Urban Independent Music - Questions Answered.

Hey Ashish,

I hope all's well on your end.

My friend and I are working on this project on urban independent music in India. Right now we're on the research phase of the project... basically getting to know the beast before we take it on. I thought you would be the ideal person to ask.
Here are a few questions, it would be great if you could write a few lines to each one of them and send them back in a couple of days.

Q1) How does an artist (or music industry person) like you define your ideal/average music fan in India?

Ashish Ddavidd: "From my experience in being in private radio industry, of hosting internet radio shows and being a performing artiste and studio professional, a few considerations that i have come to understand and observe in my 10 year journey through the various broadcasting mediums and platforms of art have taught me a few basics about your ideal / average music fan or listener in India."



"The strata or bracket of averages mostly is the youth ranging from your school and college kids to young people who have recently become financially independent and now have purchasing power coupled with the desire to consume and demand the various classifications and bifurcations of not just entertainment media but also other related lifestyle consumer products and services - which not just includes music, but also includes the internet, mobile services, electronics, live events, pubs, films, parties, clothes, gadgets, PDAs, laptops, mp3 players - the works. Their behaviors regarding decisions about consuming music is very much like their decisions made regarding all the other forms of entertainment that they consume and demand at the same pace and amount. "



"They are forever in search for the next best deal, the upgrade, the next version of the same thing - they are definitely open for change and associate consistency with monotony and get very easily bored and disinterested in products and services that fail to keep pace and constant track of the rate of change and constant evolution that they experience in their day to day lives. Shelf life of music has reduced and its now all about the right now and right here. If whatever the artiste is producing and churning out is in compatibility with their current states of being, it will be consumed with great demand, else its something that will fail to matter to their lives and thus will just get added on to the endless list of unsuccessful experiments gone wrong. The role of intelligent and quick marketing thus multiplies manifold."


Q2) What mode(s) of music appeals most to the urban music audience?

Ashish Ddavidd: "Conventional modes like Audio CDs, DVDs and even MP3 CDs that are being sold in chain stores are pretty much still the source of music to a large bunch of people - but most of these people are either old, ignorant, technologically impaired or just haven’t bothered to catch up with the pace of growth and change that the rest of the world has been undergoing, since the last odd decade. An increasing bracket of people access their music on the internet and listen to it on their phones, their respective mobile audio devices like the various portable mp3 players available all over the markets in cheap affordable options or simply on their personal or office PCs or laptops."



"The mainstream as such continues to dominate the large piece of the pie but i believe that over a period of time with the increased number of choices and options available to people over the internet, the underground, the left of center, the not so huge sources of music will start mattering more. Its pretty evident from the ever increasing demand for local artistes and bands - people want stuff that’s closer to their hearts and their homes - the personal touch is what will matter eventually as well. Why the hell should i bother with a Britney Spears who is from another culture and is someone I will never ever get to ogle at physically in this lifetime when I can check out a local band like say level 9 for a cheap 150 bucks and then even get to meet the band members, probably get an autographed CD handed to me and even add the cute lead singer to my friend list on Orkut or Facebook! That's far more meaningful and REAL for the average music consumer than chasing the elusive western music culture. Screw all that - we have a 'counter culture' happening right here right now - so you are either plugged into it - or you are still somewhere else."

Q3) What is the scope of live independent music concerts in India?

Ashish Ddavidd: "Huge. Localization of music is something that’s happening everywhere. People in Delhi love bands from Delhi. Folks down in Chennai love Chennai bands. Moreover folks in Delhi are always fascinated with bands that come down from Mumbai. And Mumbaikars are always excited about musicians from Delhi who come down there to perform from time to time. So there is this huge demand for local-local bands and it in an unexplained sort of way fuels demand for bands from other regions as well. And thanks to the internet, everyone knows about every other band that’s making waves in their respective geographical domains. And of course there are loads of magazines that are very PRO underground music - rolling stone, rock street journal and even the odd rave - everyone is doing their little bit to push the envelop to the next level."



"The average music listener don’t give a fudge about anything besides having a good time bro!! He just wants a good time - and if it’s thanks to music that’s independent and local - why the hell not!! in the day and age of countless choices forced upon us by conventional modes of entertainment - the mainstream has become a sort of bully and the underground continues to not care a damn - and its not just a phase that most of us are experiencing - its a lifestyle choice we all made in full consciousness - years of being told what to do has just given birth to a mindset that doesn’t care for opinions other than the ones made INDEPENDENLY - music being just one of those aspects of the youth's choices that are influenced by such a mindset."


Q4) How does mass media perceive the whole independent music scene in India?

Ashish Ddavidd: "It doesn’t give a shit. :) Very honestly. It just doesn’t really care. Mass denotes numbers. Commercialization. Money. But right now change is pregnant in the state of how things have been. Mass media looks at the independent scene like a mother looks at a lill child who's struggling to walk and needs mom's constant help to manage himself. But then that’s the case - parents never realize when the damn kid grows up and outdoes the generation that preceded him."



"That’s the kind of tangent i think that the underground shares with the mainstream - in loads of aspects we are far more evolved than the mainstream but then we still have a long way to go and have a million lessons still to learn from the conventional old school mass media, that we might not readily admit, but in time will have to come to a truce with."

Q5) What are some of the existing initiatives (that you know of) that serve to support the scene?

Ashish Ddavidd: "Myspace.Com is i think one of the biggest and most powerful tool that any independent music producer from say a school band to even upcoming professional and semi professional armature artistes can use to broadcast and put out their music on the net. Its got musicians and artistes from all over the globe together and has given our society a home to live in, virtually. Social networking sites supporting music and video too have given birth to more and more specialized groups and communities of people holding common interests in music."



"Venues like pubs and night clubs opening doors to live musicians once twice thrice a week, having special nights where live music is not just respected but how it affects these venues monetarily is also a huge phenomenon that has pushed things to work in the favor of musicians and independent music in general. And of course music festivals that have become a regular feature all over the country too are fueling the fire. Rock is almost the new pop now."





Q6) To what extent is the independent music scene being dominated/subdued by the mainstream music scene? In what ways is it being dominated?

Ashish Ddavidd: "That’s a lame question. Read - INDEPENDENT music - we don’t depend on anyone. Peace." :)





Thanks a lot for your time. I would be really grateful if you could help me out with this.

Long live the revolution,
Best,
Shreyans