Live Open urges Ranbir

The Industry can be a better place only when we communicate with each other.....

On the threshold of the 2^nd annual All About Music conference we caught up with Tarsame Mittal the organizer who is also the founder of one of the most successful Artist Management companies with a roster of Artists like Arijit Singh, Amit Trivedi, Hariharan, Rekha Bharadwaj  to name a few. Here he speaks to Pradeep Joseph about his passion AAM and Music Plus-the online portal he has recently ventured into.

How did Music Plus-the online portal come about? The media business is difficult to make money from…

Music Plus, I have been thinking of for a long time but I was not willing to lose money but when my creativity overtook my financial decisions I decided to leap into them. When would I probably make money from them…maybe never. I really don’t think it will ever make money. Till the time it can help the Music Industry, I will have the satisfaction that I am doing something, I am happy about it.

We don’t take money from anyone, we are an advertisement free platform even if somebody is willing to pay me we are not willing to accept it. Firstly we want to create content that people actually want to read that content, so when we reach that stage we will go to advertisers. We currently have staff strength of 12 members so you can imagine our expenses.

What about the IPs All About Music-The Music Conference and BMP- Bollywood Music Project? These are also difficult to make money from…

We lose money in AAM and BMP also we don’t think we can make money before 3-5 years.

Are you willing to lose that kind of money?

I am trying my best not to lose money. As everything is a habit, people don’t like to pay in India. I know how much hate I get when I don’t give free passes, everyone expects a free pass or registration. Nobody respects the fact that somebody is doing it; there is an effort behind it.

There is nothing wrong it’s a 'culture'. It’s a cultural problem and I don’t like it that’s why I don’t give free passes generally, unless somebody threatens me or puts me in a situation that I have no option, that I give free passes.

Last year at AAM we didn’t give any free passes so you won’t find anyone saying Mujhe pass free me mila. I tell anyone if you are my friend support it by buying passes for it. If you want to learn and network pay around Rs.10-15,000/-. I will still be losing if everybody buys a pass; I have to recover from sponsors.

Why did you want to start AAM?

I will be brutally honest as I can, we are doing fairly well in our Artist Management business and I was stagnant in terms of education I was not able to study enough, of course you can self-educate yourself with the internet but I didn’t think that was interesting enough or that was so exciting. It is not exactly for me, I am a people’s person. I like to meet people share Ideas, experiences learn from as many people as I meet.

I created AAM as a great platform to educate myself. As I came from a poor background I couldn’t spend money on my education so let’s spend money on my education now.

The best part is I travelled and attended lots of conferences abroad. I was always curious why don’t we do it in India, what’s the problem. For the Music Industry to become a better place is only when we communicate to each other.

It starts from the Content creators – The Artists. They have to be extremely educated, know about Publishing, Copyrights, Legal, and Financial it will be easier for everyone to deal with each other. Also why should there be so much ambiguity.

People should be able to connect to each other, learn from each other and I thought that Conferences is the best way to solve all problems. It will be the best way to help each and everyone in the business and also help me. Just like it will help everyone to learn it will also help me to learn. Simple that’s the only reason.

You are paying a big price to educate yourself?

We lost around 35 lakhs last year, I can say that number actually 40 lakhs if I take into account salaries, rent and expenses on the team that works on AAM that’s a cash flow loss. It’s a lot of money and at times I feel depressed that I should have invested the money and be a little safer in life but at the same time I think it is ok.

I am happy on what I have done I feel proud about AAM like nothing else.

They are senior Industry veterans who have also done similar work who would have been millionaires today if they did not invest in their passion?

I feel fortunate that I don’t have big dreams cause when you have big dreams you will push yourself for it. For me I have come from bankruptcy so I won’t mind losing. I only want my family to live well and that’s the only dream I have. I want them to be secure.

If I can make it profitable great but I am not desperate to be rich or super successful.

(Tarsame Mittal interview Part-I)  

Kanjirais a little South Indian frame drum but it can pack a punch of complex rhythmic patterns with lightning speed when the dexterous fingers of Bangalore Amrit N. touch its surface. In a heart to heart chat, Kanjira maestro, Bangalore Amrit, talks to Shamali Gupta about the rhythm that governs every aspect of his life and philosophy.

