The Story Behind NadaTop.com

Those who have tried to purchase JKT48’s Heavy Rotation album online will have seen the website NadaTop.com, which is currently the only alternative to Rakuten–MNC’s JKT48 Official Online Shop. Buyers may also have noticed the relatively shoddy design of the site. It should be no surprise then to find out that NadaTop is indeed a last-minute creation of the Media Nusantara Citra network.

Publicly available WHOIS records reveal that the NadaTop.com domain name was registered on 10 January 2013, just over one month prior to the release of JKT48’s album. While one month may be enough time for some startups to develop a decent web infrastructure, NadaTop’s crude design indicates that it was a rushed attempt to quickly establish a web presence in preparation for the album launch.

Furthermore, the domain name TopNada.com was also registered on the same day. That site currently serves as a mask for NadaTop.com.

WHOIS records for both domains indicate that they are registered to PT. Impact Makmur Sejahtera, which also operates under the trading name Impact Music. The company currently owns TokoRohani.com, a distributor of Christian praise music. Note that its website design is a near mirror of NadaTop.com, which confirms the link between the two websites.

Indonesian music retailer DiscTarra also lists the company as one of its partner distributors, which suggests that DiscTarra could be JKT48’s retailer of choice for future releases.

Both WHOIS records also reveal Alberd Tonani as the registrant contact. Tonani appears in the first few seconds of the Heavy Rotation launch press conference YouTube video on the JKT48 Official Channel as the spokesperson for NadaTop.com. (It is also interesting to note that Tonani has released a Christian music album on iTunes, and Impact Makmur Sejahtera is attributed as the album’s distributor.)

Further investigation of Tonani’s connection reveals that he is the chief executive of both Impact Makmur Sejahtera (as album distributor) and Hits Records (as album producer). Because Hits Records is a subsidiary of RCTI as mentioned in my previous article, the link between NadaTop.com and the MNC Group is quite clear.

Since a link between NadaTop.com and Hits Records has been established, one might also be able to speculate that the production issues which delayed Heavy Rotation‘s release originated from one of these two companies. NadaTop.com began its operation one week before heavy rains arrived in Jakarta, which should indicate that plans to release the album were on schedule up to that time period.

It is likely that the subsequent flooding hampered production at Hits Records or distribution by Impact Makmur Sejahtera, or a combination of the two.