Etno Record Present To Overcome The Cipta-Hilang Phenomenon Of Music Works In The Academic Room

Ethnomusicology Department Student, Yogyakarta Indonesian Art Institute appeared on the intra campus stage of Saling Silang #4 in December 2024 (doc. ethnoisiyk)

Music works can come from many places, including academic spaces in art campuses, which are actually places for young artists to study. In many cases, students at art campuses often produce new musical works, either for the purposes of lecture assignments or intra-campus performances, which are eventually lost and forgotten.

To overcome this problem, called the 'created-miss' phenomenon, the Ethnomusicology Department, the Yogyakarta Indonesian Art Institute collaborated with Pragita Prabawa Publishing to introduce a record label called Etno Record.

"Etno Record was born out of anxiety in witnessing the phenomenon of copyright-missing that occurred among musicians and ethnomusicology students. Many quality works were produced but never reached the appropriate distribution stage, let alone monetization," said Dr. Citra Aryandari as Chair of the Ethnomusicology Department, through a press release received by VOI, Thursday, March 20.

As a first step, Etno Record introduced eleven musical works as its first catalog. The work includes: five retro dangdut songs from OM Search for Aunt who brought the uniqueness of dangdut from the 1980s to 1990s; five keroncong songs combined with electronic dance music (EDM) from the Edamame group; as well as a single entitled Happy Holiday written by Yoga Supeno as a teacher at the Ethnomusicology Department and sung by Diva Aurel.

"Through this label, we want to build an ecosystem that allows innovative works such as keroncong-EDM fusion and retro dangdut renewal not only created, but also distributed professionally and able to generate economic value for its creators," added Citra.

The choice of Etno Record's initial catalog includes various themes and musical innovations. OM's Work Looking for Aunt raises the classic dangdut theme such as romance and social criticism, with recording techniques that combine vintage and modern touch.

Then, Edamame tried to give a breakthrough by bringing together keroncong elements with electronic music. Meanwhile, the singles from Yoga Supeno and Diva Aurel brought a contemporary touch to traditional celebration music.

Citra said the breakthrough was an effort to open the way for graduates of the Ethnomusicology Department to enter the professional scope of which has been a major obstacle for many talented music creators.

Pragita Prabawa provides infrastructure and industrial knowledge that allows these works not only to be published, but also to generate fair income for its creators, Citra said. "The diversity of work from retro dangdut to keroncong-EDM fusion shows how much creative potential has not been properly monetized so far."

As part of the monetization strategy, all works on Etno Record will be available through various digital streaming platforms with transparent royalty distribution schemes for creators. Physical releases such as cassettes and vinyl are also included in plans to be produced. In addition, this label will also be more active in facilitating the use of works for commercial licensing, films, and other digital media to maximize the economic potential of each work.