Film music hits the right notes

This year has been a mixed bag so far for the Indian music industry, which relies heavily on Bollywood movie soundtracks to keep the cash registers ringing.

Among the success stories was the soundtrack release of music composer and actor Himesh Reshammiya's much-awaited Karzzz, ahead of the film's box-office release on October 16. The music has received a bumper response all over, including in the GCC territories, with the UAE leading sales.

Karzzz's run adds to the recent success of soundtracks from the films Jannat, Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na, Singh Is Kinng, Bachna Ae Haseeno and Rock On, which has given some impetus to the sluggish Bollywood music business so far this year.

The year 2008 started on a slow note with only A R Rahman's Jodha Akbar managing to cross sales of more than one million units, until Race took the music charts by storm thanks to composer Pritam's vibrant score.

Race has been the best selling soundtrack so far this year, selling more than 1.7 million units. This was followed by another of Pritam's chartbusting soundtracks in the form of Jannat, which is running the Race soundtrack close in terms of sales.

"Jannat's music sales exceeded our expectations" says Karan Lilaram, a senior executive at Megastar, the UAE distributor for Sony-BMG. The only other soundtrack that managed to do well was Tashan, but its performance was short-lived due to the film's box-office failure," he adds.

"It is very rare that a film's music continues to do well even after the film's failure and it is important that a film succeeds for its music to have a longer shelf life," says music composer Ismail Darbar, speaking about the impact of a film's success on its soundtrack sales.

The second half of 2008 rocked the music industry with the soundtracks of three films – Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Singh Is Kinng and Bachna Ae Haseeno – each achieving individual sales of more than 1.5m units.

Beyond the fact that these films were all certified box-office hits, their youthful, trendy music succeeded because it appealed to the younger generation.

"Bachna Ae Haseeno's vibrant music performed best among all our releases, which have included Tashan and Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic so far this year. We believe Tashan's music sales could have gone the extra mile had the film become a major box office success," says Nelson D'Souza, Head of UAE operations, Yashraj Music and Films.

But the soundtrack for Rock On, while catching on among the urban crowd in India, only did well in some segments of the UAE market, such as the big music stores in Dubai. This is probably because Hindi rock music is still a new genre and is not yet everyone's first choice off the menu.

Besides Hindi film soundtracks, the Indian music industry relies on compilations of hit songs, remix albums and private albums to keep the show running. This year Atif Aslam's Meri Kahani and Rabbi Shergill's Avengi Ja Nahin won critical acclaim but failed to repeat the huge success of their previous private albums, Doorie (2006) and Bulla Ki Jaana (2005) respectively.

With no major remix or private album recently that has rocked the musical charts, music store owners had to be content with sporadic successful compilations of Bollywood hits such as Let's Rock The Party, Lambhi Judai and Pappu Can't Dance.

"I believe the genre of remix albums is passé. Though I don't have anything against them, I think they can't match the charm of original music scores, which still lure a huge number of people," says award-winning Bollywood playback singer Alka Yagnik.

But more than changing tastes or the impact of different musical genres, it is music piracy that is killing the industry which was worth nearly Rs10 billion (Dh793m) in the early 1990s and shrank to a mere Rs5bn by the early 2000s. A best-seller in the nineties meant sales in the vicinity of 10 million units. That has come down drastically now to only around two million units in recent years and speaks volumes about how much of a loss the music industry has had to suffer.

Meanwhile, the business will be hoping that the recent spate of successes continues, with some major Bollywood musical blockbusters lined up for release.

There is promise in the air of the year ending on a high note.


'Piracy is the biggest threat to Indian film music'

One regional company has benefited most from this year's slew of successful Bollywood soundtracks, including this month's hit, Karzzz.

Viva Entertainment, the region's largest player in the segment, has cornered the market on Indian music here in the GCC, and holds exclusive licences for Saregama, T-Series, Tips, Venus, Times Music, Big Music, and Yashraj Films. Together, these labels account for 90 per cent of the Bollywood music market. Emirates Business caught up with Sanjay Khettry, Head of Indian Music Division at Viva Entertainment, to take a closer look at regional trends for this cash-rich genre.

How has Bollywood music performed so far this year vis-à-vis last year, and which are the best sellers in this region?