Rhythmic patterns and Amrit - how did it all start off? A peep into the past...
My father Vidwan Shri Basavanagudi G. Nataraj was a very accomplished and popular Violin artist. As my mother Smt. N.Lakshmi was working in a bank, I used to spend a lot of time with my father right from my toddler years. So, I was always in the midst of music and musicians. In those days (35 to 40 years back) when there was very little television and just All India Radio, concerts and classes were my favorite pass time and passion. I naturally picked up interest in Mridangam and started observing the percussion artistes keenly. I got hold of a big cylindrical box and started playing Mridangam on the box when my father used to conduct classes. My father quickly realised my inclination to rhythm. So he put me under the tutelage of my first guru Vidwan Sri M.Vasudeva Raoji when I was 5 years old. I later continued my Mridangam training from Vidwan Sri A.V.AnandJi. Later I had the fortune of learning Khanjira from “Khanjira Legend" Vidwan Sri G. HarishankarJi. I played my first concert when I was 7. So I have been on stage for almost over three decades now. This is how my journey of Rhythmic patterns started off.

Being the son of Violin Vidwan Shri Basavanagudi G. Nataraj must have been a huge responsibility and stress. How did you deal with it as a child?
Of course it was stressful initially. The expectations were high as I was the son of an accomplished artist. So I had to carry that on my shoulders. I could not understand this at first but very soon I figured that out. My father was a hard task master. He would not let me aimlessly wander around. I was made to practice for hours together from my early days. No exemption whatsoever. The practice hours would double up on holidays. After a certain point I was totally into music. My world revolved around melodic and rhythmic patterns. Then onwards, the pressure on me was  only to perform better and out-do myself.

There is a NORTH -SOUTH divide there is also a saying that East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet. What is your take on this ?
Rhythm and music are universal. Around the world Rhythm and Music are alike. The seven notes & numbers do not change.The change is in the dialect, in the presentation and interpretation. For me.... it is similar to the path of all religions leading to one eternal goal. Rhythm and Music leads to Divinity. Every artiste is travelling towards that eternal goal in their own path and method.Comparison of genres is not acceptable. There are many similarities and there are many differences. That is what makes each of these genres unique. Just because some genre is more popular than the other does not signify that it is better. Art and tradition cannot be measured on the scale of only popularity and following.

Sadly there are divides created by a few people, artists and organizers, who may have done it with the intention of dominating and gaining some kind of supremacy (musically and even commercially) over other genres. Unfortunately some of them are even successful in creating this divide by brainwashing the audience who are ignorant about the other genres and the intentions of people creating this divide. People need to understand that all art forms are equal and divine. People need to understand that all music has the therapeutic power that can cast a hypnotic spell and bring about peace and harmony in the world. Ultimately, I am an Indian Classical Artiste who respects all artistes & genres of Rhythm around Music around the world and proud to call myself a musician.          

Two personal experiences in the International music scene which are memorable and which you would like to share?
Two very memorable experiences are  My Clinic on ‘MODERN KHANJIRA ART’ & ‘Khanjira Solo’ performance in the PERCUSSIVE ARTS SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION - PASIC 2007 in Columbus ,Ohio, USA.  My performance as a ‘Solo Artist’ in a Special Percussion concert at the SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL 2016 in JERUSALEM led by Maestro Zohar Fresco (Israel) featuring other Maestros like Andrea Picconi (Italy), AbbosKosimov (Uzbekisthan) &Aleix Tobias (Spain) gave me immense International exposure and a sense of satisfaction and self awareness.

Which is your favourite concert venue and why?
There are many venues I love performing at. One of my favourite would be Sadler's Wells in London, where I performed in a special percussion trio concert for the DARBAR Festival. The wonderful ambience, acoustics and reciprocative audience gave a really good feel and was very comfortable for me to perform without much strain.  

How do you foresee the Classical music scenario 10 years from today?
Honestly speaking ... Classical Music has a bright future in sense of market growth. There are some very good artists coming to the limelight. but I think due to some other pressures... the growth of art will stop after a certain point.  Only a few artistes will pursue the art for art sake.  We can’t expect to see the growth of art in the way we had seen before or even what we are seeing even now.
The influence of television is so huge that we were forced to accept that as a part of our life long back. Added to this, now the invasion of Social media into our life is making things even worse. I am not against to modern technology or social media. There are benefits too. It gives us a platform to virtually connect with people around the world. It gives an opportunity to showcase our art forms on these platforms.  But we should know how to and how much to use it. There should be a proportion. Otherwise it will take over our lives and& we will be enslaved by the digital platform. 

