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Glenn Fredly: Concerned about local music future
Glenn Fredly appeared from a studio owned by pop diva Ruth Sahanaya in South Jakarta, where he was rehearsing with his band for the 2008 Java Jazz Festival, to talk with The Jakarta Post
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Glenn Fredly appeared from a studio owned by pop diva Ruth Sahanaya in South Jakarta, where he was rehearsing with his band for the 2008 Java Jazz Festival, to talk with The Jakarta Post.
Even in a simple white T-shirt, jeans and his trademark flat cap, the Mollucan-born singer, born Glenn Fredly Deviano Latuihamailo, still manages to look as debonair as he does on the cover of his latest album, Happy Sunday, which was released last year.
"The Java Jazz Festival is indeed an oasis amid the sad condition of the local music industry," he said as he sat down for the interview at the studio. As he continued, the burden of restlessness behind his vivacious appearance slowly emerged.
Despite a successful career in the music industry, Glenn, 32, said he was fearfully looking at a bleak future in his career as a musician, with piracy becoming more and more rampant. He said the government continued to turn a blind eye to the problem and that many artists were becoming heavily dependent on cash-hungry cigarette corporations or the newly developed cell phone ringtone industry to stay alive.
This month's issue of the local edition of Rolling Stone magazine, whose cover announces "Petaka Dunia Musik Indonesia", or "Catastrophe in the Indonesian Music Industry", seems to confirm his predicament.
The magazine reported that no musician, including successful middle-of-the-road bands such as Peter Pan, Radja or Ada Band, had their album sales exceed a million copies in the past two years.
According to the Indonesian Recording Association (ASIRI), the number of cassettes, CDs and VCDs circulating the market sharply decreased from about 30 million in 2005 to about 19 million today.
Rolling Stone also cited the changing attitude of post-walkman consumers, who preferred purchasing music in digital format, as another contributing factor to declining sales.
Glenn, however, believes the dilemma the local music industry is facing is not about piracy alone; though it had already brutally injured a number of major recording companies and CD outlets. The government's lack of support and commitment to developing art and culture, especially in the creative industry, and the way corporations exploited music as a promotional tool, he said, had made music lose its value.
"As we can see today, with many companies sponsoring music concerts as part of their promotional effort, many people can now attend a concert for free. They (the companies) don't really care about music; what matters to them is whether the concert could draw a large audience," he said.
"The public are not encouraged to pay for music as a form of appreciation."
Again, he deplored the government's inaction against thriving piracy.
"Jakarta's piracy center is only 200 meters away from the State Palace (he is referring to the electronics center of Glodok). The president doesn't seem to have the political will to put an end to piracy. What he did do was make an album of his own, which is obviously not a solution. I don't get it," he said.
With such discouraging circumstances, Glenn said he was called upon to initiate a movement to save the local music industry. He talked to a number of indie and mainstream musicians and has asked them to participate in a cross-genre concert scheduled for Aug. 8, 2008, in an effort to demand change.
"I think it is time for us to realize that music should be taken seriously as part of the creative industry. It is not just a secondary entertainment thing," he said.
He is not wasting the opportunity to perform on stage at this year's Java Jazz Festival, where he will campaign with fellow musicians at the international event to work together to find a solution for the problems ailing the local music industry.
While voluntarily campaigning his fellow musicians to join his so-called Save Our Music movement, Glenn is also seeking ways to survive the competition -- locally and globally -- as he begins to look at the lucrative market abroad, especially Europe.
"I am currently recording my new album, which includes songs with English lyrics. I am now trying to create a network to promote my upcoming album in Europe," he said. The album is due to be released in April.
Going international is one thing, but adapting to the changing trends and the way in which the music industry operates is another thing.
"I think the recording companies soon will no longer be dominant, as people are getting more accustomed to downloading music. What we need now is a promoter who can sell not only our music but also our merchandise," Glenn said.
So, does the unfriendly music climate in Indonesia and his bleak view of the country's music industry negatively affect his creativity in making music?
"No, it doesn't. I know I am making music for the industry but exploration is still an important thing. As you will see in my next album, I have created and offered a new concept. It is a fusion of jazz, pop, R&B and soul. I combine them all and then add that little something to make it distinctively mine."
