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Jakarta Post

Hunting for Oldies music at Blok M Square

In the era of digital music, music enthusiasts have returned to seeking vinyl records, the popularity of which had dimmed over the years.

Arief Suhardiman (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, December 19, 2020 Published on Dec. 19, 2020 Published on 2020-12-19T01:45:08+07:00

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V

inyl records, cassettes and CDs from music groups and legendary singers, such as The Beatles, Genesis, Rush, Casiopea, Yes and Elvis Presley, as well as local musicians such as Koes Plus and Chrisye are on display on wooden racks at Pasar Musik (music market) in Blok M Square, South Jakarta. 

Sweet memories: A man looks for a cassette at a kiosk in Pasar Musik. Prices of the second-hand cassettes range from Rp 50,000 to Rp 200,000. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

The music market is well recognized by music enthusiasts as a place where they can hunt for “jadoel” (oldies) music from the 1950s to 1990s as it offers cassettes, CD and vinyl records from beloved artists.

Highly durable: A number of portable cassette players are available for sale in a kiosk. Other kiosks also sell CD players and turntables. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

The market houses dozens of kiosks selling collections of jadoel tunes. The prices range from Rp 50,000 (US$ 3.54) to Rp 2 million.

Array of choices: Neatly arranged collections of CDs in a music kiosk are available for sale. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

For music aficionados, price does not seem to matter and they never bargain because the quality of audio is still high, although they are used items.

Dear collection: Vinyl record Rarities by The Beatles is among the most sought out records in the market. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

“This will depend on the singers/vocalists and the scarcity of the items. The more rare, the more expensive they are,” said Gunawan, a seller who has frequently sold vinyl records priced at up to Rp 2 million.

In the era of digital music, music enthusiasts have returned to seeking vinyl records, the popularity of which had dimmed over the years.

Authentic sounds: Vinyl records, cassettes and CDs available for sale are mostly second-hand but the quality remain high. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)

“Now many people are hunting for vinyl records by musician Harry Roesli, music group Giant Step and Ariesta Birawa, costing millions of rupiah,” said Gunawan who has been engaged in the business since 2012.

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