'Saadhana' is a very important and integral part for any artiste's growth. It helps us to understand the art and self. Without Saadhana an artiste is not complete. There is no end to knowledge and refinement. We understand this time & again when we immerse ourselves in 'Saadhana'. Sometimes it is hours we put in, sometimes it is the qualitative content, its analysis and understanding in depth... makes us a better artiste. But with all these distractions and pressures of modern world... Saadhana may not be in the top of the list.

Seated in an open café at a 5-star hotel near Mumbai’s Sahar airport, the gentleman in conversation with ragatorock.com looks more like a physical instructor – after all, he is wearing a half-sleeve shirt, short pants, has an obvious six-pack, and massive arm muscles to complete his persona – but, in reality, he heads one of the fastest growing independent labels in the world. Meet Lee Parsons, the co-founder and CEO of UK-based Ditto Music, which commenced operations in 2006.

Lee has arrived in Mumbai, his first stop on his debut visit to India, for just over a day ago, but is already getting accustomed to the unorganised vehicular traffic, not realising that it is actually more organised in Mumbai than most parts of the country. While his brief jaunt will have him cover Chennai, New Delhi, and Agra, where Lee will obtain a reality check, but what is certain about his presence now is that he is here to do what he does best: support, promote, and market independent music. While it is a far cry from the days when he concentrated on a career cleaning windows and a career as a musician too, Lee is still in the presence of cleansing; however, this time around it is the global music industry instead by providing independent artistes an opportunity of not only retaining what is or should be theirs, such as recording and publishing rights, but Ditto Music’s policy of transparency ensures that every amount that the artiste should be entitled to earn is provided to them.

“Artistes are moving away from major labels towards [their] independence,” says Lee, “because companies like Ditto Music provide them better terms and more revenue.” Using the same policy across the world, Lee has, since Ditto Music’s genesis 12 years ago, set up over 20 offices across Europe, Australia, North and Latin America, and his focus – along with that of Ditto Music co-founder and brother Matt’s – is now in South Asia, with India as its headquarters.

The India office commenced operations in October 2017 with industry stalwart Gautam Sarkar being roped into to helm the business. For those not aware, Gautam is a global veteran having three decades of work experience spread across the fields of music, hospitality, and technology, leading the India piece by having worked with majors in India and abroad.

In a very strategic manner, Gautam has decided to have Ditto Music stay away from major Bollywood music for the moment, leading the Indian initiative to a more focused approach in the regional market business and in overseas distribution of Indian content. By the time Lee returns to England, the company would have concluded major label deals for distribution outside India, including managing Indian publishing business with Ditto Music’s superior knowledge and understanding of artiste minds and their requirements through Matt and Lee’s experience as independent artistes themselves. Ditto Music’s global roster – over 150,000 artistes – has expectedly begun to overflow, as people are looking at being associated with Ditto Music as a platform through which they can share their music to the large diaspora globally through high quality streaming audio, and by supporting monetization of copyright royalties. Indian languages focused on include Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Rajasthani, and Bhojpuri, with a combined catalogue strength of 300,000 audio tracks and music videos.

CEO Lee’s affinity with Indians and the Indian diaspora has a lot to do with his growing up in Birmingham, which is also the place of birth behind such international acts such as UB40, E.L.O., Moody Blues, and Traffic. “Birmingham has a huge Indian community,” Lee reminisces, “where I used to record in a studio which Dr Zeus (real name: Baljit Singh Padam) also used. At that time, he had already sold massive quantities of his content.” Indeed, especially with Zeus’ “Kangna” being his break out song in 2003. Other Indian connects for Lee include his band being managed by the same person managing Apache Indian. In fact, Lee vividly recalls all the songs of the one-time Steven Kapur, including “Boom Shack-A-Lak”, a song that made it into several Hollywood films, including ‘Dumb And Dumber’, its sequel, and ‘Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed’ although, for the trivia-minded, “Boom” appears to be strongly influenced by the Folkes Brothers’ “Oh Carolina”, a song popularised by Shaggy.

Founded by musicians for musicians, Ditto Music provides distribution, music videos, and promotion and label services, offering both 100% royalty and commission-based deals. Ditto Music is also responsible for an innovative product known as Record Label In A Box, which provides all the tools that budding music entrepreneurs need to start and run a successful label, and has helped establish thousands of new independent labels worldwide.

