MUMBAI: Saregama India, which has launched The Underground Series, introducing 30 new talents across Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi, has signed on some of the artistes for a three year contract.
It is for the first time that a major label is executing such a project at a large scale to promote artistes at the grass root level. The artistes who will cut an album with them are Parwati Kumari, Hamza Faruqui, Gaurav Issar from Mumbai and Jack Rabbit from Kolkata.
That’s not all. Saregama plans to take the initiative to Bangalore as well as take it internationally to Dhaka, as Bangladesh is emerging as a market with plenty of talent and a hunger for different genres of music among music lovers. The album Underground Mumbai was launched on 14 June at a pub in Mumbai, amidst the presence of the artistes who have performed in the album.
Saregama has partnered with social networking site MySpace India for the online promotion of these bands. During its launch in India, in April, MySpace had announced this initiative that would accord recognition to new talents, and also undertaken a rock festival in the North-East titled the “Root Festival” for giving a platform to budding musicians in the region. The music company had also invited young student filmmakers to take part in a competition to create music videos for the tracks. Saregama tied up with film schools and independent upcoming filmmakers in the three metros to create 30 music videos which will be polled on Myspace. The winners will receive incentives and rewards.
Talking about the initiative, Saregama India Ltd. Publishing and New Media vice president artiste and repertoire Atul Churamani said, “We as a music label are always keen on creating and offering new talents to the industry.
Underground Series was started off to provide a platform to musicians who compose original music. Our industry today needs to create space for music and we are very proud to be present The Underground Series. It is a risk that we have taken to promote people who have the talent but not the required resources. We want to bring about a movement for these young artistes. It is necessary for the larger labels to come into picture and promote this kind of music nationally.”
The project is now set to uncover new trends, talents and music that the mainstream would miss but which have the potential to be ‘the next big thing’ or at least to be appreciated or gain more prominence once they are exposed to more listeners. Through an extensive web of live auditions in popular pubs and clubs, word of mouth and a network on the ground, Saregama accessed over 300 demos to select 30 acts (bands, artistes, DJs) across the three metros to shortlist the selected artistes.
The company will also promote the artistes through all its touch points. Other than online promotions, there will be a series of concerts wherein these artistes will perform.