Sweet Promises In The Midst Of Chaotic Music Business

Illustration (Pixabay)

GIGI, God Bless, to Peachy! is a musician who has been hit by a few problems in various musical events that have been held recently. In the article "The Fate of a Musician when Canceling Mentas" we have seen what happened to them when they canceled their mentas. In this article, we try to understand the cancel fee concept, which should be a middle ground in this kind of problem. Part of VOI's signature Series Writing, "Disturbing Musical Performances".

A series of concert cancellations in Indonesia that occurred in the last one month has attracted public attention. Starting from the Ari Lasso concert, then GIGI, then Jakarta Rock Space (God Bless, Edane, NTRL, and Jamrud), to Iwan Fals. This cancellation is certainly detrimental to the artist who was supposed to appear. Not only in terms of time and energy, but also financial matters.

Luthfi, Chairperson of the Agency for Professional Advancement and Inter-Institutional Relations IMARINDO (Indonesian Artist Manager Association) said that what causes the event to be canceled is usually a matter of administration. For this reason, IMARINDO applies a special penalty for event organizers (EO) who unilaterally cancel the event in the contract clause of each artist.

If there is no black and white, especially about penalties, the artist's losses will be even greater. Because previously they had lost the opportunity to play in another event and the effort that had been put into that event was so wasted.

"The money that has entered is our right, and the promoter is obliged to pay off the rest of the payment. To book a new schedule, we have to pay again. If the cancellation involves force majure, it must be accepted by the promoter and artist," said Luthfi to VOI, Friday , 29 November.

Lutfi added, the legal basis related to this penalty is the Civil Code, because there is no specific formal juridical standard, such as the Law of the World of Entertainment for example.

"The clause used is then included in the cooperation contract which is an agreement of two parties, the draft contract is prepared by the legal part of the two parties, coupled with the presence of a stamp duty that strengthens both parties' legal positions (formal juridis)," explained Lutfi.

Slightly different from Luthfi, music observer Denny MR - former manager of Nicky Astria and PAS Band - said that the collaboration between artist management and event organizers must have a sign (apart from booking fees with a validity of 30 days) in the form of 50 percent of money. deal value. But, not by paying the payment according to the contract value, as stated by Lutfi.

"Logically, they (EO) did the cancellation because they were unable to pay off the payment to the artist. So if you are asked to pay off the payment according to the contract value as part of the cancellation penalty, that's not possible. He could just run away. It's clear they don't have money. I prefer to call it, the receipt that has come in belongs to the management, "said Denny MR.

All payment methods, continued Denny MR, are automatically listed in the contract. Payment is made per term. First, a booking fee of 10 percent which is valid for 30 days. However, at this early stage the artist is not yet bound by a contract. And if the organizer doesn't contact again, the booking fee belongs to the artist management. Then, stepping back into the payment of a sign (DP) of 50 percent of the total fee.

"This stage has been included in the contract agreement. There is also another requirement. If the EO changes the date he is required to confirm with management within a certain period (30 days after the signing). Any change in 30 days means compromising with the artist's new schedule. "

Denny MR again explained, if within 30 days there is no change, the date agreed in the contract will become the reference. However, if the change to the show date is made after 30 days then it is returned to management's policy.

"But usually based on the contract, it will be canceled, and the money which is 50 percent belongs to management," he said.

Reflecting on Experience

Concert cancellations don't just happen now. Luthfi - who also works as a vocalist for the ska band Purpose Tiger Clan - had a bitter experience in the early 2000s. At that time, at one event, Luthfi et al were already at the location. However, the event didn't happen at all.

"In East Java, we are already in the city but the show is canceled. We have not paid in full, the hotel has not been paid, we are detained by the hotel because the committee ran away. umbul but there is no stage and sound system. The promoter is also running away, "he said.

Luthfi then mentioned incidents that have been experienced by other bands in the past. Call it PAS Band and Laluna in Medan in the same era. At that time, the promoter ran out of money to pay artist fees. Fortunately, PAS Band already has a round trip ticket from Jakarta to Medan-Jakarta. But not with Laluna, they had to be detained in Medan for five days.

Meanwhile, in the 94/95 years, GIGI had to wait three days in Makassar because the committee fled because they could not pay the honorarium and plane tickets back to Jakarta.

Guitarist Edane, Eet Sjahranie added, around 1995 - when the band's formation was still fronted by vocalist Heri Batara and bassist Iwan Xaverius - they had experienced cancellations due to force majure. It was raining pretty hard at that time

"But, the committee is also wrong if I say it. Because he didn't anticipate the rain that fell. He didn't use the roof ... By the time I got to the place, it was cloudy ... Soundcheck hadn't started yet, it was all wet. brave (soundcheck). When evening comes, (the rain) doesn't stop, "said Eet when met by VOI at his house in Cimanggis, Depok.

Luckily, the organizers rescheduled the event for the following month and compensated Edane. From these events, many bands started using official riders.

"The worst decision was taken through deliberation to reach a consensus by both parties, not being arrogant from either side," said Lutfi.

"Sometimes our EO's work is not in accordance with the experience they have, so the sweet talk in the contract is not appropriate during the execution," said Denny MR.

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