Bollywood music sales haven't been good this year. The year-to-date sales have not matched last year's numbers in the corresponding period – thanks to heavy internet downloading, and other forms of piracy. Having said that, we haven't had as many runaway hits this year, except titles such as Race, Singh Is Kinng and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa. Though Rock On and Kismat Connection have continued selling, the numbers haven't been dramatically high.

What percentage of your music portfolio do Bollywood soundtracks account for?

Mainstream soundtracks still contribute to the bulk business; the main reason being the unavailability of compilations consisting of only hit tracks. Due to contractual and other copyright issues, not many compilations are available in the market. Soundtracks contribute significantly in the expatriate Indian or NRI segment.

So how does market share break down over the GCC?

The market is almost equally split between the UAE and the rest of the GCC countries.

Since you handle multiple labels, is there a chance of conflict of interest in your business?

In the entertainment industry, piracy is the only threat or competition, however you choose to describe it. For sellers, every product is unique purely by virtue of its own content and sells on its own merit; hence there is no competition or conflict of interest.

So how has piracy affected your sales and what is being done to curb it?

Piracy is the greatest curse on our industry, which has resulted in a steady decline in volumes. Street piracy can be and is being contained with effective raids conducted by the authorities, but internet downloads are the biggest culprit. Unfortunately, it is not possible to stop the downloading of music.

What major film soundtrack releases can we expect from your company by the end of 2008?

Going forward, we are looking at launching RoadsSide Romeo (Yashraj Music), Fashion (T-Series), Yuvraj (T-Series), Rab Ne Bana De Jodi (Yashraj Music) and Ghajini (T-Series) in the next few months. I believe these soundtracks will top the charts.

Daler Mehndi's new album to help raise funds for poor

Lahore (PTI): Indian pop singer Daler Mehndi on Friday said he had presented the Pakistani rights for his new album "Bismillah" to President Asif Ali Zardari to help raise funds for the poor.

Mehndi said his collection of Sufi music will be released in Pakistan to raise funds for the poor and with an aim of expanding cultural ties between India and Pakistan, Mehndi said addressing a news conference at the Lahore Press Club.

Currently on a private visit to Pakistan, Mehndi thanked Zardari and the people of the country for the love and warmth shown to him during his stay in the country.

During a meeting with the singer in Islamabad on Wednesday, Zardari said there were centuries-old cultural relations between the people of both countries and there is a need to jointly develop tourist infrastructure and expand cultural ties.

"More travel and tourism will certainly help in this direction," he said.

Mehndi also visited Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hasanabdal to participate in religious rituals. During his visit to Hasanabdal, Mehndi was received by officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, local administration and gurdwara management committee.

Kabul to host international music festival

Afghan capital Kabul will host its first ever four-day International Kabul music festival in the city next week, say reports.

It will be the first such festival in the central Asian country.

Director of music department of Ministry of Information and culture AbdulEtemadi has been quoted as saying that the four day music eventwould be held in the French Cultural Center, Qala-e-Nuh Burj, Feroz-Kohfoundation and Kabul Istiqlal High School auditorium.

Participants will include artistes from Pakistan, Tajikistan, India and Afghanistan who will be a part of the musical gathering and would present their artistic classic, traditional and Qawali music. The International festival is aimed at empowering Afghanistan music, encouraging Afghan artists and establishing relations with music industries of other countries.

The international fair will be held with close collaboration from Radio Kilid, Khial Cultural Center, French Cultural Center and few other local NGOs in Kabul, say reports.

Latest Interview: Strings - Dynamic duo tugging at the heartstrings

Pakistan’s pop-rock sensation Stings are all excited about coming to Dubai after a gap of nearly two years. They will be in town to perform at Sangam, an event at Dubai Tennis Stadium in this month featuring an amazing line-up from the subcontinent artists including top Bollywood singer Shaan, the percussion-driven Pakistan band Overload and Dubai band 2live.

It’s going to be a memorable gig for Strings. “This will be the first concert to promote our new album Koi Aanay Wala Hai, said lead singer Faisal Kapadia, who along with guitarist Bilal Maqsood make up Strings. Incidentally, the band kicked off its first ever international tour from the UAE way back in 1992.

Strings play mellow romantic songs. “Our music comes straight from the heart which is one main reason why everyone enjoys our songs.”

