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Is Indonesian R&B music dead? Industry experts weigh in
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Stage crisis: The 2022 FLAVS was one of the very few music festivals that specifically celebrated local R&B talents last year. (Courtesy of Felix Martua) (JP/Felix Martua)
H
omegrown R&B artists, once the leading class in the late 2000s and early 2010s, seem to be losing their place in the popular landscape. Experts in the game give their two cents on what went wrong and how to revive the scene.
As the director for artists and repertoire at Warner Music Indonesia, one of Barry Maheswara's focuses has always been nurturing talents from different genres – including rhythm and blues (R&B). Growing up listening to the likes of Luther Vandross, Barry understood the tremendous impact an R&B artist could usher into the mainstream, popular landscape.
Nonetheless, Barry was not ignorant of a problem facing the genre. In a conversation with The Jakarta Post late in the afternoon on Feb. 1, he divulged that he would, on a "daily basis", observe the "movements" in the major Indonesian music charts. Local R&B artists rarely showed up on these charts – an absence that continued to mystify him each day.
Barry came to a pretty novel conclusion:
"Indonesia, compared with other countries, is very unique. Why? Because the [music] trend in this country shifts akin to the cryptocurrency market," he quipped. "The shifts can be immensely unpredictable."
'Viral' kicks the blues
Barry found it hard to foresee where the local music trend would head next and whether a local R&B revival was on the horizon. He was certain of one thing, though, the current Indonesian music audience was no longer concerned with genre, but instead, what is "viral" at the moment.
