For decades, music has shaped cultures and societies all around the world. Music has a very unique and interesting way of connecting with people. Music has become so influential in everyones’ life as people crave emotional connections and is an expression of people’s soul.
Music has the power to influence a person’s mood, perceptions, and motivate change. This article provides you with the kinds of Indonesian music that have been enjoyed by people throughout the three decades, which specifically focuses on the music characteristics and attributes that have potentially helped result in the rise of Indonesian music popularity.
The early 2000s was an era that transitioned between the physical and the digital mediums of music access and interest. It indicated the rise of digital media, albeit still overtaken by physical album sales such as records and cassette tapes that still thrived in Indonesia’s music industry. For instance, Sheila on 7 reached around 1.5 million copies (Audrey, 2020).
This scenario gave room for more diversity in the genres that were on the top charts in Indonesia’s general music scene, such as grunge rock and classic rock along with the occasional pop and techno genres. This is the reason the “band grunge” aesthetic, left over from the 80s and the 90s still reigned supreme.
In the early 2010s, music was still through DVDs and hardcopy. However, throughout the years, it transitioned to streaming platforms as Spotify was released in 2016. The 2010s data analysis shows that pop music has become the most favorable and preferred genre in Indonesia.
Generally, throughout the two decades, most of the songs are written about love and social life related to relationships such as “Sekuat Hatimu” and “Jaga Slalu Hatimu”. Indonesian-pop music with sad and mellow melodies continues to be very popular within the 2010s and has become the selling point of the music industry.
In the 2020s, most of the data was sourced all through streaming platforms; mainly through Spotify showed music profiling with a more mellow and toned-down beat than in previous eras. Indonesian jazz hit songs such as ‘Fine Today’ by Ardhito Pramono became popular. The 2020s highlighted the indie term ‘Skena’ with social media activists identifying Skena as fans criticizing those who enjoy other music genres- such as mainstream pop- more prevalent online than ever (Hayashi, 2023).
Data from Spotify show that Indonesia’s top music in the past three decades has been dominated by energetic and danceable beats. Figure 1 below showcases the comparison of beat variety of Indonesian music from the 2010s to the 2020s. While energetic and danceability features remain high, the acoustical beat is getting more popularity.
The chart above explains the song profile’s average characteristics per decade. Below is an explanation of the song profile’s characteristics:
Another result from the Spotify data analytics shows that the beats per minute (BPM) of Indonesian music in the past decades have been decreasing. It shows that, Indonesians currently fancy mellow kinds of music. The chart below shows the evidence.
BPM which stands for “beats per minute” measures the tempo or speed of a piece of music. Specifically, it indicates the number of beats (rhythmic pulses or accents) in one minute of music. A higher BPM value generally corresponds to a faster-paced and more energetic piece, while a lower BPM suggests a slower and more relaxed tempo.
From the research done, it can be seen that the 2010 decade had the highest average BPM out of the three eras, with an average of 135 BPM against the 2000s and the 2020s, which had a similar BPM of 115 and 118, respectively. This can indicate the increase of popular songs being more upbeat and “pop” like in the Indonesian music industry.
In conclusion, the moods and the overall “vibes” of each era had quite a wide change in each transition, further proving the differences of each aesthetic that then show a wider picture of the country’s condition of the times. To put in simpler words:
Each decade of music had unique qualities that define each profile that made up the era of popular music in Indonesia– and that is why music is celebrated and shared diversely, we as a community keep doing so to keep the music charts dynamic and not boring throughout the generations.
Audrey, V. (2020, October 15). Industri Musik Indonesia Dulu dan Sekarang, Apa Sih Bedanya?. IDN Times. Industri Musik Indonesia Dulu dan Sekarang, Apa Sih Bedanya? (idntimes.com)
Hayashi, R. M. (2023, July 3). Skena di Antara Geliat Musik Independen Indonesia. Kumparan. https://kumparan.com/millennial/skena-di-antara-geliat-musik-independen-indonesia-20hV2zTiMta
Khurjekar, D. (2022, January 6). Investigating Spotify’s Danceability Index & Other song Attributes | By Dhruv Khurjekar | Jul, 2021 | Medium | Medium. Medium. https://dhruv-khurjekar.medium.com/investigating-spotifys-danceability-index-other-song-attributes-1983142f7dfd
Ngetren di 2010an. (n.d.). Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWY8wQ1UHaykc
Spotify. (n.d.-a). https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX7nbWskw2fKF?si=3172d717211e4993
Spotify. (n.d.-b). https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZEVXbObFQZ3JLcXt?si=26e18da6cb83451c
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