So what plans do they have for the Dubai gig? “We will be playing songs from our new album. It’s got some great music. We have a huge fan following in Dubai and we will not disappoint them. We’re also thinking about doing two concerts a year in the UAE because of the huge response we’ve had from our fans,” said Faisal.

Besides the concert and their new album, Strings also have another reason to be excited. It’s the endorsement deal with the legendary American guitar makers Gibson. “It’s been our greatest achievement. I can’t tell you how honoured we feel to be put on an endorsement list which features the who’s who of the music industry like Slash and Jimmy Page,” said the deep-voiced Faisal.

Talking about his baritone voice, Faisal said that pitching low has never been a deterrent for him. In fact it’s this unique quality in his voice that sets him apart. “It all happened after I started taking classical music lessons. I learnt the finer points of music and became more aware of my vocal range. I then started giving the lower octave more prominence,” he said.

Guitarist Bilal creates the music for Strings while his father Anwar - the renowned Pakistani writer and actor - pens the lyrics. The duo then fine tune the melodies, fit in the lyrics and get the songs ready for the final cut.

Strings are also quite popular in India where they’ve performed for a number of gigs all over the country. They’ve also scored songs for the Bollywood movies Zinda and Shootout At Lokhanwala.

“We got into film music after we were approached to do the track Na Jaane Kyon for the Hollwood blockbuster Spider-Man 2. After this, we recieved plenty of offers to compose songs for movies,” said Faisal.

“Initially, we were reluctant to do Bollywood movies as it meant moving away from our style. But when filmmaker Sanjay Gupta approached us for his movie, he told us that he wanted the Strings sound and this is what excited us.”

“Doing film music is good for a band. Everyone in the subcontinent listens to movie songs so you get greater exposure,” he said.



Faisal’s favourite western bands:
U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, Aerosmith.

His favourite Bollywood singers:
Kishore Kumar, Hariharan and Sonu Nigam

His favourite Indian composer: RD Burman

‘Music can improve Pakistan, India ties

Pakistani sitar-player Ustad Abdul Latif Khan has said the music can play important role in further improving ties between Pakistan and India.

He was talking to The News on his return from a recent trip to New Delhi on Sunday.

Ustad Abdul Latif khan shared his recent experiences with this scribe about his interaction with Indian media including the DD ñI TV(Door Durshan) and All India Radioís Akashwani during his visit there. He said he had been going to India since 2007 but he had never felt like this before. He said Deepa Chandra, the director DD-I, in a meeting with him, said she wanted to discuss the Pak-India relations this time, not music.

Ustad Latifís reply was simple and quite logical as he said, Deepa ‘I am an artist and not a politician, but it is my personal desire to see both the governments and the people become closer.’

He said it was his observation during the month long stay in India that there was tremendous love and respect for Pakistani artists and people. He added his mission was to promote love between the two countries and that was why he visited the country so often.

He said he was serving his country as an unofficial ambassador of peace and love through his musical skills.

During his interview with Deepa, he said instead of spending billions of rupees every year on weaponry, the countries should spend this huge money on the welfare of their people. He also pointed out to the DD-I director that there should be no visa restrictions between the two countries so that the people and the artists of Pakistan and India could move around freely.

Ustad Abdul Latif Khan is one of the very few living grand masters of the art of Sittar-playing and has been a celebrity in the Indian media during his recent visits there. Being a music loving nation and a nation which knows how to respect an artist, the Indians showered great respect and honor on him.

He was interviewed live on DD-I in its live show and a 45 minutes recording of his Sittar playing. He had an interview with the Sahara TV in New Delhi and was also presented two prestigious awards respectively from Gami Khan Musical Society and Akashwani(All India Radio).

Ustad Abdul Latif Khan was grateful to the Indian people and the media, specially DD-I and Sahara TV for promoting his message of love and peace through Sittar in the special live programs.

Has venturing into Bollywood become a necessity for Pak musicians?

The Indian film industry has gained incredible strength in the last few years. Film stars like Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman Khan and now Akshay Kumar are signing deals worth anywhere between 10-20 crores, either by producing their own films or striking deals with production houses that now function like Hollywood studios. The film industry that was once struggling under the shadow of murky deals between film producers/actors and the underworld has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts. But not the same can be said for the music business in India. The term music industry just doesn't exist in India. All the sounds are dictated by Bollywood music. Back in the nineties, names like Bally Sagoo, Mehnaz, Baba Sehgal, Lucky Ali, Alisha Chinoi among countless others formed the Indian pop industry. Now most of them have either disappeared from the scene altogether or have become playback singers for Indian films. With Pakistani music, it is a different case.



