The Role of Technology in the Formation of Rural Adolescent

Music Preference

Daniel de Fretes

Music Departement FSP ISI Yogyakarta, Jalan Parangtritis Km 6.5, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Technology, Music Preference, Rural Adolescent

Abstract: Adolescent nowadays are often called the millennial generation or the digital naive generation because of

their complexity and dependence on technology. However, geographical condition difference and

infrastructure limitation frequently cause discrepancy between urban youth’s and rural youth’s preference.

This article studied about technological usage from music consumption aspect of rural adolescent in the

Special Region of Yogyakarta. Case study was hold in SMAN 1 Samigaluh, Kulon Progo. The result indicated

that generally rural youth did not resist various music genres which were happening in music industry, but

the most preferable one was dangdut. Technological role was represented by smartphone’s application usage

in listening music. Smartphone’s features utilization would be depend on communication network’s

availability and their data package. The result showed that technology determines adolescence’s music

preference in rural area. Technology also provides as well as limits their access to music distribution.

1 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, technology advances has merged in

human life for various age category, include the

teenagers. They are called as millennial generation,

Z generation or digital generation, which means a

generation that has technology dependence (Kompas,

March 15th 2017). Technology has connected

communication and information throughout the areas

include inland or rural area. Health anthropologist of

Universitas Indonesia, Sri Murni, said youth lifestyle

in rural area referred to urban society‘s culture,

comprised of consumption pattern and its taste

(Kompas, May 18th 2015).

Music is mentioned as part of youth lifestyle that

connected with lifestyle industry such as trend, mode,

fashion and other up-to-date style. The Kompas R&D

survey on 734 teenagers focused on urban areas at

2015 had revealed music genre preferred by the

youth. Those were 66,7% for pop music, 10,4% for

rock/slow rock/pop rock, 6,9% for jazz music and

15.0 % for others. Based on music origin

preferences, there were 39,6% for Indonesian, 33,9%

for American, 10,4% for European, 9,5 % for Korean,

and 6,6% for others (Kompas, October 9th

2015). Recent survey released by tirto.id (August

2nd 2017) of 1201 Z generation in Jakarta, Bandung,

Denpasar, Surabaya, Tangerang and Yogyakarta

showed that 46,2 % preferred to western pop music,

26% for Indonesian pop music, 8,7% for k-pop music,

7,2% for rock music and 11.9% for others.

Both surveys did not include rural adolescent.

Research which conducted in Special Region of

Yogyakarta showed that there was difference in

music preference and peer conformity between urban

and rural adolescent (de Fretes, 2017). This article

reported the result and further exposure from previous

research which emphasized on technology usage of

distributing the music in rural teenager.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the

role of technology in the formation of musical

preferences in rural adolescent. As for the other

purpose is to know the music preferences of rural

adolescent. This study focuses on the role of

technology in the consumption of music in rural

adolescent. Another aspect is music distribution in

terms of how music can reach rural teens in everyday

life. The perspective used is the phenomenology of

Don Ihde's instrumentation which views technology

as the link between humans and the world of life and

the non-neutral nature of technology.

de Fretes, D.

The Role of Technology in the Formation of Rural Adolescent Music Preference.

DOI: 10.5220/0008766004230427

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities (ICONARTIES 2019), pages 423-427

ISBN: 978-989-758-450-3

423

2 METHODOLOGY

This research used qualitative methodology. Data

was collected using Focus Group Discussion which

was held in Science laboratory at SMA Negeri

Samigaluh, Kulon Progo, Special Region of

Yogyakarta on February, 2nd, 2017 at 10.00 WIB

until 12.15 WIB. Location was chosen based on its

rural characteristic and geographic consideration.

Rural area in Samigaluh district consist of hills and

flat land which created paddy field along border area

between Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central

Java (Purworejo regency). The location was quite far

from Yogyakarta city and it needed complicated

transportation access and much time to reach there.

There were 9 participants for Focus Group

Discussion. The FGD was done in 2 sessions. Every

session was about 60 minutes with 15 minutes break.

The Focus Group Discussion is directed at aspects of

social interaction, technology use and the choice of

music that is present in everyday life.

Music preference is about liking a particular

music when the music is heard (Sigg, 2009).

According to Furman&Duke, music preference is an

aspect of one's musical behavior that can be observed

empirically. This can be observed through verbal,

behavioral and psychological responses to a musical

stimulus (Furman&Duke, 1988:221).

