Rock and Baul

When the six finalists of the Band-e-Mataram talent-hunt contest performed in front of a very enthusiastic young crowd in Kolkata, ready to head bang to the Bangla rock they played, the six bands had their fingers crossed.

Although the prize did not measure up in monetary terms, it did offer the opportunity to record an album, which would in turn signal the lucky band's arrival on to the new Bangla music scenario.

The final six, literally sieved through a phenomenal 250 bands across West Bengal that had submitted demo cassettes for the contest, had to woo the crowds at a rock concert in the last week of August, and in the end the top slot was grabbed by music band Eeshan. Behind the whole exercise was the regional music company Asha Audio, which had associated itself with the television channel Sangeet Bangla for the event.

A regional music company scouting for new artistes to promote sounds almost too good to be true. When it comes to music that is popular and saleable, it's Bollywood all the way. And with Indi-pop struggling to survive, music companies want to play it safe and aren't keen to invest money in either a new artiste or a new genre of music.

Upcoming artistes wanting to record an album have to generate funds themselves or, as per a new trend, can take a loan from the music company who are limiting themselves to distribution and publicity for the "risky" non-film music guys.

While the viability for non-film music looks bleak in the country, in West Bengal it's the opposite, and Asha Audio has had a great deal to do with it.

"Basic albums sell more in West Bengal than film albums," says Mahua Lahiri who, with husband Dibyendu Lahiri, started Asha Audio in 1995 with an investment of Rs 10 lakh. The couple's previous experience in handling the regional market for CBS/Sony/Pan Music stood them in good stead when it came to their own venture.

Asha Audio launched at the same time as the music scenario in Bengal was going through a radical change, what with the introduction of contemporary music with Bangla lyrics "" rock, reggae, contemporary folk and ballads.

"The start was slow," says Mahua. "Though we could not pay much, artistes co-operated with us." The first album was launched by singer Kumar Sanu, followed by Chuti Chuti, a children's album, a few Tagore albums, following which the company decided to take the plunge and give new bands a leg-up. The first to be awarded contracts were regional bands Mohiner Ghoraghuli, Paraspathar and Chandrabindoo.

"We experimented with new music. It was a risk but it has paid off and is now all the rage," says Mahua. The company, which began with a turnover of Rs 1.8 lakh in 1995, is now worth Rs 3 crore (including its sister concern Asha Communications). It has 450 albums to its credit, including those like Aajo Achhe by Bangla band Paraspathar and Chaw by Chandrabindoo, along with Chuti Chuti by various child artistes, which have each sold over 4 lakh copies, a huge number for artistes with only regional exposure.

"Today, we are working with all major Bangla bands and have albums with Abhijeet, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Hemanta Mukherjee, Ajoy Chakraborty and Bhupen Hazarika. Our repertoire varies from modern, devotional, Rabindrasangeet, folk, children's music and, of course, Bangla bands," fills in Dibyendu.

When the popular Bangla rock band Fossils wanted to master its music at Sterling Studio in New York (where the likes of Norah Jones record), "Asha Audio was ready to bear the additional cost of Rs 1.5 lakh for it," says Rupam Islam, the band's lead singer. The album, Fossils 2, at Rs 6 lakh, turned out to be the most expensive recording for any Bengali album (usually Rs 2.5 lakh).

Asha Audio works on any of two arrangements with the bands "" either outright purchase for a one-time payment, or a 10-12 per cent royalty contract payable every six months. "Not all albums turn out to be profitable," says Mahua, "so we try to balance pre-production and publicity costs."

What helps is that recording costs in Kolkata are comparatively lower than elsewhere, so the cassettes (Rs 38) and CDs (Rs 60) are priced lower and lose less to piracy than similar national-level albums. And Paraspathar guitarist Rishi feels says that in spite of being a small company, Asha Audio's distribution network in Bengal and the North-east is very strong.

"It is the label for bands," he adds. For marketing in other parts of the country, the company has an arrangement with stores like Landmark, Crossword and Music World. And with national music companies working out contracts to share revenues for live shows by artistes, Asha Audio is contemplating the idea too. Says Mahua, "If we are promoting an artiste then such an arrangement should be there."

Do national music companies see an opportunity in the changing Bangla music scenario? S K Dutta, deputy general manager, T-series, feels "there is no long-term scope in it" and, devoid of a large audience "it's a risky venture". HMV, with its base in Kolkata, is concentrating on Baul fusion with a feel of world music.

"We are emphasising quality, not quantity, and are concerned with the all-India marketing and branding of Bengali artistes," says Suvojit Roy, regional manager, marketing, HMV Saregama.

Preferring established artistes who endorse commercial viability, he says: "We would not like to increase our list promoting new artistes, though this new music culture is here to stay."

EMI Virgin Music's Shamir Tandon, music composer and general manager, feels the phenomenon is region specific, and that marketing it all over India would not be possible on account of the use of Bangla as a language.

"The band culture is emerging, and it is here to stay," he says. "Also, the regional boom is a good sign where things are getting de-centralised from Mumbai."

But the big question now is, if Asha Audio could package contemporary music in Bengal and do it profitably, can the experiment work in other markets? Telegu rock, Gujarati reggae...the mind boggles at the possibilities.