit. He also asked the business actor to sign a contract with another artist and hold a rival concert.

Anas merepons pernyataan Luhut dan berharap pekerjaan besar ini tidak jatuh ke tangan yang salah, karena efeknya akan besar untuk negara.

"Who is Luhut appointed? Must be clear, don't fall into the wrong hands. So it's not just a big narrative," he said.

Ide pemerintah ini dikembut baik, tapi harus melibatkan orang-orang yang tepat. Harus jelas, harus memang paham jalurnya, Anas menjelaskan.