The indicators for music preference were 10

music genres based on 4 factors (Sigg, 2009): (1)

Intense and aggressive, namely: rock, metal, grunge,

punk; (2) Rhythmic and motive beat, namely Hip-

hop, RnB and Rap; Rhythmic and Complex, namely

jazz; (3) Light and Conventional, namely Indonesian

pop, western pop, Korean pop, dangdut, campursari

(Traditional pop); (4) Energetic and motive beat,

namely EDM, reggae and Ska.

This indicator has been used for previous research

using mixed methodologies with sequential

strategies. Previous research was a comparative study

carried out on subjects of urban and rural adolescent.

This study complements previous research in relation

to the use of technology specifically in rural

adolescent.

3 RESULT

As for the research results can be seen in the

following table. Table 1 shows the participants'

responses to the music genre as an indicator of music

preference. Discussions about the music genre have

been done by connecting directly to the music works,

songs and artists who popularized it. Overall, rural

adolescent gave positive respond to almost all music

genres.

Table 1: Music Preference of Rural Adolescent.

No Genre Song/Artist Respon

Note

Rock

Hip hop, Rap and

RnB

Jazz

Indonesian pop

Western pop

Korean pop

Dangdut

Traditional and

Traditional pop

(campursari)

EDM (DJ)

Regeae, Ska

Superman is Dead, Slank

JHF, Young lex

Andien, Tompi

Nike Ardila, Iklim,

Puisi/Jikustik, Raisa, Iwan

Fals

One Direction, Coldplay,

Maroon Five

SNSD, XO

Cinta Terlarang/Via

Valen, Lungset/Via Valen,

Kanggo Kowe/Sarah

Brillian, Nella Kharisma,

NDX A.K.A (dangdut-

hiphop)

Didi Kempot, Wiwik

Sagita

DJ Snake, Alan Walker

Steven n Coconut Treez,

Mbah Suri

Like, limited for specific songs

Fairly like, very limited

Very like, including new or

older songs

Like, has pretty much song list.

Fairly like, limited for specific

songs, not too familiar with the

detail

Very like, positive respond and

affective. Very familiar with

new song and actively

participate in dangdut local

community ‘Temon Holic’

Very like both campursari and

Javanese traditional music.

Like, limited for specific songs

Rural adolescent gave

positive respond to

almost all music genres

with limited song

references. Exceptional

found on Dangdut,

especially for up-to-date

songs and Javanese

language song (i.e.:

dangdut/koplo,

campursari) The most

favorites dangdut

singer/group were Via

Valen with her Pop-

dangdut genre and NDX

A.K.A with their Hip

hop-dangdut genre. This

type of music is very

well understood by rural

teens.

ICONARTIES 2019 - 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities

424

However, they have quite a number of limitations

in references. The respond can be said similar except

for the dangdut genre, especially the latest songs. The

most preferred dangdut is Javanese dangdut which

often approaches dangdut koplo or traditional

campursari. The most preferred dangdut singer is Via

Valen which they sometimes identify with East Java

dangdut style/genre (latter the media called dangdut-

pop). Another preferred group is NDX A.K.A with

their hiphop-dangdut style/genre. The music is very

understood and liked by rural adolescent.

Their proximity with dangdut music can be seen

from their other activities. One of the teenagers was

actively involved in the dangdut rocking (called

‘joget dangdut’) community, Temon Holic. This

community has routine activities such as practicing

dangdut rocking together and other activities. Some

of the teens argue that song lyrics are a determinant

of whether they like or not in dangdut music. One of

the teenagers argued that the rhythm of ketipung (a

kind of percussion instrument) was the reason he

liked dangdut. According to them, dangdut music is

very favored by the surrounding community who

always use it in celebration, weddings, performances,

and various events in their village.

Figure 1: Technology role in the formation of rural adolescent music preference.

Figure 1 showed that technology in this case was

smartphone usage, had connected between teenagers

and music. This figure was based on Don Ihde’s idea

about instrumentation phenomenology that

technology had non-neutral characteristic since it

could change human experience about the world.

Technology becomes autonomous, dominating

human life and dragging human being to instrumental

point of view. Ihde said that non-neutrality of

technology was happened because human authority

which used it as tool to reach specific interests or

objectives.

