Net gain for music buffs
Arpita Nath
Are the glory days of the recording companies over? Has the online age finally taken away their title of the official distributor of music to the masses? The answer may be subject to debate, but a new initiative by Indian Ocean will certainly put some tough competition on the platter for these music companies
The band is releasing their next album – 16/330 Khajur Road (a name inspired from their recording studio in Karol Bagh) on the web free of cost. Each month, starting July 25, the band will release one song per month. The download will be free of cost from the band's official website. Explains Rahul Ram, the vocalist and bassist of the band, "Nobody buys CDs anymore, everyone is interested in MP3s, especially youngsters, since they have graduated to listening music on the iPod which requires the music to be in MP3 format." The concept was a result of the band's annoyance with music companies which demanded copyrights of the band's songs and paid pittance in the name of royalty. "Waise bhi I get no money, so I'd rather have my audience listen to my music for free, we want to make our music available to the people," says Ram.
Free downloading and no losses incurred? That's not an easy pill to swallow, but since the band's website witnesses almost 20,000 page views per month, which jumped to 60,000 during the release of a documentary on the band — Leaving Home, Indian Ocean feels that at least one lakh people will download the first song when it releases. The money is solely from the advertisers on the Indian Ocean website. "We are hoping the numbers will increase from one lakh to two lakh and so on, that would help the advertisers as well. This way I'm keeping my profits, and a large number of people are listening to our music. Also, there will be no fights about royalty and copyright, saving us from legal hassles."
"Music companies rip off musicians, but they cannot control the internet boom, and this has hit them hard," Ram pointed out. The band seems to have caught on with the trend as a song on the Internet which cost 99 cents a few years ago has dropped down to 69 cents. The CDs that cost US $18-20 before, are now available in under US $5.
This concept of free downloading of music isn't a new phenomenon – Parikrama, the Indian rock band has its song — But It Rained — up for downloading, and claims to have hit the million mark, over a span of five years. 16/330 Khajur Road, will have songs that the late Aseem Chakravarty, the band's former percussionist and vocalist, was part of, and songs that the band that worked on for the last four-five years but have not yet been officially released. The band plans to come out with the CD later.
Indian Ocean is also providing two soundtracks for Aamir Khan's Peepli Live. These songs are modifications of their earlier works – Des Mera Angrezi from the album Jhini and Darte Ho. The band hopes that this Bollywood venture will translate into more website visits and downloads.
Published: June 21, 2010
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