JAKARTA - Music business consultant, Aldo Sianturi, said that the era of the "music industry" is structurally eroding and being replaced by the dominance of the "artist industry", where musicians now have full control over their own fate.
This phenomenon is triggered by digitization that breaks down the monopoly wall of record labels that have dominated media access, promotion, and distribution for decades.
According to Aldo, if in the past musicians had to go through the label route to just be known by the media or get a stage, now technological advances allow them to become independent entities that are sovereign over their own intellectual property (IP).
He gave an example of how legendary groups in the world such as ABBA or musicians such as Dr. Dre successfully negotiated business directly with global investors without traditional intermediaries.
In Indonesia, this trend has begun to be followed by big names who choose an independent path after being under the auspices of a major label for so long.
"We see examples of Slank being independent, Sheila on 7 being independent, God Bless being independent. This is the megastar. D'Masiv also just came out of Musica," said Aldo in an interview with VOI in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, recently.
"This means that many musicians have understood that they can build their own industry," he continued.
Even though independence is beginning to take shape, Aldo underlined the big challenges that still haunt Indonesian musicians, namely the funding sector.
Unlike general business which has a measurable and quick Return on Investment (ROI) calculation, investment in the music sector has high risks.
The characteristics of the music business cannot be equated with the industry in general. Aldo likened music to a culinary that has very subjective parameters.
"In music, the parameters are good and not good," said Aldo.
To give birth to one artist who is commercially successful, an investor sometimes has to try to orbit ten artists at once. This is what makes big financiers in Indonesia often still hesitate to enter the music ecosystem massively.
Musician's income in the digital era is also considered not to come instantly or explode at one door like the heyday of Ring Back Tone (RBT) a dozen years ago. Currently, the musician's income coffers are spread organically ranging from royalties through Collective Management Organizations (LMK), publishing, streaming service revenue, to live performance schedules (live).
Interestingly, in the midst of the digital onslaught, Aldo saw a resurgence of physical formats that once again gave prestige value to Indonesian music catalogs. The existence of a black plate factory in Indonesia is a positive signal that the local music ecosystem is trying to strengthen its IP value again, imitating how world bands like Queen or Kiss manage their catalogs as assets that are fantastically valuable.
This independence is expected to make Indonesian musicians no longer just objects that are "bred" by industry interests, but rather business subjects who are able to diplomatically engage with global investors for the sustainability of their work in the future.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
