"Ada yang..." at the beginning of a sentence is actually less formal. I mean, you will not find it in a formal writing such as scientific writing or thesis. The proper use for this is "ada 'sesuatu' yang..." rather than "ada yang ..." and most likely in the middle of a sentence. In this case, it is more formal to replace it as "terdapat" Example: Buku ini tidak dapat diterbitkan karena ada hal yang kurang berkenan. It is more formal to write this sentence in this pattern: Buku ini tidak dapat diterbitkan karena terdapat hal yang kurang berkenan. Did you notice the difference? However, "Ada yang.." at the beginning of a sentence is used in many daily speaking condition, articles, blogs, and so on. For this, I'll give you as many examples as you may need. The exact translation for "ada yang.." can not be decided implicitly because it depends on the context. Ada banyak jenis bunga mawar. Ada yang putih juga ada yang merah. Translation: (There are many kinds of roses. There are white roses and also red roses.) Ada yang mengatakan bahwa manusia itu seperti ikan mas di dalam botol. ( Some say that humans are gold fish in a bottle) In this situation, your friend said to you: "Ada yang bilang kamu mencuri uang ibumu" Translation: ( Someone said you stole your mother's money) In this situation, the teacher is asking a question to her students. "Ada yang tau siapakah Albert Einstein?" Translation: (Does anyone know who Albert Einstein is?) Almost the same condition with the above one: "Ada yang bisa menjemput saya di bandara?" Translation: (Is there someone who could pick me up at the airport?) So based on these examples, we can conclude that the exact translation for "ada yang ..." depends on the context. I hope I give you a clear explanation :)

ada yang what ? it's not clear ada yang can have many different meaning

'Ada yang' means 'there is' ..

Yes, Ririe is right. It can have many meanings. But for the phrase you've given above, it can be translated: "(there are) some people say that music and language are universal."