The Special Year That 2017 Was!

Indian Music Business has seen an upward graph in 2017, be it on the rise of digital consumption or live entertainment.  Here are 6 loudest moments which were extremely important to us! via GIPHY

1. 25 YEARS OF AR RAHMAN

The prodigy who puts Indian Music on the global map and charts completed 25 years in the Indian Music Business. AR Rahman, an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist. A. R. Rahman's works are noted for integrating Indian classical music with electronic music, world music, and traditional orchestral arrangements. Among his awards are four National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, fifteen Filmfare Awards and sixteen Filmfare Awards South. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2010 by the Government of India. AR Rahman completed his India tour under the IP Encore, organized by Rapport Global Events under the leadership of Deepak Gattani, who has been AR Rahman's manager for over 20 years!

2. THE RISE OF LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS!

Well, after 2012 amendments to copyright law, it took 5 years for our industry to take the hit and execute things. In November 2017, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided premises of five renowned music companies — Universal, T-series, Sa Re Ga Ma and YRF Music — for non-payment of royalties worth several crores and laundering that money into investments. The raids were carried on as part of a 2015 case, which was initiated by several Bollywood personalities, including script-writer-Javed Akhtar complained about non-payment of royalties. The raids were part of the ED’s probe into the 2015 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) and the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL). The searches were carried out in 12 locations across Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata.

IPRS (The Indian Performing Rights Society) Got Its Official Registration As A Copyright Society Back From The Government

After a long-drawn acrimonious battle involving allegations, copyright issues from both sides and courtroom drama over several years, the entire music fraternity comprising composers, lyricists, and music companies have amicably resolved their differences and come together as one music industry. This has resulted in the 48-year-old copyright royalty collection body IPRS (The Indian Performing Rights Society) getting its official registration as a copyright society back from the government. This makes it the only official and functional copyright society for musical works and associated literary works in India (for collecting royalties of underlying musical and literary works).

Here's what some other prominent members of the new IPRS had to say...

Shankar Mahadevan, music composer and artiste: "Finally, we get the feeling that the IPRS is a body for the artistes by the artistes! I think a time has come when we all will work with each other and great cooperation is developing amongst authors and publishers! The value of royalty will become clearer in the mind of music lovers." Vikram Mehra, MD & CEO, Saregama, IPRS board member: "Now that all the members are on the same page, we have the ambition to transform IPRS into a world-class society. We intend to make licensing easy and transparent for all the users, bring speed and accuracy to the grant of royalties, and generally make IPRS a potent force for Indian music." Shubha Mudgal, composer and artiste: "The reconciliation of art and business is a major landmark; it will help create a more vibrant, confident and creative music industry, one that will carry Indian culture to global audiences. Now that we have put our differences behind us, an efficient and transparent copyright society will be a major source of income for lyricists and composers, most of who depend on royalties for their livelihood, or as their pension plan. I also believe it will offer a better return on investment to the music publishers."

Source - Bombay Times

3. INDIE PIONEERS PENTAGRAM MADE A COME BACK!

Vishal Dadlani is one of the most respected Indian music business professionals we have in India. Indian Independent Music was put on a global map back in the 1990s to a large extent due to his incredible contributions. We credit one of their early managers Vijay Nair for his efforts in bringing them back on the stage this 2017! Early pioneers of indie in the country, Pentagram announced their return to the stage with a headlining performance at Bacardi NH7 Weekender on the 10th of December 2017. Vishal Dadlani, Randolph Correia, Shiraz Bhattacharya and Papal Mane churned out four genre non-conforming records over their career, including the hugely popular Bloodywood (2011), with hit singles such as ‘Lovedrug Climbdown’, ‘Nocturne’ and ‘Tomorrow’s Decided’. Their return, with a headlining set at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, was big news for fans of indie and alternative music, as Pentagram has always been in the vanguard of that scene.

4. RISE OF DIGITAL STREAMING IN INDIA

In 2016 December after the biggest start-up of India (Jio India by Reliance) was announced, everything changed. Thanks to unlimited access to free internet, India saw a rise in its digital consumption at a greater rate than ever before.  According to IFPI’s Global Music Report, the Indian music market grew rapidly at 26% in 2016 with streaming revenues propelling the market forward and contributed 47.5% of the total revenue. Physical sales dropped to just 11.4% and Synchronization grew over 5 times to 14.7%. Indian music market was ranked 19th worldwide in sales. Digital piracy remained the most popular way of consuming music. And 2017, has shown an upward graph overall in digital music consumption.

5. HOSTED 30+ INTERNATIONAL ACTS IN 2017

[gallery special_type="0" size="cheerup-grid" ids="2433,3195,3192,2080,2298,2840,2838,2593,2592,2594,3193,3194"] This year we hosted more international acts than ever before! While the list is pretty long, we'd like to take you through the headliner acts. Starting from Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Dream Theater who got India on their world tour map. We had multiple homegrown festivals who had their specials too,  Four Tet at Magnetic fields, Steve Vai & Cigarettes After Sex at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Armin van Buuren At EVC, Wiz Khalifa at Time Out Festival, DJ Snake at Sunburn. We were also honored to have Jeff Bhasker, the five-time Grammy-winning producer in India!

6. INTRODUCTION OF TWO MAJOR MUSIC CONFERENCES

India lacked quality forums to connect, inform, celebrate and educate the music industry, we take great pride in supporting the two major summits that took place in 2017.

ALL ABOUT MUSIC BY TM Talent Management, Mumbai

All About Music, TM Talent Management by Tarsame Mittal brought the entire music community together over a period of 2 days, September 18-19, 2017.  All About Music, supporting and bringing the entire music community together.

The conference got SOLD-OUT a day prior to the event. Despite tickets being priced slightly on the higher side, it was incredible to see the music community wanted to invest in a learning and networking experience.  The conference saw a footfall of approximately 1000+ delegates. The conference focused on highlighting key issues that the industry is facing today. 

 

MTV India Music Summit, Jaipur

MTV India Music Summit 2017, held in Jaipur, October 27-29, 2017 commenced with a magical experience having Pandit Jasraj and his disciples serenading the listeners with Hindustani Classical Music. The conference was blessed with the presence of multiple classical legends. Music industry individuals and students gathered in a forum to immerse into three days of soul-stirring performances, conversations and panel discussions. It was more than just another conference, it’ was a gathering so enlightening, pure and real.  The summit is a congregation of music lovers and musicians under one marquee and the kind that straddles a rare variety of genres; Hindustani, and Carnatic classical, Jazz, folk, devotional, electronica and more.The summit was designed to dissolve the distance between the artist, and the audiences. The energy of music uniting all to one. It’s a gathering to bring a variety of artists from a variety of genres for a diverse listenership.

Cheers to a Very successful 2018!