Bloggers may be the most important music critics of all, as a new study shows that buzz from everyday people (i.e., not marketers) correlates to strong sales in the music business.
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Chip of the block...
Doritos recently ran a Crash The Super Bowl contest - musicans auditioned from all over, and one was chosen. Kina Grannis. Big deal, right? Happens all the time. Reality show winner sinks back into oblivion post major label deal. BUT, what Doritos did with Kina is amazing. Here's what ...
Doritos took the winner Kina, shot a video, placed it in a 60-second ad and ran it during Super Bowl at the cost of $2.7 million!!!! I think it's awesome that corporates are throwing in the big bucks to help artists break through. Super Bowl does have a reach of 100 million people. That's twice the combined populations of Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai & Bangalore!
What I find most amazing about the deal is the amount of MONEY flushed into backing a musical talent that isn't even known. Sure, Doritos is doing this to support talent and not to invest in a record, you might say. But Rs 12 crore is about as much investment a label would do for a MAJOR artist, across a year.
Wikipedia says that the Doritos Super Bowl 2008 commercial received the lowest ratings, but in my book, just for trying something ballsy, new and to support music, Doritos has moved several notches higher in my esteem.
Keep reading. I have my antennae out for strange / revolutionary / intriguing stories from the world of music.
PS - The song 's pretty suckie!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Back to the Motherland
One of the things that's had me thinking is the amount of people returning to India to work in the entertainment circuit. Almost everyday, I meet Indians who have chucked plush jobs to come try their hand at music/films. Their accent and outlook might be different - and they usually bring a wealth of knowledge from the West. They all seem highly motivated and capable of bringing to reality whatever they have in mind. Meet them now ..
KW & KS - 2 employees of the world's largest investment bank. These guys are here in India after working with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Kanye West. They plan to work on an exchange program between India and the US, plugging talent across continents. The USP - India has a massive population that is unexposed to some of the West's best.
M - After working with the largest talent management agency in the world, she returns to India to discover potential - both hers and her country's. Speaking with a nasal twang, working diligently on everything given to her, M is young and still in an exploratory phase.
S - Investment banker. Now CEO of a music company in India.
R - My favourite. A PhD student from Canada, he chose to work his thesus on the farmers from Vidharba. While he spends most of his time in India in the interiors of Maharashtra, he finds time to promote music he likes. Black Lipps, Deer Hoof etc. I got about 2 GB of music from him, and it was all good.
DH - Musicians from Canada. Currently in India to promote himself and his band. His music's good. But I think he needs to work the scene a lot more. He's already started, so that much is in his favour.
There's so many more. But these I remember for now. In a rapidly shrinking world, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. And if it does, it usually rolls back.
KW & KS - 2 employees of the world's largest investment bank. These guys are here in India after working with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Kanye West. They plan to work on an exchange program between India and the US, plugging talent across continents. The USP - India has a massive population that is unexposed to some of the West's best.
M - After working with the largest talent management agency in the world, she returns to India to discover potential - both hers and her country's. Speaking with a nasal twang, working diligently on everything given to her, M is young and still in an exploratory phase.
S - Investment banker. Now CEO of a music company in India.
R - My favourite. A PhD student from Canada, he chose to work his thesus on the farmers from Vidharba. While he spends most of his time in India in the interiors of Maharashtra, he finds time to promote music he likes. Black Lipps, Deer Hoof etc. I got about 2 GB of music from him, and it was all good.
DH - Musicians from Canada. Currently in India to promote himself and his band. His music's good. But I think he needs to work the scene a lot more. He's already started, so that much is in his favour.
There's so many more. But these I remember for now. In a rapidly shrinking world, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. And if it does, it usually rolls back.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Another blog
There's another blog that you guys must check out, if you want more on Blue Frog.
http://shekharomigosh.blogspot.com
Written by Blue Frog's most regular visitor.
http://shekharomigosh.blogspot.com
Written by Blue Frog's most regular visitor.
Friday, January 18, 2008
What's up Doc?
