Breaking Through The Global Market With Indonesia Music Expo (IMEX)

Indonesian Press Conference Music Expo (IMEX) (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world that is the intersection of world civilization meetings that come from the Eastern and Western hemispheres. As a result, the growth of the musical culture is so diverse in this country. Meanwhile, since the past three decades, the global market has become familiar with what they call “world music ”, which is a type of traditional or new ethnic music that comes from all continents as well as gamelan or keroncong in Indonesia. After experiencing rapid development, within three decades, the genre “world music &rdquo market reached 10 percent of the circulation of money in the world music market with a total of approximately 6.5 billion US dollars. On the basis of Indonesia's huge musical culture, 4 years ago the Directorate of Film, Music and New Media, the Directorate General of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia held an international music expo called INDONESIAN MUSIC EXPO (IMEX). IMEX aims to introduce and climb Nusantara's world music products to the world market by inviting the perpetrators or ‘ purchasersquo; world music products from all over the continent come and watch the performance of the music group chosen by the IMEX Curator Council to perform on stage. This year is the fifth IMEX event to be held at the Ubud Painting Puri Museum, Bali on September 21-24, 2023. The IMEX program will be in the form of performances, exhibitions, screenings of films, talk shows, demonstrations, conferences and workshops featuring 12 prestigious world music groups from all over the archipelago from Sumatra, Jakarta, Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. “Hopefully with the IMEX being held again this year, these ‘ buyers ’ will be interested in inviting groups that appear on the IMEX stage to their respective countries. Para ‘ pembeli ’ these are a collection of music promoters, producers, label owners, festival directors, directors of art centers, TV and radio media, members of music organizations and associations, and so on,” Franki Raden, artistic director of IMEX 2023 and founder of Lokaswara. The appreciation obtained from last year's event, the ‘believers ’ who represent all major world music institutions admitted that they were very impressed by the diversity, wealth and quality of the music group appearing on the IMEX stage. The envoy from WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo), Christine Semba, who came last year, immediately expressed her willingness to cooperate with IMEX in 2023. WOMEX is the world's largest market institution for genres or products “world music ”. “ With this collaboration, IMEX made a big breakthrough and became the only music institution in Indonesia that managed to become part of the world music market centered in Europe and America, Franki continued. Indonesian Press Conference Music Expo (IMEX) (Photo: Special) The following is the IMEX 2023 participating group: SUMATRA 1. Pearl MARGONDANG Eta Margondang is a Batak music group that is able to play all kinds of music from the Tapanuli area such as Gondang, Karo, and Simalungun. 2. SAKO SARIKAT Sako Sarikat is a progressive world music group from Lampung. Their music originated from Minangkabau's musical tradition which was worked on with a modern touch. JAKARTA 3. RAS MUHAMAD FEAT. INDONESIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA (INO) Indonesian National Orchestra (INO) consists of traditional music players from various regions founded by Franki Raden in 2010. This year INO collaborated with a singer and composed a song known as Ras Muhamad to appear at IMEX 2023. JAVA 4. SORA SORA is a world music group from Bandung that uses Angklung musical instruments as a melodic instrument. Their music combines elements of Western and traditional Sundanese music very dynamically. BALI 5. SELONDING GAMELAN The Selonding gamelan is ancient Balinese music from the Balinese people of Aga (a native Balinese resident). This very unique gamelan is commonly used in sacred ceremonies. This time IMEX will present Selonding music from the Suling Gita Semara Gamelan studio in Ubud. 6. RINDIK PINGGITAN Rindik Pinggitan is a dance and ritual music performance that is actually extinct in Bali. However, for the sake of the ceremony and appearance at IMEX, the people of Sebali Village who still have a legacy of Rindik Pinggitan musical instrument work hard to revive this art. 7. ORASARE Orasare is a fusion jazz group from Ubud who worked a lot on regional songs into jazz music. Their ensembles also use Western and traditional Indonesian musical tools. WEST NUSA TENGGARA 8. CHANDRA IRAWAN Chandra Irawan is a reliable jazz guitar player from Lombok. In his appearance at IMEX 2023, Chandra will work on a mix between jazz and traditional Lombok music.

EAST NUSA TENGGARA 9. MARINUS KEVIN Marinuz Kevin (the hip hop singer from Kupang) worked on his music starting from songs in the NTT area that his own people do not know, especially young people. The appearance of this group at various festivals in Indonesia always amazes millennials. KALIMANTAN 10. UYAU MORIS Uyau Moris is an accomplished Sampek musical instrument player from the Iban tribe in North Kalimantan (Malinau). Moris' appearance will be a single Sampek concert that is modernly worked on with vocal and electrical elements. SULAWESI 11. PEPE PEPE BAINE Pepe Pepe Baine is a form of performing the rituals of the people of Gowa who use the element of fire magically. What is special is that all of these magical dancers are women. This traditional traditional performing of the people of Gowa in Makassar is presented by the Sirajuddin Studio. PAPUA 12. PAPUA VOCAL ENSEMBLE Papuans are known to really like to sing. This favorite comes from the culture of tribal music there. One of the tribes in Papua that has a very unique form of vocal music and my favorite is the Dani tribe who lives in the Baliem Valley. The Papuan music group that will appear at IMEX 2023 comes from Dani tribe and others.