Radio gaga!

I find it absolutely invigorating that a national FM Radio channel has taken it upon themselves to give Independent music artistes a platform and a slot to be heard

I find it absolutely invigorating that a national FM Radio channel has taken it upon themselves to give Independent music artistes a platform and a slot to be heard.

In a world where Hindi film music comes to us from all sides, it is refreshing to know that one will now be able to hear music that isn’t part of a film and, importantly, music that is the representation of the artistes themselves and not a film star or any other marketed banality.

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It’s not that there is any aversion to Hindi film music in any way, but the fact that in addition to the many non-film music artistes, there maybe many out there who contribute to Hindi films in many ways, but those ways may not be a representation of their optimum artistic abilities.

Globally, radio has been a medium for artistes who do not have the means to market themselves as is perceived traditionally. In the early days of rock ’n roll, artistes like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others created the rock ’n roll empire based on airplay alone.

The listeners heard the song, regardless of how the singer looked or what background he or she came from. And if they liked the song they would request for it over and over again, which in turn gave birth to the record industry.

And now in the 21st century, faced with a corporate electronic media that chooses to suck up to power point presentations and excel sheets based on spineless marketing research, it is once again radio that has come to the rescue of the recording artiste.

Now, the artiste can focus on the music and the song which, in my opinion, is the be-all and end-all of all music listenership. For in the end, it is the song that brings in the listeners and in turn makes the artiste a force to reckon with… if I may say so.