On National Music Day in March 2015, I was contacted by a CNN Indonesia journalist for an interview. After agreeing to do it via email, I sent over my address. The same day, I received a list of questions and was asked to respond by end of day. I rushed to answer, dropping other tasks to make sure the timing was right — if the article came out that same day, it would hit at the perfect moment. As it turned out, the article never ran. It was never published, and I was never contacted again. After thinking it over for more than a month, I decided to publish the interview here myself. It seems a shame to let it sit in a draft folder when someone out there might find it useful. The questions are in bold (I have corrected the punctuation and capitalization) and the answers are mine.
1. What are the biggest problems facing Indonesia’s music industry right now?
The problem goes much deeper than piracy, which is what most people jump to. Piracy is a symptom, not the root cause. The core issue is that we have never built a proper music industry infrastructure. We have communities, scenes, and talented artists — but not an industry in the full sense of the word. An industry has systems: for artist development, for rights management, for distribution, for venue development, for audience building. We have fragments of these things, but they are not connected, not coordinated, and not sustained by policy or investment.
The problems we face are far more complex than simply fighting piracy. For too long we have tried to address industry problems by thinking like a community rather than strategizing like an industry. That is why nothing gets resolved — we keep going in circles.
2. Has the government done enough to help?
There are efforts to help when asked. If a band happens to get a show abroad, the government will usually assist as best it can. But achievements should not happen by accident — they should happen by design. What we need from the government is help designing a comprehensive program and establishing regulations that support the formation and development of the music industry. After that, execution needs to be monitored jointly to make sure it actually reaches its goals.
3. What is the responsibility of musicians themselves in advancing the industry?
Musicians cannot just make demands — they also have to contribute. The most important thing musicians can do is take their craft and their professionalism seriously. That means delivering quality work consistently, understanding the business side of their career, and actively participating in building the ecosystem rather than just consuming from it. Musicians who understand how the industry works — rights, contracts, distribution, marketing — are in a much stronger position to advocate for themselves and for the community.
Beyond individual responsibility, musicians need to organize. The industry will not be built by solo actors. It requires collective action: associations, coalitions, and shared infrastructure that benefits everyone in the ecosystem, not just the biggest names.
4. What would a healthy Indonesian music industry look like?
It would look like an industry where talented artists have clear pathways to build sustainable careers — where getting signed, getting airplay, or going viral is not the only route to survival. It would have a functioning rights management system so that creators actually get paid when their work is used. It would have venues at every level, from small clubs to large arenas, all operating as real businesses. It would have an education system that prepares musicians not just artistically but professionally. And it would have government policy that treats music as a serious economic and cultural sector worthy of investment — not an afterthought.
We are not there yet. But the fact that conversations like this are happening — even if this particular one never made it to print — suggests that awareness is growing. That is a start.