MUMBAI: Niche music in India has never had it easy, especially in the generic Western music category. A small audience pool, even smaller list of artists who compete for ‘earspace’ with established international acts make it tough for anybody who has plunged into the scene. But most refuse to throw in the towel because their motivation stems for deep love and passion for the music they put their money into.
Mumbai based event management company, StarKonnect Events & Promotions, is one such company which has extended its portfolio from mainstream celeb promotion and corporate events to promoting Blues music through their ‘Simply the Blues’ platform.
Launched last year, the platform strives to provide a live music platform for India’s Blues music acts. The Blues, which is considered a bedrock for Rock N’ Roll music, has a small but loyal army of fans in India.
“The idea behind Simply the Blues is to provide a larger platform for Blues artists. Last year we had a concert at (Bandra’s) St Andrews auditorium. We plan to take it bigger into open-air circuit with 2000 person capacity platform,” StarKonnect Events & Promotions partner Anil Mehta says.
Though Simply the Blues is a commercial venture with the company keeping close eye on the bottom-line, Mehta says that it grew out of identifying the reach of Blues music in India and the need to connect the artists and audiences who go for the music.
“We believe we need to support the artists- and most (who play) are professionals. We pay them for their efforts and to show we are not fly-by-night operators. The artists in turn help us in our cross-marketing effort by promoting us,” says Mehta.
To promote the venture and gain traction in the market, Simply the Blues has a website, Facebook Page and Twitter account that have Artist Conversation column, update on the Blues scene globally and a blog.
“We are carrying out a multi-front initiative across traditional, web and print to promote the platform. Our next series of concerts will begin from September (monsoon allowing) that will include outstation bands. Our future plan includes we inviting international artists to perform in India.”
To organize a concert is an expensive affair and StarKonnect which held its first show(s) last year using its internal resources, plan to follow the market trend and tie-up with sponsors for future events.
“Today, not even a popular genre like Electronic Dance Music (EDM) can hold a live event from gate receipts alone. It’s not economically viable to hold concerts on gate receipts alone. We have been holding our shows with 75 percent of the funding from our internal resources- we plan to bring that down.”
Expenses and logistical challenges aside, Mehta is confident that independent genres like Blues are set to grow. Although its philosophy (the music was derived from the songs of the Black American slaves) might not have much in common with the Indian audiences- who are mostly middle-class and above, the attraction is strong.
“The spread of Blues is nationwide. While an act from the interiors of the country may not be there, Blues bands (like the Red Blue Band) are springing from places like Gujarat. What we are doing is bringing across old and varied artists.”