Jakarta – For almost four hours, two big names in the Indonesian music industry, Ariel Noah and Armand Maulana, sat with the detikpop team. Not for new song promos or concert tour, but discussing things that are far more serious: justice for singers.
Through the movement they stretched named Vision (Vibration of Indonesian Voice), Ariel and Armand began to raise their voices about the problems that had only been whispered backstage, trapped contracts, unclear royalties, and singers who were hung by their fate.
The chat begins with a classic story that still often occurs today. The big label contracted several new singers, then waiting for who exploded.
If there is one success, the other is immediately set aside just like that. But what makes it sad, even though it is no longer promoted, they are also not released. You can’t get out, you can’t find your own way, but also not given the opportunity anymore to work.
“Not made songs, not promoted, but still contracted. Yes, if it’s not taken care of, you should be able to get out and look for other paths,” said Armand Maulana, dental vocalist, as well as chairman of the vision. According to him, cases like this should be resolved in a fair way for both parties.
Ariel added, many young singers did not know their rights. They enter the industry with dream capital and voice, but minimal information about the contract.
They don’t know the contract that is not carried out in a balanced way can be canceled. Even the simple things like label obligations they don’t understand.
“The singer is often alone. He faces a large company alone, without knowing what to do. We help them because we have also been in that position,” Ariel said.
He claimed to often receive questions from new singers who were confused, “Kang, can this be terminated or not?” Ariel’s answer is always the same: “Can, just so you know the rules.”
Another problem they highlighted is the matter of current management, according to them, has changed its function. It’s no longer guiding a career, but it only becomes like an agent who focuses on numbers, especially the number of followers on social media.
They told me about many management who had 20-30 artists, but only two or three were really taken care of. The rest is only a number in the database.
“Sometimes those who are not taken care of also cannot come out. It’s their turn to find their own jobs, instead told to pay percent,” Ariel said. For him, practice like this is not only wrong ethically, but also dangerous because it makes the singers lose confidence.
In the midst of their efforts to improve the system, there are also differences in the approach between vision and other movements that are both vocal, namely action. If the vision prioritizes education and mediation, the action actually takes legal channels, even suing singers to court.
One of the crowded cases is Ari’s lawsuit against Agnez Mo. Armand and Ariel openly expressed disappointment. Not a matter of fighting for rights, but because of an approach that is considered to be able to break the musician itself.
“Fellow musicians do not attack each other. It should be resolved in a better way,” Armand said.
This all came from two people who used to be very different in addressing industry. Armand is indeed known as a figure who is easy to discuss, open, and always present in musician forums.
But Ariel, detikpop even has his own story. In the past, Ariel was known to be very closed. In fact, once an event that we had ideas together was canceled because he didn’t come. Now, Ariel is actually one of the most active faces in the vision. He went down directly, answered the questions of young musicians, and was involved in the technical discussion about contracts and regulations.
Ariel’s change is not just a matter of attitude, but also awareness. Awareness that this industry must be maintained, and cannot only be handed over to the label or management.
“If we were not the first to help, who else?” he said.
This movement shows, there are no longer voices that are now talking louder. They talk not to themselves, but for the new generation who are growing in the world of music they admit are also more complicated.
Ariel and Armand know they can’t change everything overnight. But at least, they don’t just sing. They chose to intervene, because the world of music is not just a matter of songs that are pleasant to hear, but how the musicians are also appropriately valued.
(nu2/pig)
