Bright future ahead for Malaysian and Indonesian artistes with signing of MoU

JAKARTA - Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia (Karyawan) and Federation of Indonesian Musicians’ Union (Fesmi) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly promote growth of the vibrant music industries of both countries.

The signing ceremony, held at the MW Music Studio last Friday, will pave the way for more cooperation, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas and artistes, according to Karyawan in a statement.

The MoU is an outcome of discussions between its president Datuk Freddie Fernandez and Fesmi president Candra Darusman following a recent incident which saw an Indonesian band facing some problems with a promoter.

Essentially, Candra said this collaboration will enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the music bodies of both countries, while creating more opportunities for artistes to perform in each other’s countries.

"Of course, we will also assist with problems that may crop up between artistes and promoters or any other issues they may face in the course of their visit,” he said.

Freddie pointed out that artistes of both countries have been making inroads and gaining popularity in each other’s music markets for many years now.

Malaysian artistes such as Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Search, Exist, Slam and Iklim are very popular in Indonesia, while there is a long list of Indonesian bands and artistes such as Rossa, Krisdayanti, Sheila on 7, Dewa and many more who have become household names in Malaysia.

"This collaboration will serve to ensure that many more artistes in future are given opportunities to leverage on this harmonious relationship between the music industries of both countries that has been created as a result of this,” he said.

Both organisations also plan to cooperate in the field of copyright and ensure that the intellectual property rights of artistes are given protection and any royalties due to each of the countries are duly remitted to the respective copyright organisations.

Karyawan and Fesmi even begun discussions on the exchange of artistes and possible music festivals to promote the artistes and musicians of the two countries.

"It is a timely move, given the new developments in the field of music and the ever growing use of technology and new media in promoting music of artistes throughout the world, and artistes can look forward to many more exciting things to come,” Freddie said.

Artistes who are interested in creating new markets for their music will be encouraged to work with the organisations to arrange shows, concerts, promotions and media coverage during their visits.

"This will augur well for the future stars to develop their careers and make a name for themselves internationally,” Candra added. - BERNAMA