The Boomtown Brats

Just how can a nobody from somewhere become a somebody everywhere? Simple. By being a music company-spawned, television-nurtured singer. Now that some companies are willing to look beyond 'safe' artistes in the popular music repertoire, new singers can jump on to these musical trampolines and be catapulted to instant stardom. Unlike the West, the Indian tradition of pop music had been confined to a handful of artistes till recently. Today, new names pop up like confetti and the older ones have to jostle for parking space next to a string of newcomers.

Among the old ensemble, Alisha Chinai continues to make her own rules while she clicks with regularity; Remo makes musical statements uniquely his own; Baba Sehgal is still a megastar whose album Indian Romyo was launched with a staggering 100,000 copies and the company hopes to sell 100,000 more; and Usha Uthup and Sharon Prabhakar have their own captive audiences even today.

However, what makes this burgeoning industry strike rich chords is the undoubted success of the assertive second string of vocalists. In the music industry's organised sector, whose assets are worth around Rs 800 crore today, a Suchitra Krishnamurthy release can rub shoulders with an Alisha Chinaialbum. And Magnasound, the publishers of both the albums, can be everything but disappointed. While Alisha's Made in India is estimated to have touched a sales figure of 1.6 million copies, Suchitra's album Dole Dole has been another runaway success. Despite being a release of an indistinct actress-turned-singer, the album has sold around 200,000 copies already.

One recent success has been Anaida—hyped as a beautiful young singer ofGreek and Persian parentage—whose debut album Love Today Hai Nahin Asaan has sold about 90,000 copies according to market sources. Close on the heels of Love Today comes BMG Crescendo (India) Pvt Ltd's second Anaida release, Nazuk Nazuk . Then, there is Daler Mehndi, another young pop star whose debut album Bolo Ta Ra Ra was a roller-coasting success. Despite the fact that Mehndi's release was in Punjabi, it sold nearly 400,000 copies according to market sources. A rather unexpected hit—mainly since it lacked the support of a music video—has been Kaushal Bajpai's Toofani Taxiwallah . A gifted 22-year-old from Lucknow, Bajpai's cassette has reportedly sold around 30,000 copies.

In quiet harmony with some of these hits from young artistes have been several oth ers which sold less but promised a lot. Dubbed as India's 'own MC Hammer/ Vanilla Ice/Bobby Brown', the young rapper Piyush Soni came up with a new album titled Chokra with lyrics in a blend of Hindi, English and Spanish. Then, there was Amar, a Britain-born 15-year-old Tiffanyesque prodigy whose debut album Mein Aur Tu was released recently.

Born in Punjab but raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Sukhbir's first album titled New Stylee was released in October. The 26-year-old singer's music fused conventional bhangra with western music forms like reggae, techno-pop and rave. Shiamak Davar's pop musical adventure, Survive, hit the market last year; Sanjay Kapil's Garam Garam Chai made its lukewarm presence felt; and so did Jojo's debut album called Hum Tumse from the HMV stable.

In the process of releasing new voices, the music industry has to court hits and misses in the same breath. Yet, their enthusiasm refuses to wane. Another newcomer about to join the 'desi' pop bandwagon with a new album is Mehnaz Hoosein. To be released by Crescendo, Mehnaz is being publicised as a glamorous young vocalist who may surpass Anaida in terms of sheer popularity.

Astonishing performances by little-known music-makers. But it's easy to understand why and how these young singers are breaking all records. With satellite TV having entered the homes of potential buyers, a few music companies are going all out to spot good voices, sign up contracts with these artistes, make promotional videos which are telecast on private channels, and release their cassettes with much hype in the market. If the video is slick and the singer reasonable, the album can disappear from music shops with astonishing speed.

The reason: the musical firmament today is a rapidly changing audio-visual world. It is a turf where the old becomes old fast; where cybergraphics are as important as the singer's executional skills; where many market their albums by replicating the Madonna Ciccone formula; where the awareness of the existence of a non-film pop market motivates the decisions of music publishers.

None of these ventures is immune to risks though. While a newcomer might be talented and his video well-made, it can be eclipsed by the releases of established artistes. But, as Atul Chudamani, executive vice-president, Magna-sound, points out: "In the music market, the concept of the superstar has died. People are constantly looking for something fresh, and the companies have to deliver it."

