In this final segment on Indonesian music, I’ll look at the influence of western music on the Indonesian music scene.

Not all influential popular Indonesian music, however, is from syncretic musical traditions like kroncong and dangdut.  Another popular genre which is comprised completely of indigenous elements is jaipongan. Jaipongan has its root in Sundanese folk entertainment and uses completely traditional Indonesian beats, rhythms and instruments (Manuel 213).  From the very first listen, jaipongan has a spirited, varied and complex, engaging drumming pattern which would lend itself well for group dancing and lively celebrations. Jaipongan led to a national social dancing craze in the 1970s, though nowadays is relegated to street corner events being played under a canopy at special occasions (Manuel 214, 218).

While it may not have influenced Indonesia as much as some of the local genres like dangdut, Western music (pop barat) has also forced its imprint on Indonesian society.  Indonesians on the whole are familiar with Western music (Wallach 28).  This familiarity would come from a variety of sources.  Radio stations will play Western pop music; Hollywood movies and their soundtracks would no doubt influence the movie-going youth culture.   Popular historical musical groups like the Beattles are clearly known well as a cover of a news magazine superimposing Indonesian political faces on a picture of the Fab Four would seem to attest (Wallach 29).  However, despite the widespread use of Western genres and the widespread availability of Western music, its overall influence seems to be minimal when compared with local genres.  Part of the reason for this may have to do with the obstacles inherent in having to navigate the waters of Western music production.  For example, Western music sets a certain standard for the production and distribution of legally produced, rights-reserved music.  In the face of a country like Indonesia where intellectual property piracy is wide-spread, large multi-national music conglomerates can seem rigid and not very nimble at adapting to the local environment.  Prices must be set at an industry standard and complete rights must be reserved.  When you add in the fact of the language barrier that inherently exists in Western music, it may not be any wonder that Western produced music constitutes only a small fraction of legal cassette sales, and that local genres outsell Western music by a pace of three to one (Wallach 28).  In addition, it is curious that the Western music which seems to be the most popular is the type that is not so popular in Western countries themselves.  For example, many Southeast Asian countries seem to have a penchant for sentimental, sappy love songs.   Music stores in Indonesia may have complete sections of this music which would not be overly interesting to a Western audience (Wallach 29).  This can also be demonstrated by looking at the touring scene for artists from the 1970s and 1980s such as Air Supply and Leo Sayer who have yearly Asian tours but rarely seem to have audiences elsewhere.

The important aspect of Western music is how it has become acculturated in Indonesia and has given rise to Western inspired genres.  There are local Indonesian styles of pop, metal, ska, and others that have been influenced by Western trends (Wallach 30).   Musik underground is a rock subgenre that follows firmly after Western genres, but once again has been acculturated to suit the Indonesian music scene.  For example, while they may stylistically follow closely after cutting edge music trends from abroad, music underground is very much Indonesian grassroots-based in how the music is produced and distributed (Wallach 37).   The underground genres were typically for middle class students (Wallach 37), but the acculturation process has been changing that.  When genres from abroad are converged on the local market, it is common for them to be sung in English.  The market for English sung underground genres would, naturally, be limited in a land where English is not widely spoken.   However, more recently, the acculturation process has produced musik underground that has adopted Bahasa Indonesia as its medium (Wallach 37).  This seems to be further proof that musical trends continue to diffuse themselves into the local culture as the Indonesians make them their own. Even when producing music for “world beat”, the heterogeneous genre of music on the international scene, some Indonesians have experimented with putting traditional ethnic elements into their songs (Wallach 37).  The proud use of their traditional musical heritage on the international music scene serves as another example of how music in Indonesia helps individuals identify with their culture.

Modern popular music in Indonesia has flourished in many genres and many styles.  It has crossed the gambit from indigenous, beat driven jaipongan to the Western-influenced guitar and disco driven dangdut.  What has remained constant is how the Indonesian culture continues to embrace music that speaks to them in their own language and helps shape not only their society but their identity as Indonesians.

Works Cited

Manuel, Peter.  “Southeast Asia: Indonesia.” Popular Musics of the Non-Western World.

Oxford University Press, 1989.  205-220.

Wallach, Jeremy. “Indonesian Popular Music Genres in the Global Sensorium.” Modern Music,   Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997-2001. The University of Wisconsin

Press, 2008. 27-41.

Wallach, Jeremy. “Introduction.” Modern Music, Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia,         1997-2001.  The University of Wisconsin Press, 2008. 3-23.