Based on the table 1 and figure 1 we saw that there

were various instruments which could be accessed by

rural teenagers through smartphone, a technology that

had turned into a necessity for communication device,

information source and lifestyle. The result implied

that they liked various music which was available in

global market. Nevertheless, the tendency which

leads to dangdut music revealed that there was limited

music choice within rural teenager. Based on the

description of research location, the facilities and

technology infrastructure in conventional agriculture

community was relatively low. The access to specific

RURAL

ADOLESCENTS

TECHNOLOGY

CONSUMPTION

DISTRIBUTION

MUSIC

STUDENTS

SMA

SAMIGALUH

Pop-dangdut, Hiphop-

dangdut, Koplo-dangdut,

eastern java-dangdut, etc

Downloading music

Listening to music or

audio-streaming

Accessing music from

video web or video-

streaming

(i.e.youtube.com)

Music output (speaker,

headset, and headphone)

Send music using

smartphone application

(i.e.whatsapp

messenger, blackberry

messenger, shareit)

Send music using

smartphone features

such as Bluetooth, cable

data or usb connection

Most of respondents used smartphone

(android), some others used hand

phone with simple features which had

music player inside. Another hardware

used was laptop, notebook and tablet

that owned by few of them.

There was fairly good

internet connection

availability from some

providers. The limited quota

(related with their purchasing

power) would influence the

data accessed amount. Wi-fi

connection was available in

school, but the usage was

ited

rules.

The Role of Technology in the Formation of Rural Adolescent Music Preference

425

information technologies were depended on internet

connection availability and purchasing power of data

quota. In one side, technology gave permission to

wide music access, but in another side technology put

limitation to it.

In other words, on the one hand technology can

make it easier for them to find various types of music.

This can be seen from the sufficient availability of

facilities and information coverage. But on the other

hand, technology actually limits the music they hear.

This can be seen in their purchasing power which

tends to be limited. Access to information requires the

availability of data quotas that have relatively high

economic value.

This is in accordance with the nature of the non-

neutrality of the technology that Don Ihde has put

forward. This also shows that technology also

determines their music preferences. Technology with

all devices, features, and forms play a role in the

formation of rural adolescent musical preferences.

4 DISCUSSION

The result pointed that music preference of rural

teenagers was formed by ‘not to refuse’ and ‘open’

attitudes toward various music genres and its updates.

Unfortunately, the openness did not mean that they

autonomously understood about the music

genres. This indicated through their reaction when

they responded to other music genres beside

dangdut. They seemed like understand the music but

failed in giving details and inconsistent with the

description. Different attitude was found when they

talked about dangdut. It seemed that the respondents

felt familiar enough with the music and its detail. This

can be observed too from their way in describing the

music and from other respond.

Openness had become culture aspect of rural

society characteristics. They would not block the

recent information and technologies. They even felt

uncomfortable and hesitate if they did not know

another world outside their environment. In short,

they would keep their curiosity about everything

which beyond their thought. Pop or jazz show might

not be performed as often as dangdut show at rural

area because of geographic and environment

limitation, but information media could help them to

access or at least recognize the music update.

Weintraub (2010) in his research conducted in

several region of Indonesia explained that dangdut

was a discursive practice that used politically,

socially and culturally during Indonesian history.

According to him, Dangdut as folk music was a part

of the grand narratives that has been formed in line

with history both culturally and politically. By

holding on the narration, music preference of rural

teenager could be recognized through data that shown

their interaction within the society. Previous study

also noted that student from rural area had limited

school activity; meanwhile student from urban area

usually had lesser interaction with the society as they

spent more time at school (de Fretes, 2017). Urban

teenagers got used with school activities from

morning to afternoon, even until late evening. Urban

teenagers were also preoccupied with non-formal

education agendas, such as courses and cram school

while rural teenagers only had school activities during

their school time.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Technology mediated rural adolescent to music.

Technology was used for accessing, distributing, and

listening music through technological devices,

especially smartphone. Rural adolescent did not

reject various music genres that globally evolved in

music industry, but the most favourite music was

dangdut and its sub-genres. Technology had

constructed music preference of rural adolescent. But

in another hand, technology also limited their access

to music distribution.

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APPENDIX

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

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2015, Stroke ‘Hantui’ Kota

Kecil, Kompas.

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2017, Dunia Pendidikan dan Industri

Siapkan Generasi Z, Kompas.

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INTERNET SOURCE

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