So also, the listener's desire for novelty has given rise to a situation whose equivalent can be found only in the West. In the West, Madonna continues to reign supreme but a younger line-up featuring Marey Carey and Whitney Houston is poised to oust her from the topmost slot soon. A much more recent entrant is Sheryl Crowe, a dynamic third-string vocalist, who can aspire to be positioned alongside the Whitney Houstons of the industry in the near future.

Like the West, the nation's pop category continues to evolve into a multi-layered market. Placed next to rap-ragga-bhangra muffins are pretty faces who rely on gimmicky studio-sterilised sounds. And there are those who sing well, and communicate a distinctive musical sense to the listener.

Quite clearly, this is a mixed blessing. However, each new release indicates that music companies are willing to accept hits and misses. Justifies Bashir Sheikh, adviser to the managing director at BMG Crescendo: "Now that Baba Sehgal and Alisha are monster hits, we have realised that the huge market for Hindi pop music is second only to film music. As a result, everybody is aspiring to launch a Baba or an Alisha."

 Dextryl Ferrao, the international product manager at Polygram, agrees: "Now that there is a medium to advertise (TV), the Hindi pop market has increased. And since the country's pop music is not as developed as the other genres, one has to invest in the new stars. Otherwise, how long can the old artistes continue to give the kind of returns they now do?"

While Crescendo has released several new artistes in the recent past, Magna-sound has enjoyed its biggest success with Daler Mehndi. Commenting on Magna-sound's ventures to release new performers, Chudamani makes an interesting observation: "Instead of buying the rights of a motion picture soundtrack for Rs 3 crore, one can always invest a smaller amount in a new artiste and still manage a respectable number of unit sales." Chudamani isn't wrong, since one can spend just Rs 20 lakh on a decent new launch and hope to recover the amount twice as fast compared to the average motion picture soundtrack.

Since the debutant is eager to have his album released, he is clearly not obsessed with monetary considerations. And, as Bashir Sheikh explains: "One pays phenomenal amounts to get the rights of a film soundtrack. The prices are ridiculous, and one Hum Aapke Hain Koun comes a company's way after a long time. If one were to keep on buying film soundtracks, it cannot be with the expectation that every release shall be an HAHK ."

 Rightly so, as a Trimurti might come the publisher's way and shock him with figures that fall way behind one's initial expectations. In the case of a pop album, however, since the investment is less, so is the shock value. Moreover, as Sheikh observes: "A film music soundtrack is someone else's baby. All a music company can do is buy the rights and market a finished product. Once it comes to non-film pop, the company exercises a lot of control over the product's making. It can look into the aspect of lyrics for instance, and this is not possible with a film's soundtrack." 

Unlike a successful motion picture soundtrack where the music director takes all the credit, a new musician's success is at least partially made possible by the music company's packaging and promotional measures. Without question, this is one of the reasons why some companies are indulging in the speculative game of launching new albums even at the risk of failing to break even in the long run.

While companies like BMG Crescendo and Magnasound have made it their business to patronise new artistes, big houses like HMV and Polygram have maintained relatively low profiles. Ferrao explains Polygram's case: "We are always on the lookout for new talent, but one needs to be convinced that the artiste is serious andwon't change labels after one release."

While Polygram hasn't introduced any new face lately, HMV has a few to its credit: Shiamak Davar, Jojo, Sanjay Kapil and ghazal singer Sudhir Narain. But the number has been comparatively low, for the company has the largest catalogue and needs to add releases to each of its streams to maintain its corporate profile. However, Pavan Malhotra, HMV's manager product development, asserts: "It has always been one of our corporate strategic objectives to have a pre-eminent status in every music segment, stimulate and create trends with the right release at the right time."

Clearly, the company has chosen to approach the situation in a slow and steady manner while ensuring that it doesn't fall behind in the scores. Waiting in the wings is a Hindi pop album by Amrita Bhende. Besides, an album to be released soon can take Mehndi's statistics for a ride: Baba Sehgal's Punjabi pop cassette titled, Tora Tora .

In the non-film popular music segment, the war is on. Some companies have catalysed the situation; TV has been supportive; a new name is emerging with every proverbial blink of an eye. The music companies are keeping their ears close to sounds of talent, fully aware that a few pop stars can neither create a tradition nor satisfy the nation's musical cravings. They only succeed in whetting the appetite. Ferrao puts it succinctly: "Today's new talent is tomorrow's music. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if there was no talent-spotting at all?"