THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION - International Indian

[ BUSINESS OF MUSIC ]
classical artists, specially the upcoming
ones, says multi-percussionist and tabla
player Bickram Ghosh. “These days you
will hardly find new albums of classical
artists and musicians. All that is being
launched is basically old wine in a new
bottle,” he added. This method of re-release
has become the model of content creation in
an industry that appears to no longer find
viability in producing new content.
The Indian classical music industry is
stuck in a rut, and topmost on everybody’s
blame list is the record label. “Where is the
musical diversity that India is known for?
When categories like classical music are
relegated to the back of the store where five
racks have become one rack, you know we
have a problem,” says vocalist Anupana Sen,
who has been trying in vain, to produce a
cassette for more than three years inspite of
her phenomenal success in various concerts
both in Indian and overseas. “If young
talent has been recorded, it is the offspring
or disciples of the really big artistes,” she
added painfully.
Erstwhile champions of the category like
Sa Re Ga Ma and Music Today are being held
answerable for not sustaining their interest
in the genre and repackaging their existing
inventory. Sa Re Ga Ma admits it has not
launched a single new artiste in the last five
years in the classical genre. The spokesperson
of Music Today, is defensive - if the entire
music industry has slipped from Rs 1,200
crore in 2002 to Rs 600 crore today, the share
of classical music is no more than Rs 10 crore.
“Sales in the classical music category have
been stagnating. It has occupied 3.5 per cent of
Planet M’s total business for the last two years,”
informs its Public Relationship Officer.
To put that in perspective, Hindi film
music contributes to 50 per cent of Planet M’s
business. At Rhythm House, a music store
in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda district, you will
still find over 1,500 Indian classical titles,
but Mehmood Curmally, the store’s director,
says new releases at the store are down to
less than 30 a year. “The others are all rehashed
compilations,” he explains. “What’s
happening is that more people are listening to
more music but much of it is on the radio or
on the mobile phone,” retorts Singh. Over the
last 10 years most recording companies - Sony,
Times Music and Venus - have ventured into,
FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING
Rs 1,150 crore
The total size of the Indian music industry
Rs 450 crore
Losses due to piracy
Rs 15 crore
Money earned through ringtone downloads
Rs 400 crore
Organised market of film music in India
Rs 100 crore
Organised market for non-film music in India
APPROXIMATE COST OF INVESTING IN A
MUSIC ALBUM
Total cost
Anywhere between Rs 35-50 lakh
Dubbing, mixing mastering
Approximately Rs 12 lakh
Cost per video
Rs 10 lakh (usually the artiste does two
videos)
Cost of promoting the album (ad spots on
radio and television, posters etc)
Rs 15 lakh
“
Where is the
musical diversity that
India is known for?
When categories like
classical music are
relegated to the back
of the store where five
racks have become
one rack, you know we
have a problem.
”
and exited, classical music. “Not every company
has the understanding or the wherewithal to
manage the category,” says Singh. It is not that
there is no upcoming talent, so what is the
reason for this newfound anathema.
Some suggest the growing demand for
other traditional music genres like spiritual
music is another reason why record labels are
losing interest in classical music. Spiritual
music accounts for a fifth of Music Today’s
top line. In addition, the new releases are
not upto the mark, believes Chaiti Jacob, a
music critic. “Last year there have been few
releases that are being marketed as Indian
classical bands, which will do more harm than
good,” she believes. “People are habituated
in accepting classical music in a said format.
If suddenly, it is changed, the acceptability
will fall even further.” However, renowned
slide-guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya,
is unwilling to accept the theory of lack of
acceptability. “How can record labels claim
the genre is not profitable when concerts are
packed every time?” he questioned. Actually,
it doesn’t have the higher rate of return and
that’s what dissuades then from investing, ”
believes Gupta, whose company is all set to
release atleast five new classical albums.
Music on the Move
The advent of new technology where you
need not buy cassettes from stores but simply
download even while travelling, has opened
a new opportunity, but is also a threat to the
existing notions of vending music. Palash
Sen, lead singer of New Delhi-based group
Euphoria, says, “Technology has advanced
considerably and expanded the listeners’
base, with people downloading music at a low
cost. Music is easily heard on radio channels,
music videos are shown on television and
people are happily listening to innumerable
songs on their MP3 players. However, this
is precisely what has led to a considerable
decrease in the sales of the music albums.”
“Nobody,” says Sen, “wants to buy music
cassettes or CDs any more because they’re
happily downloading music off the Net.”
Kirit Sengupta of Indian Music Industry
(IMI) agrees, citing this as one of the prime
reasons why the industry has bled profusely
in the past few years. “Though many of our
member companies have opened avenues
for digital sales, it will take some time for
others to catch up because the one time
investment for such technology is still on
the higher side,” adds Sengupta.
Archisman Dinda is a freelance writer
based in Kolkata.
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THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN