A group of friends enjoys a session at Diva karaoke lounge. (JP/Nurhayati)" border="0" height="333" width="500">A group of friends enjoys a session at Diva karaoke lounge. (JP/Nurhayati)

The karoke business is booming.

Attracted by promising prospects and wanting to secure an alternative source of income, musicians have confidently invested their money — and their names — in the business.

Family karaoke has in the last decade gained significant traction, even attracting those whose songs are sung inside the lounges.

Dangdut singer Inul Daratista was the first musician to establish her own karaoke franchise, called Inul Vista, in 2005.

The franchise grew rapidly, not only because it rode on Inul’s fame but for specifically targeting middle-class urbanites and offering a cozy, glitzy lounge concept.

With more than 100 karaoke outlets across the country, Inul’s success has tempted more businesspeople and artists to follow.

“Tighter competition has encouraged me to keep up with the pace, to stay creative, innovative and competitive in the business,” said Inul, whose gyrating dance moves led to a national controversy in 2003.

Songwriter and producer Ahmad Dhani is the latest celebrity to jump into the business, opening a franchise called Ahmad Dhani Masterpiece Family Karaoke in mid-December last year.

“My passion is not for the karaoke business, but my partner convinced me this is a good business,” he said.

A group of friends enjoys a session at Diva karaoke lounge. (JP/Nurhayati)

The karoke business is booming.

Attracted by promising prospects and wanting to secure an alternative source of income, musicians have confidently invested their money '€” and their names '€” in the business.

Family karaoke has in the last decade gained significant traction, even attracting those whose songs are sung inside the lounges.

Dangdut singer Inul Daratista was the first musician to establish her own karaoke franchise, called Inul Vista, in 2005.

The franchise grew rapidly, not only because it rode on Inul'€™s fame but for specifically targeting middle-class urbanites and offering a cozy, glitzy lounge concept.

With more than 100 karaoke outlets across the country, Inul'€™s success has tempted more businesspeople and artists to follow.

'€œTighter competition has encouraged me to keep up with the pace, to stay creative, innovative and competitive in the business,'€ said Inul, whose gyrating dance moves led to a national controversy in 2003.

Songwriter and producer Ahmad Dhani is the latest celebrity to jump into the business, opening a franchise called Ahmad Dhani Masterpiece Family Karaoke in mid-December last year.

'€œMy passion is not for the karaoke business, but my partner convinced me this is a good business,'€ he said.

(JP/Nurhayati)
Dhani, the former leader of the now defunct rock band Dewa 19 and producer of many other artists like The Virgin, The Rock and Mahadewi, said the karaoke business could be an effective source of income for Indonesian musicians amid dire levels of album sales.

'€œAs long as royalties are diligently paid and collected, Indonesian musicians can benefit from their songs sung in karaoke rooms,'€ he said.

Inul, who has faced a number of legal suits and accusations of improper use of intellectual property by other musicians, said some musicians had not made it easy for her business to pay royalties.

'€œSome of them refused to join representative institutions,'€ Inul said, referring to, among others, the Indonesian Creative Works Foundation (YKCI) and the Indonesian Forum for Music (WAMI).

Inul, however, still believes that family karaoke will remain a lucrative business in the years ahead. '€œIt'€™s still an activity of choice for families and friends,'€ she said.
After only a few months in the business, Dhani said he was optimistic about its future.

'€œIndonesian people love singing,'€ said the controversial musician who has opened more than five outlets and is looking to open at least 20 more this year.

Singer Rossa has been in the karaoke franchise business since 2011. Her Diva Family Karaoke (DFK) franchise now has 36 outlets spread across Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Bali and Papua.  

'€œIt started with an offer by several investors to join them and establish the business,'€ Rossa said.

Rossa focused on the DFK business, which now includes a separate public relations company to handle the franchise'€™s media affairs.

The singer, who made her name with her 1996 hit ballad '€œNada Nada Cinta'€ (Love Tunes), said business positioning was important. '€œYou need to be certain about what type of karaoke service you want to provide.

Another important thing is to put the outlets in a strategic location so they can be easily reached by customers,'€ Rossa said.

The DFK promotes itself as providing karaoke venues for all members of the family and also for work colleagues and partners. It also has special offers for females.

Rossa said she was lucky to have cooperative partners and to be a DFK franchisee to maintain and improve the business.

'€œThe main difficulty is controlling the quality of our outlets all over Indonesia. We need to maintain a good service and consumer satisfaction,'€ she said.

Meanwhile, Dhani said all difficulties boiled down to a single factor '€” money. '€œIf you have enough capital, the business can run smoothly,'€ he said.

He said a proper karaoke outlet with 35 rooms required a total of Rp 7 billion (US$596,000). '€œWith that kind of money, a breakeven point is achievable within two or three years,'€ Dhani said.

Inul, who opened her first outlet with Rp 4 billion, said her outlets also typically broke even within two years at the most.

'€œOur franchise fee nowadays is around Rp 500 million for between three and five years. Franchisees need to provide the place, while we provide the karaoke system and equipment,'€ Rossa said.

The singer said she often visited her outlets to spend karaoke sessions with her friends and meet her fans. '€œI also often make surprise visits to customers using the rooms,'€ said Rossa.

Dhani said he rarely visited his outlets. '€œI wish I could, but I just don'€™t have the time.'€