Network Of Music Journalists Emphasizes Equity Of The Kaset Awards

JAKARTA - The Music Journalists Network launched the Secretariat Awards website to confirm their existence over the past year. They have made the Kaset Awards declaration since August last year.

The Kaset Awards is an award given by the Music Journalists Network to Indonesian music industry players. This network consists of around 50 journalists based in Jakarta, Bandung, Malang, Makassar, Purwokerto, Yogyakarta to New York, United States.

"This is a form of appreciation from music journalists to music industry players in the country. At the same time as a forum to create an integrated music ecosystem between actors, music event makers, sponsors, music labels, artist management and of course music journalists/media," said Andree Stroo at the launch of the Kaset Awards website in Jakarta, Friday.

With the Kaset Awards, music industry players are expected to be more militant in the work and ecosystem of the Indonesian music industry. Because, now in Indonesia there is only one award event for music that has become a reference, namely the Indonesian Music Award or AMI.

"In some big countries, they have more than one music award where each award has its own characteristics," said Andree Stroo.

"As for the Kaset Awards, the winners were chosen based on the glasses of journalists. The more rewards are made, of course, the Indonesian music industry will be more exciting, right?" he continued.

Presenting the Kaset Awards to players in the Indonesian music industry, especially the record label, which allows these two entities to integrate with each other. Because in the country, record labels are still dominant in producing new talents.

Responding to concerns over the existence of 'deposit' artists from the record label to the Kaset Awards, Andree Stroo confirmed that this would not happen. The reason is, the Music Journalists Network works independently without responding to special requests from any party.

"We work independently. The closeness to the label can actually help us to get updated release information," said Andre Stroo.

In addition, Mahdesi Iskandar added that the winner was chosen based on the voting results from the members.

"The winner is based on the voting member of the Music Journalists Network after being submitted. So, there is no outside interference," added Mahdesi Iskandar.

The curation process for the Kaset Awards began in April 2022 by selecting 10 categories. The choice is based on the officially released song or album or concert or event that was only held during the judging period.

These various categories include Best Newcomers, Best Male Soloists, Best Female Soloists, Best Bands, Best Music Collaboration, Best Song Soundtracks, Best Artworks, Best Clip Videos, Best Concerts, and Best Music Festivals.

The selection method above is not divided based on the genre, but based on quality and performance. The results of the sale of songs/albums, are the final considerations.

This curation system is carried out every month where all members of the Music Journalists Network can apply for candidates they choose personally.

Per month winners in each of these categories will be selected at the end of the judging period, namely in March 2023, to determine the winner.