Introduction to Independent Music Distribution

 Taken from an academic report. Further use of any part of this writings for any reason is prohibited unless you have permission from the writer, which is me.



Music has always been an integral part of our everyday lives. For as long as the history could remember, music – along with the other forms of art – has been used in every way possible. From political uses such as songs for The Dear Leader Kim Jong Il of North Korea to the usage of current pop songs for product advertisements, music is integrated into our lives both consciously and unconsciously.

Along with the wheel of time, music is changing its forms and uses throughout history. Music had gone a long, long way from being a part of an initiation ritual in the heart of Africa to a money-bearing commodities for recording companies’ CEOs, and even to a background tune in an elevator. Changes in the purpose of music is partly thanks to modernity and the technology for reproducing it. Like Walter Benjamin said in his writings The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction:

“(...)for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced become the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints: to ask for the “authentic” print makes no sense. But the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based in ritual, it begins to be based on another practice – politic.(...)” (Benjamin, 1969)

From that point on, we can imagine how the work of music in the modern times can lead to music industries. Recording companies that publish and release musicians’ work throughout the world. Those companies are, in one way or another, responsible for what people hear. Music had been commodified along with the rise of capitalism.

With the rise of capitalim and the music industry, came with them the term “popular music” that we usually hear everyday. Music is somewhat standardized with the coming of music industry. Charts are filled with same songs around the world, more bands are influencing other bands to make music, celebrity and public-figure status donned by musicians and artists, and awards are given to those who sell the most. Thanks to them, too, that we can hear music everywhere in the world. The ever-expanding world of business and music industry made music well-distributed to the mass.

Music industry’s power is a close-call to hegemonic power. If a musician won’t make music that’s popular to the crowd, then he or she won’t make a good sale and live from their music. It’s true that there are lots of musicians and artists making music because they like it. It’s also true that lots of them stick to their “idealism” good. That’s why there are subcultures and countercultures. The resistance of some parts aside of the music industry are going their own way to keep making music. Their resistance – be it consciously or unconsciously – is what creates independent movement.

From Bristol to Tokyo, independent music movements – sometimes called “scene” – are growing. There will always be places for those who don’t go on the same path with popular music industry. Indonesia’s the same, too. From the early entry of western music in the first half of the 20th century to the banning of “ngak-ngek-ngok”  music to the charts and radio broadcasts filled with similar, cheesy love pop songs in the present day,  independent music scenes are there to counter the hegemony of popular music industry, even if they have to move beyond the radar.

Although the roots of Indonesia’s independent music scene can be traced to a distant past, its growth is more seen vividly after the fall of the new-order in 1998. This new “freedom” gave people, especially the youth, to enjoy and make music as the way they like it. New  “indie” artists and recording labels were emerging here and there, with Jakarta, Bandung, and Yogyakarta becoming the breeding grounds. Some of the independent artists considered “legendary” in the independent music scene like Pure Saturday, Jasad, Rumahsakit, and the likes are formed in these times. These movements has been continuing until the present day.

The ever-growing independent music scenes in Indonesia is a rather interesting things to observe because of its relations to many other things such as economy, social movements and mobility, youth culture, globalization, etc. However, independent music scenes are somewhat overlooked by experts. The proof of that case is the lack of literatures about that matter. To speculate about the cause of that “lack of interest” is like digging one’s own grave because we can, and we will, end up with infinite amount of things in our mind.