Ditto Music currently works with the next generation of rising artistes and, in 2018, has already released Top 40 albums and singles for artistes such as Dodie, Dave, AJ Tracey, Yxng Bane, and several more. "We are thinking of running a search for artistes in India too,” announces Lee proudly, “so that we can pick such artistes and push them globally.” Although ripe for a takeover from the majors and venture capitalists, Lee is certain that he would like Ditto Music to remain independent, which is precisely the vision with which brother Matt and Lee commenced operations. Nevertheless, Lee is also certain about future technologies and is taking more than a keen interest in blockchain technology – that was originally invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 to serve as a public ledger for cryptocurrency bitcoin – through which, Lee believes, transparency will only get further magnified. In placing monies where his comments are, Ditto Music has invested in blockchain start-ups in South East Asia as well as India to fulfil Lee’s mission.

If Lee Parsons has signed on or discovered artistes that are now global music superstars such as Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, it appears only a matter of time before Ditto Music helps support the “traffic” of Indian artistes diversifying from being just local musicians into the international mainstream.

-   Parag Kamani

Ranjit Barot is the only indian rated among the top 100 Drummers in the world by Drum Magazine, on the threshold of his latest concert 'Transcendence' with the ambassador of Kanjira Banglore Amrit, we take a download of the conversation with the event organizer Rajshekar Srinivasan on the Drums, concept of the event and his tribute to Buddy Rich. 

Hailing from a traditional classical music family, why did you chose a western instrument, the drums?

It’s as much a mystery to me as anyone else. I was surrounded by Tabla’s, Sitar, vocals and of course, dance. Maybe going to a western school and being exposed to rock music, then taking part in an impromptu music competition and winning had something to do with it. Till that competition I had never played the drum set. Once the performance got over, I knew this was something special that had me out and would be a big part of my life in all the years to come. 
 
 What are his  experiences with the Jazz world?

I was inducted into the world of jazz by Maestro Louiz Banks, the legendary jazz pianist. I’m 1980 I performed with him as a part of the Jazz Yatra sextet, featuring jazz musicians as well as Carnatic musicians. This was most fortuitous as I was exposed to improvisational jazz music and Carnatic music simultaneously. We performed at the Jazz Yatra in 1980 and in 1981 toured Europe with the band. This was a huge learning experience for me. Having grown up in India playing an instrument that I didn’t have much educational access too, the tour allowed to watch some of the greatest drummers in the world, thus giving me a glimpse into what the possibilities were in regards to this magnificent instrument we call the drum set. 

How is the taal based Indian system of percussion unique from western drumming ?

The north and south taal system is a highly revolved rhythmic system, unparalleled in its beauty, poetry and complexity. While odd time meters and even complex interpretations of rhythm have found their way into western classical music and in the works of the late Frank Zappa, a visionary contemporary composer, the drum set still relies on a more symmetrical approach in some aspects of rhythm. Mind you, drummers like Virgil Donati have stretched the boundaries of what is possible on the drum set, and there are many drummers worldwide who are master jazz players, deeply schooled in the art of improvisation, who play within a  frame work and yet are unpredictable. I must mention that the number of drummers gravitating to the Indian system of rhythm are growing exponentially day by day. 

Something about Buddy Rich and how he has inspired you as a drummer? 

He was the greatest drummer of his time. He had technique and imagination, the two key ingredients at being a great musician. He exploded on the scene, at a time when things were a little more conservative as far as the instrument went. In contrast he was full of musical bluster and a full throttle approach to music and his instrument. This is something I identify with deeply. You eventually play like who you are. All your attributes, deficiencies and aspirations are revealed when you truly surrender to the moment and your instrument. It’s like a veil is removed and what you are and what you play merge. The sound you create is you. Buddy had that ability in spades. 

 How different is this tribute going to be from other collaborations you have been associated with?

Well, you try and tip your hat to the master and put yourself in a place where you try and tap into the spirit of who you’re paying tribute to. Therefore every tribute is special and different.  

Have you been able to get your percussion expertise and virtuosity into the main stream Bollywood.

Absolutely. I’ve rarely pretended to be anything but who I am on my instrument, no matter what the context may have been. 

 Who have been your favorite musicians especially percussion artists across the globe?

There are too many to list here. Basically, every drummer before and me those I’ve yet hear are my gurus. 

What are your thoughts on Bangalore Amrit?

