JKT48 and CD Debut
It’s a common occurrence where people are asking when JKT48 will have their CD Debut ? either an album or single.
This is a normal question since JKT48 nearly reached one year in age and still doesn’t have any CD album nor single. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s wise to release an album hurriedly although to be honest, I also would like to grab my hands on their album. So why releasing an album as fast as they could is not wise according to my own opinion ?
Indonesia’s Declining CD Sales and Piracy Problem
Piracy is one of the foremost problem in Music Industry in Indonesia. The sales between pirated and original sources always leaves an incredible gap that is hard to believe. This trend already started since 1997 up until now. According to a market research done by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) , within the range of 11 years since 1996, 2007 marked the ever lowest point for original CD sales with only less then 50.000.000 copies sold compared to pirated materials which reached 450.000.000 copies.
That figures mentioned above already pictured the dangerous situation Indonesia Music Industry is currently in. The only way individuals or groups surviving in this climate is by either Ring Back Tone for Mobile Phone users, live stage, endorsement, or royalty from Radio or TV station.
JKT48 currently doing the right thing by focusing themselves in Theater, Meet & Greet Session, TV appearances as a guest star, Live Stages, Endorsement. I personally don’t know about their financial situation either they have reached Break Even Point or still under the red, although looking at their early status (no more than a year), how astronomical this project is and their past show (JKT48 School) which obviously costs them astronomical fee even with the endorsement and ads , they are probably still under the red. Which sometimes makes me cringe seeing people complaining about the long advertisement between their shows break. JKT48 needs that kind of endorsement to sustain themselves.
So the main question is, if JKT48 decided to ever release their CD , how will they fight with the piracy issue ? one thing I could think of is by giving something special inside the CD, such as ticket for Handshake Session or maybe Two Shot Ticket. But this initiative causes another issue : how will they fight with the possibility of a fraud ticket and the problem with Indonesia geography condition.
Indonesia consists of thousands of islands separated by sea with a large territory which makes selling the CD with the bonus ticket can be deemed not as useful for people living in other islands or far from JKT48 theater located in Jakarta. Of course there would be people who could took a flight over to Jakarta but the economical gap between the poor and the rich has to be accounted for.
Fraudulent ticket is common in Indonesia and could take the matter from small to worse. Not to mention there will be individuals or groups acting as a jockey and will sell the fraudulent tickets under the market price for unaware customers. Now, how will JKT48 Operational Team fights that ? Applying a special bar-code for each tickets could also be done, but that of course will increase the production price for the CD.
Either way, JKT48 Operational Teams will have to think hard on how they will market the CD , so it would be best if for us, the fans, to stop rushing them into production and let them concentrate on how they will release the CD.
Your Opinions ?
What I describe above is purely my personal opinion on this matter without any insider knowledge or any respectable resources other than the graphical image and numbers which provided by extensive research by JETRO. If you have any other opinions please do not hesitate to give your comments below and I ever made a mistake in expressing my opinion above, I apologized.
how about including a code instead of ticket.. example is.. your given a special code that you can enter in the website.. or send to official e-mail to redeem whatever offer they want to give to fans..
and for the offer.. how about a code to vote.. for senbatsu election for example.. it doesn’t have to be JKT48 senbatsu election.. it can be AKB48 senbatsu election…
the code can be some thing like this ==> [ajst@69dsj6klsdjv]
Yes, implementing a code to redeemed could also be viewed as a viable option. But first, they will have to implement a system for code redeeming that in sync with their database system, and also not forgetting the algorithm for the code itself to prevent easy cracking which in the end, could also take a toll financially although perhaps this option is much more better in a long term. Kudos to your idea
maintaining 24 members + # KKS (eventually) + 2 special members + staff = endless cash flow. @Roy idea is great, but is it true that building those system is kinda expensive? (i am not familiar with IT budgeting). They will releasing single sooner or later, i think the next question is which label will take JKT ? maybe Avex hahaha just kidding
Well, IT budgeting really depends on the man-per-hour pricing for the project and how long the team for the outsourced project have to work (It’s man-per-hour), so it could really expand from under 1000 USD to more than 1000 USD , at least that’s how it works internationally.
I don’t really know much about the IT software market here in Indonesia, either they applied the man-per-hour system, prepackages system or simply by the wretched Speculative Works
And about the Label, that’s going to be a good idea for a story, thanks!
wahh >USD1000 yeah there always be back side from sophisticated system(stellar cost). about their financial status since many financial power behind them (some JPN company+MNC) i assume that not that worse, maybe. the problem is when they can make money for them hahaha
I think they will sell it the same way they did with the Official Guidebook. The limited edition (comes with a special photopack, handshake ticket, or such) sold earlier at the theater earlier, and the normal version (without the ticket) sold all over Indonesia.
I wonder if they will release a single (with only 5 songs from Hebirote to Baby Baby Baby) or maybe an album that includes 10+ songs (5 single songs in both Indonesian and Japanese versions, with 1 bonus song from Pajama Drive)…
As for single , I don’t really know tho’ . Our current modern industry relies heavily on Album. The only one who released singles are Indie groups or individuals such as the amazing tunes made by Revara. I already made a topic about it on the second part
This is the 1st time to hear that piracy problems you have so much in RI. I am trying to talk about the tickets attached sigles and albums idea metioned as the above by some subscribers of this web site. In Japan, as you probably already know, 48 groups’ each album and sigle CD includs a hand-shake ticket or voting-right ticket for SouSenkyo. But this bonus system, on the other hand, causes another problem. Probably you know so huge passionate fans have been purchasing singles and albums in order to take those tickets only, not songs on singles and albums. After they bought singles and albums and get the tickets as many as possible they can, they try to sell those singles and albums excluding the tickets on Yahoo Auctions or other auction sites. This phenomenon has been bashed in Japanese society. Such as 48 groups tend to push to sell their singles and albums especially to young imatured teenagers. Then 48 groups can get million hits easily by the bonus tickets. The fans do not buy songs, but tickets only. And more 48 groups operation teams have been squeezing monies from those young people. I don’ know what kind of reactions will be occured in RI, if JKT48 OT will attach any bonus ticktes to the album that JKT48 will release in Jan. 2013. I worry if almost same phenomenon will be happened even in Indonesia society. Sorry, if I talk abut different topic on this wall. Wishes,
Hmm..there are already some people who realized how the 48 groups sells their CDs and started to questioned the method if it’s going to be applied locally. But for me personally, this “cheap” method is the best way to at least getting rid a minuscule part of piracy problem here in Indonesia although this method could end up as a laughing stock instead.
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