Fuzon recently played to packed crowds in India. Atif Aslam is a huge icon. And artists like Strings, Azal, Jal, Roxen and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - all enjoy a steady following. But riding the Bollywood bandwagon has slowly but surely become a necessity for Pakistani artists. Our artists learned with time that with Bollywood dictating the sound in India, in order to make it in India, which remains a much bigger market for our artists, Bollywood was a step necessary... for many. This year one saw Jal team up with Indian actress Amrita Rao for their video, 'Chalte Chalte'. In turn she released their album with them in India and promised to visit Pakistan for a series of shows. Azal also launched their record in India and recorded and performed within one night the title track of Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer Sinngh is King with Salman Khan in the audience. Atif Aslam, who jumped the Bollywood bandwagon much earlier, teamed up with Indian music director Pritam twice this year for 'Pehli Nazar' off Race and 'Ba Khuda' off Kismat Konnection. Both were high profile films that made Atif a lot more visible in India.



Others like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan are working on Indian films as playback singers. While Shafqat has Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna and Dor on his musical catalogue, Rahat has the biggest film tunes to his credit ranging from Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om to Madhuri Dixit comeback vehicle Aaja Nachle. For most musicians now, it has become a matter or survival in India now more than ever.In a recent conversation with this scribe, Atif Aslam explained why opting for Bollywood has become necessary. "Indian music channels, most of them, have stopped airing Pakistani music videos and I'm talking about most of our artists. Bollywood producers give a mightier push to Indian film music and the channels are inclined to play Indian music. So one makes a video but if it doesn't air enough, fans won't know. In such a scenario, it has become crucially important to deal with Bollywood because that gives one visibility."




Veteran musician Ali Azmat, who entered the Indian market first with Junoon years ago, has an interesting take on the entire situation. "The scene in India is no different than Pakistan. It may have more money and a better infrastructure but they have no music industry. Indian radio stations don't play Pakistani music. I have walked out of two different radio interviews in India because they don't play our music. That said, it also depends on an artist. I don't work in Bollywood too often because the sensibility of commercial Bollywood doesn't always match mine. But when filmmakers, who understand my music and think that it will add more to the film approach me, I do work with them. But the fact still remains that Bollywood dominates the sound in India."

U.S., U.K. acts take top billing at MTV Europe Music Awards

British band Coldplay and Welsh soul singer Duffy have each scored three nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards.

But the awards, to be held in Liverpool Nov. 6, also chose nominees from among top U.S. acts, including Pink, Linkin' Park and Foo Fighters.

Britneys Spears, who is making a comeback from pop limbo, has two nominations, for best act and best album for Blackout.

Coldplay earned an act of the year nomination as well as best album for Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.

Their single Viva La Vida is nominated for most addictive track.

Competing with Coldplay for best act are Spears, Leona Lewis, Rihanna and British soul singer Amy Winehouse.

Aimee Anne Duffy, the singer-songwriter with the stage name Duffy, is nominated for best new act as well as best album for Rockferry and most addictive track for Mercy.

All the other best new act nominees are U.S. acts, including Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Colorado-based band One Republic.

Perry's breakout hit I Kissed a Girl is also a contender in the most addictive track category along with Pink's So What and Kid Rock's All Summer Long.

Linkin' Park and Metallica each have two nominations in the headliner and rock out categories.

MTV viewers will be able to vote for their favourite acts online until Nov. 2.

The European music channel claims 30 million people watched the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2007.



MTV Europe Music Awards selected nominees
Best act

* Amy Winehouse
* Britney Spears
* Coldplay
* Leona Lewis
* Rihanna

Album of the year

* Alicia Keys, As I Am
* Britney Spears, Blackout
* Coldplay, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends
* Duffy, Rockferry
* Leona Lewis, Spirit

Headliner

* Foo Fighters
* Linkin Park
* Metallica
* The Cure
* Tokio Hotel

Ultimate urban

* Alicia Keys
* Beyonce
* Chris Brown
* Kanye West
* Lil Wayne