The International Big Names

Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Fedde le Grand, DJ Pippi, Simon and Shaker... countless is the number of big international DJs coming to Indonesia in the last decade.

Their DJing job, professionalized from the stardom, allies music and marketing. The majority of them has succeeded in creating an image, a style, and some of them, rarer, are blessed with the quality of being producers. Something that allows them to offer something different to the Indonesian crowd, some different sounds, and often exclusive, resulting in unforgettable events.

However, don't forget that certain international DJs arriving in Indonesia could be suffering from fatigue, after having traveled thousands of kilometers away, they could even be so exhausted chaining date to date. This is the price they have to pay for their successes, apparently.

Sometimes then, this fact results in low quality performances, making the event rather boring, where the DJ only does what he has to do, bounded by his contract, without adding his soul and his love to the gig, making the quality isn't as high as expected. Then the clubbers would just say that "I was there", without keeping anything more in mind the next day. Luckily this happens quite rarely.

The Indonesian DJs

We don't count anymore the number of Indonesians claiming themselves "DJ".
This might sound cruel, but yes, deep down you know it's true.
Original producers can be counted with one-hand fingers, the others might be great technically, but artistically mediocre, playing the most popular cremes of the sounds without adding anything artistically new or creative.

Sadly to say, we have just too many events which resemble one another and have nothing to be identified with, no image, no proper style...

Only too often that these people who want to be DJs think that becoming a DJ is as simple as knowing how to use a CDJ and that's all. Well, it's not that simple at all, kiddo!

We should never forget that being DJ is being creative, and you have to possess the talent, the mojo, of knowing what your public will love without following what the others do.

You only have to see the most popular local DJs : Riri, Romy, Anton, Bobby, Naro...

See, almost all are producers and they have all understood that becoming DJ is a real job, a full-time occupation, you need to devote all your time and effort to survive.

Then, their events attract often the crowd and always rhyme with popular success - as well as marketing success. Because, indeed, the clubbers are not dumb, they appreciate uniqueness and qualities.

Go ask a clubber who's going to an event what he'd retain from the night. Most of them wouldn't even remember any name of the Indonesian DJs who play there. Why? Simply because most Indonesian DJs don't really know how to communicate with the public, neither do they know how to create a brand image to gain their own fame.

Despite everything, it is also essential to understand that these Indonesian DJs are in the middle of the process of launching a new clubbing generation in Indonesia. Without them there would be no music, so, no events!
That's why they merit to be put in the front, not only having their name on the flyer, but also financially. All means must be put, clubs and other medias must work together to ensure their promotion.

Concurrents or Complimentary?

The international DJs who come to Indonesia (most often within the frame of their Asia tour) allow the global promotion of Indonesian clubbing scene.
This brings up a new subject : our country and its clubs would someday benefit from these promotions, gaining good name in the international world.

But we could come up also to think, Indonesian DJs can as well be fed up already by the unstoppable flow of foreign DJs.

Let's imagine a night when an international DJ goes to play in Club A, while an Indonesian DJ plays in Club B.

The local DJ playing in Club B has invested much in this event, to earn points on the matter of fame, promotion and profit of course.

We can state that most clubbers would simply choose Club A, because there's a foreign DJ there, but also due to the fact that when an international DJ comes to Indonesia, his promotion in different medias is pretty much ensured (radio, press, internet), and for Indonesian DJs not coming from premier line up list, it's a lot more difficult to create a buzz around his event.

Meanwhile, when an international DJ plays in a club, s/he'd not play all along the night (often only 2 or 3-hour set), so that the necessity of having local DJs as supplement increases.

This would allow these local DJs then to say afterwards, "I've been on the same deck as DJ X", which increases their popularity and allows them to progress.

We shouldn't neglect also, the fact that international DJs have a professional status. Known and renowned, they bring along their experiences, a professionalism that Indonesian DJs merely or not at all have, an advantage they could learn from these international names.

Conclusion

In our opinion, we shouldn't talk about concurrence/rivality but about complimentarity.

International DJs are necessary to gain fame and name for Indonesian clubs, and local DJs hold the vital importance to maintain a dense activity in the matter of regular events.

International or local, nobody is perfect, but without them, there would be no stability in the Indonesian clubbing scene. All the local DJs have to do, maybe to open up more, to learn more that being DJ is also a matter of good marketing strategies, not only ability behind the deck.

Let's move together hand in hand to create a safe, fun and healthy environment for the Indonesian clubbing scene.