Culpable Musicide

But Bollywood beckoned. It promised name,fame,money. Soon,it made itself cooler and acceptable,grabbing a big chunk of the music market by music releases and seducing all the singing sensations. “On the other hand,television played the numbers game with reality shows,” says VH1’s head,Ferzad Palia. Music channels fell behind.

“Systematic killing” is how Riad Saha,the man behind MTV Roots defines the demise of indie music videos. “The music video did not die,the music channels died,” adds contemporary music artist Raghu Dixit. Adman Prahlad Kakkar explains how five years back,music companies went bankrupt and stopped producing new talent. “Film music became the policy because of popularity,high-end quality and readymade videos,” while Shergill calls it the ‘cartelisation of music by Bollywood and music companies’. “Today,music requires ethical representation by the media which is currently focused on wooing Bollywood,” says Mansi Scott,who started her professional career as a vocalist with the Dark Water Fixation band based in Pune.

One of the first Indian artists with his own record label,who funded music videos and released his rock band’s album “Colourblind” in 1997,music director of Delhi Belly Ram Sampath misses that scene. “Music videos were an art form,an integral part of the independent scene,” says Sampath adding how there is no mainstream music industry outside of film and devotional music. “The music video died when the song died,” he mourns the loss of videos that served as a launchpad for stars like Vidya Balan,Ayesha Takia,Shahid Kapur among others.

Another blow was the indie pop singer turning to playback. “AR Rahman proved to be a major game changer by bringing in music genres like pop,electronica,dance,trance,reggae,sufi to films and to sing it,he roped in the non-conventional playback singers Sukhwinder Singh,Shilpa Rao,Mohit Chauhan and so on,” points music expert Luke Kenny.

However,evolution is a constant,and Saha says the independent scene is being resurrected,especially on MTV. “There will be no conventional dreamy videos emulating Bollywood. The current generation doesn’t want that. They want it live,no records,CDs,no lip syncing,just undoctored,live music,” warns Lewis who has already picked his guitar.

Scott’s latest soundtrack,Hayya Hayya from the film Pappu Can’t Dance will feature Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia. “We might release it on the internet which is the newest hub for fresh music and talent,” she says. The Internet has emerged as a savior. Ashish Patil,business and creative head,Y Films,says,“Music videos online,mobile downloads,festivals like NH7,Storm,Sunburn,magazines like Rolling Stone and live shows like Coke Studio,Unplugged and The Dewarists are a step towards it.”

However,Sampath’s concern is how to market and monetize independent music. “Labels are now working on the Artist and Repertoire division to scout and promote new talent,” informs Saha. Courtesy musicians like Swarathma,Raghu Dixit,Advaita,Pentagram,Indian Ocean,Bhayanak Maut,Ankur Tewari etc,the music video has become digital. “All we need to do is give the world our own Metallicas,Beatles and Lady Gagas,” he adds.

(Inputs from Anjai Jhangiani)