I witnessed Amrit ji when he performed at Ustad Zakir Hussain’s commemorative concert for his father’s,  the late Ustad Allarakha, barsi. He was a part of Vidhwan Karaikudi Mani ji’s ensemble and  I was just blown away with his playing. The dexterity, clarity of thought were astounding. He is an amazing player, human being and I think it is fitting that he pay his is the one to pay respects to the late Vidhwan Hari Shankar ji. I am deeply honoured to be sharing the stage with him. 

Do you think such collaborations should be encouraged by sponsors more often?

Most definitely!

-Swami Srinivasan

The Artist Management scene has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years and showing a continued uptrend. Raga to Rock caught up with Anurag Rao, Founder of Canvas Talent Co. who has in his roster some of the biggest Actor/Singers in Bollywood, including the likes of Farhan Akthar & Ayushman Khurana. Anurag Rao has a long history with Music , he was the Guitarist with the band Pythagorus & the Right Angles, A&R head at MTv, Head at Reliance Big Fm before he decided to set up his Artist Management company. Here Anurag shares his views on Artist Management, Artists, Music and the way ahead. 

Tell us how Canvas Talent Co. came about?

I had spend about 7 to 8 years at MTv, my primary role was Artist Management, Artist Development & Programming, so when I moved out I got pulled by Reliance Big FM, which took around 2 years to set up but by the time I had lost interest. We started off in 2006-2007 and would look out for Event opportunities and sign new artists. Most of the Artists in those days had secretaries or agents. Even though we had the Knowledge & Knowhow to help develop an Artist, there were deterrents and people who would not let you help the Artist. Then I started Canvas Talent Co. with Fardeen Khan & Zahid Khan, friends from back in the days, when I got into doing events.

What did you learn when you started off?

It was a rough start but the relationships in the Film & Music Industry are crucial. We did gigs and we learnt it was not easy to make a profit organizing events. It was a ‘Peoples Business’, it was all about relationships and these relationships counted when we started off. Also those days you had to be politically correct and play ‘Good cop Bad cop’ so you could make your bread and butter or living as a sole operator. 

How did you get Farhan Akhtar on board?

Farhan came much later in my life. I knew Farhan from his ‘Dil Chata Hai’ days then along the way became friends somewhere in 2012, when Maa Durga happened Farhan wanted to set up an initiative with gender equality, he started M.A.R.D (Men against Rape & Gender Equality). I was having a telephonic conversation and he mentioned he wanted to bring awareness to MARD, that’s when we started working together. We got Salim–Suliaman to create a song ‘Chu lien Aasman’ and we tied up with an NGO HNGO (Helping Women get Online), we did a 6 city tour across colleges. This initiative got us the Channel V award that year. This is where it all began.

Why do you think there is a need for Artist Management?

I realized that the Artists were not able to achieve success or stardom as some of them did not look out for the right representation and some of them don’t know how to find the right representation. There are Management companies that have come a long way, OML (Only Much Louder) being one of them is the best with Independent Music and I don’t think that anyone who has done that kind of stuff but again they went into the Event space. They have managed to develop a few acts.

What is the change you would like to see in the Artist Management scene?

The change I would like to see in the Artist Management scene is from the Artist side. Unless the Artist feels

a) there is a need for them to develop

b) there is a need for his sound to be more cooler & hipper

c) more competitive compared to what is happening out there

or else they will be stuck with Booking Agents cause they want Live shows.

The Music business is not only about Live shows, you will be able to make more if your Music is reaching out to other parts of the world touching few thousand people elsewhere also. The thing they are not realizing is that it is not about the Music only anymore. It is the experience and the experience not only comes from the Music you create but also comes from who you are as an individual, what part of you is in your Music. It is cause of this experience that the listener would want to put the Song on repeat play, want to go get your Merchandising and get you engaging with fans. You could have a #1 hit and still be broke Live Musician.

What do you think is the weakness in the Artist Management space?

The only possible gap in the eco-system is the lack of A&R which is a key factor to what the Artists become. Some Artists want to do Live, Live, Live…and not interested in developing themselves and some of them may not have the capabilities to develop an Act and might not understand what it takes and probably that only comes from the experience of being in the Music business and that could be a few decades.

What do you think of the other Artist Management companies?

Most of the Artist Management companies are doing a great job, most of them have come up in the last 5-8 years, and their Artists are happy and as long as they are happy, the company is happy obviously they are doing a good job with the Artist. We also deal with other Artist Management companies hence we know they are doing a great job with the Artists they have.