AMI Awards Opens Four New Categories to Elevate Local Music

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The 2026 Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards has officially introduced dedicated categories for music genres that are currently gaining popularity among the public, including Hipdut, Pesta Timur (Eastern Party), Hip-hop, and Ethno Music. The move provides an important platform for regional musicians to combine local traditions with modern musical influences and gain wider recognition nationally.

Chairperson of the Anugerah Musik Indonesia Foundation, Candra Darusman, said the addition of the categories reflected AMI’s commitment to remaining inclusive and keeping pace with developments in Indonesia’s music industry.

“The spirit of AMI is that we must always be inclusive and pay attention to developments. In that sense, the AMI Awards reflect the current landscape of Indonesian music, which continues to evolve. The emergence of these four categories shows that they are trending, and we cannot turn a blind eye to that,” said Candra Darusman after the announcement of the 2026 AMI Awards nominations in Jakarta on Monday, September 21, 2026.

Candra added that the AMI Awards introduced something different each year in response to the emergence of new musical works. In this regard, AMI is committed to upholding inclusivity, neutrality, and independence throughout the awards process.

“AMI’s role is simply to maintain inclusivity, neutrality, and independence, without being influenced by anyone. The results are based on the votes of 4,000 AMI members. Lobbying is difficult because the voting process is confidential and conducted online,” he said, as quoted by Antara.

A representative of the AMI Awards Categorization Team, Syahrani, said one of the new categories for the 2026 awards was Ethno Music. The category was considered necessary and important because it provides a platform for musical works from various regions across Indonesia. Music groups and studios from all parts of the country may submit their works.

“World music has also been developing for quite some time and becoming more exciting each year. It combines various Indonesian ethnic music traditions with diatonic or modern music, and the result is very impressive,” said Syahrani.

Meanwhile, Hipdut and Eastern Party Songs are also gaining popularity and have been included in the 2026 AMI Awards categories. Syahrani said hip-hop had technically already been included among the existing genres.

However, hip-hop had previously been grouped under slash categories, together with rap and R&B, because the number of hip-hop entries remained relatively small. With the surge in hip-hop music production this year, the AMI Awards decided to establish a separate category.

“There are now so many people producing hip-hop music that placing it under a slash category is no longer appropriate. It is AMI Awards’ policy to recognize that when there are enough creators and productions, the genre is entitled to have its own home,” she said. ***