“Secretly Harmful: Unpacking the Complexities of Royalties to Avoid Constant Loss.” Photo: Koalisi Seni/Margaret Megan
Jakarta, May 31, 2024 – This year, Koalisi Seni once again held a series of discussions titled “Secretly Harmful: Unpacking the Complexities of Royalties to Avoid Constant Loss” at Gudskul, Coffeewar, Kedubes Bekasi, Selasar Sunaryo, and M Bloc.
Through these discussions, the findings of Koalisi Seni’s research were confirmed by speakers and participants. “Back in the day, selling a million copies of cassettes and CDs could buy a house or a car. Being a singer was a stable profession. But looking at young artists today, whose streaming numbers are a hundred thousand times higher than mine were—why aren’t they as financially stable as I was back then?” said Melly Goeslaw, singer, songwriter, and Vice Chair of the Indonesian Musicians’ Federation (FESMI).
Ratri Ninditya, Research Coordinator at Koalisi Seni, explained that Indonesia still relies heavily on foreign platforms, making the country merely a market. One of Koalisi Seni’s key recommendations is to push for the development of local platforms so that Indonesia can have stronger bargaining power against foreign platforms and establish a minimum rate for song plays on digital platforms.
Meanwhile, Aprilia Sari, vocalist and songwriter of White Shoes and The Couples Company, added, “Art without business leads to victimization—if we don’t know how to monetize our talent properly. On the flip side, business without art lacks soul. Both must be balanced at 50:50.” Yovie Widianto, FESMI Chairman, composer, and songwriter, agreed, stating, “Indonesia has 270 million people. We have the highest number of music streams. This means the economic turnover is enormous. We must ensure we’re not just a target market but also benefit from this system. That’s what we need to fight for.”
Hafez Gumay, Advocacy Manager at Koalisi Seni, also pointed out that the key issue in the digital music industry is creating a royalty management system that is more transparent and beneficial for musicians. The lump-sum collection system used by LMKN makes revenue distribution problematic. Musicians cannot track how many times their songs have been played, where they have been played, and why they receive a certain amount of royalties.
Due to the many root problems in the current royalty regulations, Koalisi Seni and FESMI collaborated to present a policy paper to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and LMKN. In the editorial opinion “Royalty Regulations Must Be Revised So That Musicians Stop Losing Out,” Koalisi Seni and FESMI recommend: (1) Amending the Copyright Law to accommodate the changes brought by digital platforms as a distribution medium. (2) Establishing standardized licensing agreements that favor musicians. (3) Supporting the development of domestic digital platforms. (4) Expanding musician involvement in copyright policy-making.
Musicians have a lot of work ahead, but Voice of Baceprot believes that “Understanding royalties and all related matters empowers musicians, giving them bargaining power so they no longer remain at a disadvantage.”
For more information, you can read “A Quite Damage: The State of Digital Music Copyright in Indonesia” and “Everything Musicians Need to Know About Digital Copyright” on Academia Koalisi Seni.
Written by: Amalia Ikhlasanti
