Why Lady Gaga's Cancellation in Indonesia is bad

From Alan Cross, a Canadian "professional music geek," longtime radio broadcaster, and blogger.

He was just in Singapore for the Music Matters conference there, and the cancellation was big news there!

From his article:

The status of her Jakarta show was big news in Singapore--and not merely celebrity news, either. It was a hearts and minds issue and one with serious political and social overtones. (Rather than rehash everything here, please go back and read the original post.)

In the end, though the hardline Islamic groups have won the day in Indonesia, a country of 240 million that's officially a secular state. By cancelling the concert--to which 52,000 people bought tickets--authorities have caved to the demands of a religious minority.

Here are the two relevant posts:

http://alancross.squarespace.com/a-journal-of-musical-things/2012/5/22/brace-yourself-im-on-lady-gagas-side-for-this-one.html

http://www.alancross.ca/a-journal-of-musical-things/2012/5/28/why-the-cancellation-of-lady-gagas-indonesian-concert-should.html

I think the big take-away from this one is "Authorities have caved to the demands of a religious minority."