If You Don't Want To Create Orinal Music, Check It Like Ahmad Dhani

Ahmad Dhani, frontman of Dewa 19 (Instagram @officialdewa19)

JAKARTA - Recently, netizens have been busy criticizing Radja's band for releasing a song called Apa Sih. The work was considered not creative and openly plagiarized the song APT. from the booming Rose and Bruno Mars.

One thing is certain, Radja knows very well that the public will realize the similarities between the two songs. Moreover, what was imitated was a very iconic part of the popular hit released in October 2024.

Radja himself did not deny that they were 'inspired' of the work. Moldy, the guitarist of Radja, even clearly mentions the controversial 'What' part as a gimmick.

"For me, 'What Sih' is this, I put it in front of the game, the same at the barrier, after the chorus to the song again. It was also removed 'what else' what has I changed this tone and the lyrics are, it doesn't damage at all my song which is entitled 'What is it?'," he said.

Cases like this are not the case twice in Indonesia. Some of the works of Indonesian musicians are quite similar to previous songs from abroad. Likewise, there are also foreign songs that imitate Indonesian band songs such as Peterpan's song Tak Bisa which is reworked by Indian musicians.

Not to mention the Beatles songs whose tones are found in modern songs. Is it a form of plagiarism because there is no more original music? Or is it actually legal?

Speaking of imitating, it feels like Ahmad Dhani's name should be in the spotlight. This Dewa 19 frontman has spawned dozens of hits through his various projects. So how can he not run out of ideas?

Although he is often called a genius, Dhani can also run out of ideas. That's why he often 'mimires' old songs from abroad to make his own version. But the difference is, he cheats 'halal'. How come?

Of course by buying a license. This method has been done by Ahmad Dhani for a long time. In the song If Heaven and Hell Never existed with Chrisye, he paid for Stephen Simmons' song license entitled Tears Never Dry.

Likewise with the series of the song Cinta Mati 2 and Cinta Mati 3, Dhani includes Indonesian lyrics and makes them relevant to Indonesian music lovers. The practice is also still being carried out in Dewa's latest song 19, Nothing Comparable to you, the license was purchased from David Sanborn's work.

With clear legality, of course, buying and selling licenses is a solution to appreciate each other's works between musicians. Therefore, it is very important to know the paths that can be taken for the agreement.

But it's different if what is being pursued is controversy. Marketing of this kind of sensation was quite effective a decade ago, but is it still relevant? What is certain is that this will be a bad track record for the perpetrators.