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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 10
Publication Date: October 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.1010.15485.
Ubjaan, J., Lourens, S., Renyut, S. F. G., & Jacobs, S. L. (2023). Music Culture Integration Strategy and City Tagline Innovation as A
Push Factor for Ambon to Become a World Music City. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(10). 278-291.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Music Culture Integration Strategy and City Tagline Innovation as
A Push Factor for Ambon to Become a World Music City
Jusak Ubjaan
STIA Trinitas, Ambon, Indonesia
Samson Lourens
Christian University of Indonesia, Maluku, Indonesia
Selvia F.G. Renyut
STIA Trinitas, Ambon, Indonesia
Samie L Jacobs
STIA Trinitas, Ambon, Indonesia
ABSTRACT
Positioning Ambon as a music city is not without reason; the people of Ambon
already have socio-cultural values from music. Music, as one of the sub-sectors of
the creative economy, is a source of economic development that can be enjoyed by
all groups and is quite eye-catching. On the other hand, city tagline innovation is a
tourism revitalization tool that aims to re-image a city. This study aimed to examine
the strategy of local music culture and the city tagline innovation policy as a driving
factor for Ambon to become the World Music City. This research used explanatory
research with qualitative and quantitative approaches. Validity and reliability tests
were conducted before the research instruments were used to collect data. The
number of respondents was 74 people. Data analysis uses Generalized Structured
Component Analysis. The results of the descriptive analysis show the music culture
variable with an average score of 4.01, city tagline innovation of 4.15 and Ambon
music city of 4.01. The results of hypothesis testing (H1) show that exogenous
variables significantly affect endogenous variables with a direct coefficient of 0.342
and a critical ratio value of 2.49*. The hypothesis test (H2) shows that exogenous
variables significantly affect endogenous variables with a direct coefficient of 0.336
and a critical ratio of 4.09. It is recommended that the city government continue to
develop supporting facilities such as educational institutions, performance halls,
recording studios, development of traditional musical instruments and regular
music events.
Keywords: Music culture integration, tagline innovation
INTRODUCTION
Cities are the world's most favored type of tourism destination, which is why many cities are
trying to bring about profound urban transformation. As part of this effort, cities are trying to
change their old image to become more sustainable, such as environmentally friendly, low- carbon, inclusive, and smart cities (Schraven et al., 2021; Liang et al., 2022). The social life and
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Ubjaan, J., Lourens, S., Renyut, S. F. G., & Jacobs, S. L. (2023). Music Culture Integration Strategy and City Tagline Innovation as A Push Factor for
Ambon to Become a World Music City. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(10). 278-291.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.1010.15485
cultural diversity that grows and develops in a city can be used as a pillar of the city's
development. This statement aligns with Ma et al. (2021) findings, which state that cities today
can be used as objects with selling points based on local socio-cultural attractions. On the other
hand, current economic development focuses on more than just the production of industrial
goods or services whose source is material raw materials. However, there is a change where
new ideas and ideas developed from the arts, music, cuisine, culture, tourism and even a city or
country become raw materials for production at the level of the creative economy (Husin et al.,
2021). It can also collaborate with several sectors that synergize as production materials. The
emergence of the creative economy results from the rapid development of information
technology. The creative economy is based on ideas and knowledge as the main raw material.
The creative economy is an inseparable part of the creative industry, which includes creative
tourism. Li & Kovacs (2021) state that creative tourism has the potential to attract especially
local skills, expertise and traditions from various regions. Creative tourism combines various
cultural features such as historical, art, contemporary, and popular cultures.
One of the creative economy's sub-sectors is music, a creative industry that can be enjoyed by
all groups and is quite eye-catching. Music has long been one of the industries that continues to
bring innovation and rapid development. The people of Ambon City and Maluku already have
socio-cultural values from music. The music ecosystem grows in almost all aspects of life; even
to realize peace, music is used as one of the unifying media (Geurts & Cepa, 2023). Musical
works that present local cultural values and social strength in the cultural identity of the Ambon
and Maluku communities, in general, can be a major resource in various development fields.
Music is a primary agenda in traditional ceremonies, weddings, welcoming guests, and worship
activities. Traditional musical instruments such as Tahuri, Floit, Ukulele, Totobuang, Rumba,
Tifa, and Hawaiian have developed throughout the Maluku islands for generations. These
musical instruments are a means of folk music identity as well as social values that are
interpreted as basic capital to be used as an agenda for change in the creative economy in
Ambon City.
