Busking against the system: Street musicians fight for respect, legality

PREMIUM

Music from graveyard annoys Depok residents

For almost a year, residents of community unit (RW) 18 of Pancoran Mas district, Depok, have been annoyed by loud dangdut music blasting from a cemetery located on Jl. Swadaya, a street in neighborhood unit (RT) 5. The residents said the loud music always played from around 4 p.m. every Saturday until 1 a.m. on Sunday, and had even started at around 1 p.m. on several occasions.

PREMIUM

Regulate street performers instead of punishing them

Suitable locations must be identified for busking. Some are better than others, and some may be restricted entirely. 

You can now tip street musicians with Go-Pay

Musicians will display their accounts' QR codes on their guitars or on banner stands as they perform, enabling listeners to send tips even when short on small change.

Street musicians battle for space at establishments

Thirteen busker groups from the Greater Jakarta auditioned in front of prominent businesspeople and social figures on Monday to convince them to allow musicians to legally perform in various establishments.

Businesspeople look to give space for street musicians

Fifty street musicians will perform in front of businesspeople in Greater Jakarta next week after they passed auditions for the Support Performance Card (Supercard) program that will give them the opportunity to perform at various establishments.

Depok holds audition for street musicians 

The Street Music Institute (IMJ), a community of street musicians based in Depok, West Java, held on Tuesday auditions for street musicians to obtain a card that would allow them to legally perform at various establishments

Activists claim Yogyakarta administration violates human rights by banning street musicians

The Yogyakarta administration’s stance on banning street musicians is thought by some to have breached the economic, social, cultural, civic and political rights of the province’s residents. The administration has categorized the musicians as vagrants and beggars who disrupt traffic.