Anyone ever heard of the band Radja? Samson maybe? The one that sings the song Kenangan Terindah? Or maybe you have heard Padi? I'm sure you've heard Dewa 19? Their song, Pupus? Kasidah Cinta? How about the band Peterpan or Sheila on 7?
Damn big names here in Malaysia rite? I mean loads of albums being sold, special concerts and awards all going to them. Give credit where its due right? So far, I have no real problems with the music they SELL (or do they call it play?). I kinda dig some of the tunes. Where are they from?
Well, this is a place to rant, and there will be some..
So...what's the real deal?
Indonesian bands here are very dominant to an extant that it overshadows our local acts. As I said, give credit where it's due, some Indonesian bands are good, but are they really as phenomenal back home in the streets of Jakarta?
The Malaysian general listener will automatically prefer music with Indonesian flavour. People actually prefer Radja and Samson and diss Spoon (not a real big fan of all 3). They play the same kind of music...and Malaysians prefer the one with Indonesian flavour. Well, here's a news flash.. Indonesian Pop/Rock bands' sales back in Indonesia are crap! They rely on us here in Malaysia to make them rich. People here worship the ground they walk on. It's ridiculous...but true.
How can this go on with radios and all blasting support your local scene. Well here's another nail in the back of the head... Have you heard Butterfingers on air? NO!! Our stations dedicate one pathetic chart a week and cramp the same old LOCAL ENGLISH bands in it! Why not let our bands mingle with the big boys of UK or the USA on air? Or are we giving our bands "preferential" treatment? Is there some kind of subliminal message saying our bands are not good enough to be played on our stations for our people to hear and enjoy (or critic..depends which side of the coin you prefer..you narcissistic b*stard..haha)
Speaking of not good enough...if lets say we had one band...local...playing the theme song for a international brand's promo...wouldn't that deserve some airtime which is not at bloody 3:45am when even the guards are asleep! Wouldn't it be cool having a band playing the theme for Nike? Well Seven Collar t-Shirt plays My Generation (not the Limp Bizkit version) and have we heard it on air? I don't think so...!
Outrage..at our local Anugerah Industri Musik, we have a special catergory for best Indonesian artiste. Do our bands get the same reception, honour there? Does the Best Malaysian Artiste Award get any recognition? NO!! Hell, I have reason to belive that our records are discarded over there.
Astro...what have you been doing all these years? Of all who won in reality music contests in Astro, Mawi is the only one seriously making it big...the arguement of whether he can sing or not, I wont discuss here. Is it the company policy to promote the wrong people? Of six Akademi Fantasias and three Blast Offs, I don't see anyone carrying their name without the tag "AF' behind their name besides Vince..You've got Khai AF, Adam AF, what the hell?
On that same note, how is pur local scene going to grow? Until when are our music going to be rated second class compared to Indonesia? Are we supposed to launch our songs outside of Malaysia and make it big outside..then only come back and play it on radio.
We've seen it with Guy Sebastian and Che'nelle. They migrate and make it big and here comes our local radios in line to play their songs. It doesn't matter if the artiste spent one hour here or a week, but as long as the artiste migarates and make it big...here comes the Anak Malaysia tag! BULLSHIT!!
From the way I see it, our musicians can kiss the dream of making it big locally goodbye, until we can make less of a mockery of Akademi Fantasia and promote really talented musicians. Thank God for youtube...
5 comments:
Darian, you should consider blogging for the local music scene. I think you might be able to make a difference by promoting awareness...
no kidding. you're close to the industry, you see the struggles, and understand it well. and you have the flair to write about it...
you should try it..just my 2 cents worth.. =)
will do..too many politic blogs around anyway..
oklah oklah..i'll come this thursday :P
support local band!
on de 15th la pepek..
Laundry, the curve
Nice analytical blog. BTW, I'm Indonesian, happen to find this while blogwalking. I agree with some of your points, but one thing I don't agree is this
"Indonesian Pop/Rock bands' sales back in Indonesia are crap! They rely on us here in Malaysia to make them rich. "
Big bands with strong fanbase like Dewa, Padi, Peterpan etc usually sell around 300.000 copies for each album they have. That's multiple times what they sell in Malaysia. So, it's not true that they rely on their Malaysian fans to make them rich. Their best albums are usually sold around 800.000 - 1 million copies in Indonesia. I think Peterpan still hold the title as the best selling with Bintang Di Surga sold around 3 million copies.
Some bands with good looking members might get contract as models for some commercials. The brainy ones in the bands (the main composers like Eross in So7, Piyu in Padi, Azis in Jamrud or Dhani in Dewa) get extra money from composing songs for solo singers.
But their biggest income is not from albums (especially now with so many piracy), it's more from shows (either on TV or other gigs), we call it ngamen. These bands can ngamen in hundreds of cities in Indonesia.
While you voice your concern abt the decline of Malaysian musis industry, in Indonesia we also have the same concern. The threat is not only piracy, but also 'ngamen' itself. Those big bands are too busy with ngamen, they don't have time to compose good songs.
BTW, some famous Indonesian singers/bands in Malaysia are considered craps by Indonesian audience. But sometimes being crappy also sells, because sometime people need them as guilty pleasure. Example : Radja, Duo Ratu, Kangen Band, Acha-Irwansyah, Matta and some of the latest Ungu's and Dewa's songs.
Sorry, if I'm rambling too long. I just need to clear some facts.
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