Torabi Farsani et al. (2017) stated that music can be a development resource. Even the findings
of Trompeta et al. 2022) show that music is a major stimulus in the regulation of tourism
services. About the relationship between music and a city, Baird & Scott (2018) stated that
music is an important component in developing a city's creative and cultural economy (CCE).
Music colors urban life in shops, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, public transportation, and
even the humming of street singers. The experts' opinions align with the music ecosystem that
has long grown and developed in the Ambon City community and is the basic capital of a
creative city. The concept of a creative city in music begins with building a public image through
a city slogan or tagline. Taglines are part of the concept of creativity in branding strategies.
Taglines are short sentences that clearly describe what is offered to the audience. Currently,
taglines are a very effective communication tool, so the Ambon city government needs to
convey the characteristics of the "city of music" to the public. It is in line with Kusumawati
(2017) statement that domestic tourists pay more attention to taglines as a tool to know a city.
On the other hand, tourism development requires a city to have a tagline that aims to reflect the
city's identity, both in the form of natural potential, social values, culture, and community
expectations. Indonesia and even cities in several other countries have changed the concept of
their city tagline as an innovative policy to change people's views. This change was made due
to physical development and changes in city planning, so it became the basis for tagline
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 10, October-2023
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innovation policies. Changing or adding a city tagline is a popular public instrument today.
Andrea Lucarelli, (2018) states that the policy of changing or adding a tagline is a new image
for the audience, and the target is to bring in investors, tourists, new residents and even other
resources. Some other experts argue that the tagline change policy is included in city
rebranding activities, meaning an effort to completely change or renew an existing brand for
the better without ignoring the original objectives (Collange, 2015; Visanich & Sant, 2017).
Along with the concept of change, the Ambon city government made a policy of integrating local
music culture with an innovative city tagline expected to form a new image for every visitor.
Previously, Ambon's tagline was "Ambon Manise," which reflected the friendly and brotherly
character of the people. This tagline still exists and has become a brand image for the public.
Meanwhile, related to the development of music culture as one of the pillars of Ambon City
community development, the result of tagline innovation has been legitimized as "Ambon City
of Music". This tagline was first launched in 2011 with the program's vision to make Ambon a
world music city. Of course, the steps in the tagline change policy and efforts to realize the vision
were carried out through a long process, namely mapping surveys, competitive analysis, and
blueprints to implement changes. The policy has been carried out and adjusted to the local
culture, namely the music culture, which is the pillar of Ambon city tourism. The meaning of
'Ambon city of music' is not limited to the words of the slogan. However, the essence of the
tagline lies in the ability of destination management to explore the city's identity and potential
to strengthen the city's character and provide a clear direction for community expectations.
Ambon City was designated as a UNESCO World Music City on October 31, 2019, to coincide
with World City Day. According to the director of the Ambon Music Office (AMO), UNESCO
recognition shows that the people of Ambon and Maluku generally have the DNA to be called a
city of music (https://akurat.Co). This designation provides space as one of the tourism
phenomena that has the potential to become a music tourism destination as a new tourism
alternative. However, there has yet to be a scientific study on the potential of music tourism in
Indonesia (Wibisono & Wijono, 2016). Music tourism can be prevalent because it is similar to
culinary and sports tourism, where visitors start from planning their arrival to an area to
enjoying music. Several studies with contradictory results state that current tourism
development policies require in-depth strategies; this is because many tourist destinations are
boring and even have similarities between one destination and another, causing a lack of
interest in visiting (Diedrich & García-Buades, 2009; Galí et al., 2017; Robinson et al., 2019).
Thus, special interest tourism provides a great opportunity for each region with distinctive
characteristics related to local natural and cultural conditions to continue developing.
Along with transforming cities into creative cities, which tend to produce higher levels of
innovation and economic growth, almost all cities worldwide are trying to adopt the creative
city label to realize these benefits. Creative cities can be interpreted as cities where citizens
prioritize elements of creativity and innovation in addressing various social, economic and
environmental problems (Alsayel, de Jong, et al., 2022). The creation of cultural products and
the creativity and excellence of skilled workers drive the emergence of a new knowledge or
creative economy. Černevičiūtė & Strazdas (2023) further stated that creative industries are
built and nurtured in a city, giving rise to the new concept of a creative city.