Pick and play

The Syndicate is part of music management company Only Much Louder’s attempts to bridge the gap between indie bands and the public. Girish “Bobby”

Talwar,formerly of Zero,is heading the Syndicate team and explains that the plan to start such an agency was brewing for a year,although the website was launched only last month. Talwar explains that the idea is to provide a professional and transparent platform for booking artistes. The artistes themselves benefit because clients can find them more easily as well. “We don’t charge the clients anything and we don’t charge the artistes for hosting them on our site.” The agency has already roped in many artistes,including Swarathma,The Supersonics and The Mavyns.

The Syndicate is not without precedent. Krunk (krunklive.com),which was started by Sohail Arora of the Beat Bay Collective,was launched in 2009 to separate management of artistes from booking agencies. Arora explains,“The idea was to work with venues on building a network of partnerships in order to build a tour circuit for bands who couldn’t get sponsors.”So far,Krunk has organised over a 100 live acts; but it limits its booking and consulting services to venues and fests and has a roster of Indian and international artistes like Mumbai-based Sridhar/Thayil,Bangalorean Lounge Piranha and Austrian group Dubblestandart. The agency’s most recently organised gig was Indian metal band Scribe’s tour of Norway.

Jishnu Dasgupta of Swarathma feels that the establishment of booking agencies paves the way for a tighter organisation of the independent music industry. “The Syndicate’s website has all the information the client would need—including videos,images and sound clips,stage plans and requirements,which help save time.”

Talwar adds,“Some venues have already asked us to be consultants for gigs over a period of a couple of months. We’re also hoping to eventually host dance groups and stand-up comedy acts.”