The visual aspect is something that Gen Z pays attention to in their daily lives. Scene outfits have become a visual trend among Gen Z. The term “scene” has also become a topic of conversation on social media.
Although the term “scene” now only refers to music, more broadly, it encompasses various youth subcultures, as Youthlab has been exploring scene culture since 2017.
Music scene outfits have now become an aspiration and expression for Gen Z in their fashion choices within their social circles, creative workspaces, and public areas.
According to Youthlab’s findings, Gen Z saves money for specific goals and things they desire. One of these is to buy music merchandise such as T-shirts, physical releases, and collectible items.
Music merchandise is not only a driving economic aspect but also a strong and important cultural identity for fans and practitioners. As written by Arsita Pinandita in the book ‘Merchandise Musik: Gaya Visual dalam Skena’.
Music merchandise continues to be present in Indonesian youth culture and plays an important role in adding value and determining one’s position within their social circle. The author and Youthlab had the opportunity to interview Arsita Pinandita, who is also a lecturer and art curator, whose life experiences intersect with the music scene.
Music merchandise serves as a journey of exploring diverse genres and discovering personal identity. How can we understand this?
Enjoying something means that when we like anything, we will explore and connect it to our identity, not just in music. For instance, if my child likes soccer, their identity will start from enjoying soccer and everything related to it. When I like music, people who are similar to me will agree that music is their initial identity as well.
Music is diverse. Sometimes we see music only from the perspective of the band, but music is just a small part of forming a broader identity. It turns out that music involves music videos, and in those videos, there are illustrators, actors, and many other elements. So, sometimes music is the first step for us to eventually discover what our identity will be.
According to Youthlab’s findings, young people save money for specific purposes, such as attending concerts and buying band T-shirts, rather than for essential needs (which tend to be seen as less important by society)
For young people living in today’s intersection, especially Gen Z, see these things as very important to them. It’s not really about whether it’s analog or digital, but rather how they connect with these items or with celebrations like concerts and festivals.
It’s about wanting to feel like “Where am I? Where am I in a place where I can be recognized?” I see young people starting to collect vinyl and coming to concerts regularly to post on social media. On average, they buy them not to play but to collect. They still use Spotify or digital platforms for listening.
If they do play the vinyl, it’s usually just for that moment. They might play one or two songs when guests or friends come over, or when they want to post about it, and then they put it away again.
It’s different from my time in the 90s when listening to cassette tapes was something you enjoyed alone. Nowadays, young people listen to vinyl or use platforms like Spotify not just for personal enjoyment but to show their identity.
It’s not about analog versus digital; rather, it’s about perspective and how they express their identity in a cool way for them.
Oh, I’m cool by showing off my vinyl collection. Oh, I’m cool by wearing band T-shirts. Oh, I’m cool by attending festivals. It’s actually about wanting to showcase things that others or people of the same age don’t typically do.
So, things like vinyl records and music merchandise, or any elements of music, actually hold significant value for young people. Even though they can be expensive, young people strive to obtain them to achieve a sense of coolness or identity.
Yes, that’s right.
Moreover, the narrative around music merchandise has evolved with time. It started with supporting bands, then creativity became a key value in packaging music merchandise. Now, things like stylish scene outfits have become the primary focus in selling merchandise.
Nowadays, musicians and bands are reaping the benefits. For bandmates, maybe in earlier times, like I mentioned in the book, they’d look at cassette sales percentages.
But with changing consumer preferences shifting towards digital, fans no longer necessarily require physical releases. Even Metallica, famously opposed to all things digital at one point, was furious about how their royalties were handled and so forth back then.
However, as it developed, it turns out that digital music, whether we like it or not, indeed had to be embraced, and its growth brought tremendous blessings, even surpassing the once formidable sales of cassette releases.
For example, in a simple analogy: when a band releases merchandise, they could release 10 different items. Can one song be illustrated on a T-shirt? Yes, it can.
If they only release a cassette, that’s just one release, but when they release merchandise, one song can lead to 10 different items. This shows how creativity and innovation can diversify offerings—from one to potentially 10 different products.
In the context of scenes, these items become essential. For instance, if I want to be recognized as a reggae enthusiast, I need to have this release and this T-shirt.
These become must-have items, and people will compete to get them, even though it’s not a written law. Bands can seize this momentum to benefit and sustain their presence.
So, there are implications in the TikTok digital era, right? If visuals are different in various regions, creativity, and output will also differ.
It doesn’t mean disregarding other places. But I think Bandung, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Malang each have their own distinct values. But when we talk about whether they have different ways, it’s clearly different.
And secondly, how they convey their creativity. Typically, they convey their creativity according to the place where they live. For example, Surabaya is always associated with Bonek
Some bands will release their albums or create their own lyrics, and their creative exploration is related to the sides of the struggles and when they release albums.
Does the development of tools from Photoshop to Canva also affect the visual style of the scene?
It seems that such things aren’t owned or agreed with by friends of the subculture. Why? Because AI and Canva are supported by the corporate capital, advertising, factory, hotel, and mall industries.
But from what I know, friends of bands, illustrators, and the music ecosystem, none of them use Canva or anything like that. If they do, it’s just for making posters. Otherwise, they’ll return to the personal values of their illustrators.
Some small-scale research on its visuals and so on. I see some festivals that, in quotes, use designs like Canva, they exist for sure, but when we get into them, the spirit is not there, and the lineup choices for bands are also chaotic. For example, here we have lineup band A, but it should go to B, but it goes straight to Z.
That, I won’t mention the band’s name, isn’t it a bit ethical, but it will be visible. Who is the organizer? Yes, not people in this subculture. He is the person who can meet the brand, products, and ticket sales.
But if they are truly relevant to that scene, they will definitely showcase their identity, like “Who is the illustrator for Synchronize? Who are they using from the collective?”
Those figures will be showcased. “Who does Pestapora use? Who is behind Joyland? Who is the illustrator for ‘Rock in Solo’?” They are always displayed, especially at festivals. This is just at the festival level, not even considering the band’s visual derivatives.
Oh, this band collaborates with illustrators or collaborates with this photographer. It’s a tool that facilitates, yes, but to become functional, I think only large industries use it.