The Indian economy and zeitgeist has witnessed a major up-thrust these past few years. It's obvious that the growing high-disposable-income people should move in droves looking for entertainment. The money's big, the pay-offs are immediate and the competition is intense. Here's some organisms the primordial soup has spawned thus far -
Rolling Stone India
With a major potential to catapult Indian performers onto a global stage, Rolling Stone magazine launches sometime in Feb, from what I hear. While the magazine will stick to the international format and content to some percent, the covers will initially be of Indian origin. If done right, Rolling Stone could convert a very large base of the non main-stream music lovers into subscribers. I for one am waiting for the first issue like I wait for the return of Southpark's next season. High hopes.
An Echo and BRA
With Vijay Nair's OML moving out into the mainstream, things weren't looking too good. 2 event management groups got together and gave the country it's longest running rock festival. Small, smart and completely into the scene, these guys have everything going for them at the moment. The shows are always well promoted, the bands are treated well and paid (not a staple, yet) and they are open to mash-ups. Collaborations is the key here.
Hologram
A 2 day festival early next month, the Hologram festival should trigger an interest in music festivals with a non-competitive and melting-pot feel. Musicians will meet, artists will be promoted and an expected 10000 people will open their eyes to Mumbai's first Woodstock-sort-of festival. It's an ambitious plan by any standards, but from what the organisers seem to say and believe, everything looks sweet right now.
UMI
THe first of it's kind, the Union for Musicians in India. All members of this union will get together to promote the scene as one entity. Like any union worth it's salt, these guys are putting their foot down on free shows (no more ripping off artists), promoting causes and even planning compilation albums. After an entire generation of musicians has played their souls off for free shows, this union lays the foundation for the next gen of musicians to make something with their music. These guys were earlier called URINE (Union for Rock in India), but wiser sense prevailed. There is Power in a Union.
Blue Frog
At the risk of sounding pompous and self obsessed, I do believe that the Blue Frog movement will play a massive part in discovering, nurturing and promoting Indian talent. The exciting part here isn't breaking an artist into the 4 metropolitans. The focus is on finding a global presence. The way things are moving right now, and the headstart the rest of the world has on us are only working in our favour. India's globally semi-isolated music and audience is a reactor with a zillion reactions a second ... anything can happen. It's just a matter of time. And being at the right place at the right time.
Rolling Stone India
With a major potential to catapult Indian performers onto a global stage, Rolling Stone magazine launches sometime in Feb, from what I hear. While the magazine will stick to the international format and content to some percent, the covers will initially be of Indian origin. If done right, Rolling Stone could convert a very large base of the non main-stream music lovers into subscribers. I for one am waiting for the first issue like I wait for the return of Southpark's next season. High hopes.
An Echo and BRA
With Vijay Nair's OML moving out into the mainstream, things weren't looking too good. 2 event management groups got together and gave the country it's longest running rock festival. Small, smart and completely into the scene, these guys have everything going for them at the moment. The shows are always well promoted, the bands are treated well and paid (not a staple, yet) and they are open to mash-ups. Collaborations is the key here.
Hologram
A 2 day festival early next month, the Hologram festival should trigger an interest in music festivals with a non-competitive and melting-pot feel. Musicians will meet, artists will be promoted and an expected 10000 people will open their eyes to Mumbai's first Woodstock-sort-of festival. It's an ambitious plan by any standards, but from what the organisers seem to say and believe, everything looks sweet right now.
UMI
THe first of it's kind, the Union for Musicians in India. All members of this union will get together to promote the scene as one entity. Like any union worth it's salt, these guys are putting their foot down on free shows (no more ripping off artists), promoting causes and even planning compilation albums. After an entire generation of musicians has played their souls off for free shows, this union lays the foundation for the next gen of musicians to make something with their music. These guys were earlier called URINE (Union for Rock in India), but wiser sense prevailed. There is Power in a Union.
Blue Frog
At the risk of sounding pompous and self obsessed, I do believe that the Blue Frog movement will play a massive part in discovering, nurturing and promoting Indian talent. The exciting part here isn't breaking an artist into the 4 metropolitans. The focus is on finding a global presence. The way things are moving right now, and the headstart the rest of the world has on us are only working in our favour. India's globally semi-isolated music and audience is a reactor with a zillion reactions a second ... anything can happen. It's just a matter of time. And being at the right place at the right time.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Sound guys
Some wisdom from someone who has been through hellfire.
Sound guys should be worshipped. Not because they control the way the band sounds. But because they have to pack up afterwards. I just witnessed 2 sound guys pack up a 24-microphone 9-piece band. There were more cables on stage than at the climax of Matrix Revolutions.
