Music Industry Yells Again, Music Journalists Network Declare "Cassette Awards"

The Kaset Awards press conference held by the Music Journalists network in Jakarta, Monday (Photo: By courtesy)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic is slowly easing, the music industry is barking again. In fact, many potential new names have appeared on the national music stage.

Seeing this positive condition, several journalists who focus on writing music news are excited to give appreciation to the music industry players. They then formed the Music Journalists Network as well as declared the "Kaset Awards".

"As journalists who have been covering and writing about music for a long time, we want to contribute and pay attention to it," said Andree Stroo, the initiator of the "Kaset Awards" in Jakarta, Monday.

So far, in Indonesia there is only one award (award) for music, namely Anugerah Musik Indonesia or AMI which is the reference. Now, with the "Kaset Awards" it is hoped that the music industry players will be more militant in their work as well as the Indonesian music industry ecosystem to revive again.

Cassette Awards is expected to spur the country's music industry ecosystem (Photo: Special)

So, why is it called Cassette Awards? "There are several considerations. Besides being easy to remember, cassettes have become an icon for the music industry and have also been used by media crews to carry out work activities (interviews). And cassettes have entered the heyday of the world music industry," Stroo explained.

The Music Journalists Network itself consists of several journalists from Jakarta and several other cities. They work independently through the support of Detection Production.

The curation process for the Cassette Awards has started since April 2022 by selecting 10 categories, some of which are not included in other music awards, both at home and abroad.

The following are the categories that will be selected at the "Cassette Awards":

1. Best Newcomer 2. Best Male Soloist 3. Best Female Soloist 4. Best Band5. Best Music Collaboration6. Best song soundtrack7. Best Artwork8. Best Video Clips9. Best Concert10. Best Music Festival

The choice is based on the song/album that was officially released or the concert/event that was just held during the judging period. The selection method above is not divided by genre, but in terms of quality and performance. As for the results of the sale of songs / albums, so the final consideration.

A curation system is carried out every month where all members of the Music Journalists Network can nominate candidates of their choosing. Then, at the end of the month, a vote will be held with the members to choose the winners.

"The monthly winners in each of these categories will be voted at the end of the year (March 2023) to determine the winners who are entitled to receive the award," Mahdesi Iskandar, Database Administrator of "Kaset Awards" stated.

"However, apart from that, there are also awards every month for artists/bands who do have extraordinary potential," he concluded.