City’s concert hype: A sign of demand

How much would young Jakartans spend on music concerts? A lot, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem because somehow they’ve got it covered.

Avid concert-goer Stephanus Wisnu had spent all his concert budget on just two concerts: Rp 375,000 (US$42) for Canadian singer-songwriter Feist last month and Rp 605,000 for an upcoming gig by English singer Morrissey in May.

He’s been a bundle of nerves thinking he might not be able to get his hands on a ticket for a concert by progressive metal band Dream Theater, scheduled for April. “The cheapest ticket for the show is now being sold for Rp 1 million. The closer it gets to the performance date, the more expensive the price,” said the 25-year-old rock fan whose monthly income is about Rp 3 million.

Just minutes after going on sale last week, tickets for Morrissey’s concert sold out, forcing fans to buy the fast-selling and more expensive Rp 2.2 million — plus 10 percent tax — VIP tickets.

“I haven’t been able to save up again; I guess I’ll have to turn to my parents. I really can’t miss Dream Theater,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Tria Hanum, 29, said she had bought tickets for three gigs this year: Japanese rock band L’Arc en Ciel and Toe in May, and a double-show performance featuring first-generation boy bands New Kids on The Block and Backstreet Boys in June.

Tria spent a total of Rp 1.95 million for the concerts. She said she planned to go to more concerts if they featured interesting artists.

“I don’t have a special saving for them or allocate a specific budget. I use my credit cards to pay for them,” the civil servant said matter-of-factly.

Concerts by the big names in pop, like Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, sold out this year in the city. Superstar Lady Gaga is set to play a concert in June, with ticket prices ranging from Rp 465,000 to Rp 2.25 million.

Concert promoter Adrie Subono, with 18 years of experience in the business, said he was bewildered by the many high-profile concerts in the capital lately. “It started out late last year. Jakartans can enjoy more than 10 concerts each month now. It’s definitely unprecedented,” Adrie told the Post.

Owner of the renowned promotion company Java Musikindo said he was also surprised that ticket prices were rising in accordance with the number of concerts.

“Nowadays, even tickets selling between Rp 1.5 million and Rp 2 million sell like crazy. The most expensive ticket I ever sold was Rp 800,000 and that was last year,” Adrie said.

The promoter said he had no explanation for the phenomenon beyond the fact that international artists relied on concerts and live performances as a source of income, with album and singles sales declining in the Internet era. “It may have to do with the economy, I don’t know. But I want to know,” Adrie said.

The World Bank’s Indonesia Economic Quarterly report issued last year showed that Indonesia’s middle class — defined by an average spending of around $2 per day — grew by 61.73 percent to 131 million people in 2010 from 81 million in 2003, with more than 7 million people moving from the low-income bracket to the middle class during that period. Jakarta alone recorded a 6.5 percent growth in its economy in 2010, surpassing its own target of 6.2 percent, and is expected to expand further, by between 6.8 and 7 percent this year.

Big Daddy president director Michael Rusli, whose company was responsible for Elton John’s concert last year and Rod Stewart’s in January, said separately that he had observed an increase in purchase power in the city.

“I think this is a shared phenomenon in Asia, what with the financial crises in the US and Europe,” Michael said.

He believed the Jakarta concert market could grow even further. “It’s actually quite small now if we compare it with Singapore. It can certainly become even bigger here,” Michael said.