The band was Roy Paci. The sound guys were Sunil Chandy and Camille Polycarp (I swear, I don't make this up). Respec to you guys. The packers.
Sound guys should be worshipped. Not because they control the way the band sounds. But because they have to pack up afterwards. I just witnessed 2 sound guys pack up a 24-microphone 9-piece band. There were more cables on stage than at the climax of Matrix Revolutions.
The band was Roy Paci. The sound guys were Sunil Chandy and Camille Polycarp (I swear, I don't make this up). Respec to you guys. The packers.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Learnings at the Shaa'ir + Func gig
That's right .... we sold 25 CDs of Shaa'ir + Func tonight. I'd been wondering if we'd sell 15, but we did 25. Not bad at all. Pat on the back. Alright! But seriously - had been wondering for the past few weeks - "Is it only the international acts that sell 25+ CDs at the Blue Frog. I know Sarah Tavares sold about 25 per day. So did Mango Blue. When the first S+F gig at Blue Frog did about 7 CDs, I was excited (they were the first CDs I was responsible for selling), but I knew we could do better.
So, tonight, with the genius helper Kalhan, we decided to go for the Most-CDs-Sold-By-An-Indian-Artist-At-The-Blue-Frog award. I'd been toying with the idea of a CD display for a long time now - especially since the first gig on the 12th. See - post a gig, the people might love the music, but they're just too drunk to go pick up the CD. The CD has to glare down right into their face. So I did what I always do - I went for a perfect solution to the problem. But sometimes, it's the guerilla thinking that pays off. Kalhan's massive brain decided that we should modify the notes-stand (where musicians keep all their music) to double up at a CD rack. And for almost no cost, we had a perfectly visible, serviceable CD display unit. CDU. Nice.
First half of the gig - we sold about 5. Ho hum. S+F were packing the house and song after song drove in the point clearly - these were very talented and inspired people on stage. I visited the sales counter every 10 minutes from then on. We sold 3 more. Then 5 more. Then back to 3 more (Salonika, our hostess at the gate got carried away and reported 5 extra sales. Still love you Salon!) Then something strange happened. We sold 14 CDs in the last 20 minutes of the night - about an hour after S+F had gotten off the stage and Subswara and taken over. I even had to stop this guy from shoplifting 4 CDs. All in a days work for someone trying to make music pay.
So - yes -everyone in their creative lives will come to a point where we question - where do I draw the line? What is selling and what is selling out? I do not have answers. All I know is this - every time I see someone coming to the CDU and picking up one of my artist's CD's, my heart stops. I pray - O please yes please buy it ... it's incredible ....! Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. Like anything else in life, sometimes it works. And then not.
So, tonight, with the genius helper Kalhan, we decided to go for the Most-CDs-Sold-By-An-Indian-Artist-At-The-Blue-Frog award. I'd been toying with the idea of a CD display for a long time now - especially since the first gig on the 12th. See - post a gig, the people might love the music, but they're just too drunk to go pick up the CD. The CD has to glare down right into their face. So I did what I always do - I went for a perfect solution to the problem. But sometimes, it's the guerilla thinking that pays off. Kalhan's massive brain decided that we should modify the notes-stand (where musicians keep all their music) to double up at a CD rack. And for almost no cost, we had a perfectly visible, serviceable CD display unit. CDU. Nice.
First half of the gig - we sold about 5. Ho hum. S+F were packing the house and song after song drove in the point clearly - these were very talented and inspired people on stage. I visited the sales counter every 10 minutes from then on. We sold 3 more. Then 5 more. Then back to 3 more (Salonika, our hostess at the gate got carried away and reported 5 extra sales. Still love you Salon!) Then something strange happened. We sold 14 CDs in the last 20 minutes of the night - about an hour after S+F had gotten off the stage and Subswara and taken over. I even had to stop this guy from shoplifting 4 CDs. All in a days work for someone trying to make music pay.
So - yes -everyone in their creative lives will come to a point where we question - where do I draw the line? What is selling and what is selling out? I do not have answers. All I know is this - every time I see someone coming to the CDU and picking up one of my artist's CD's, my heart stops. I pray - O please yes please buy it ... it's incredible ....! Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. Like anything else in life, sometimes it works. And then not.
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