Before I begin with what I have to say and get down to the real deal, I want to make a few things clear. As some of you reading this would already know and for the others who don’t, I am one of the founding members of India’s leading dance music portal, The Bangin Beats, and headed the content division for the same for a period of roughly 2 years, post which I moved on to working as a corporate lawyer in one of the most reputed law firms in the country (yes, I am pretty much a corporate junkie now) whilst still being deeply connected with the scene as a fan. What I’m going to mention henceforth, are my personal views and opinions as a true fan of the scene and do not reflect the thinking of any other person or entity and also, don’t find their inspiration from the views of anyone else whatsoever.
Furthermore, to disappoint the lot who enjoy armchair banter on controversy or vitriol, I’m NOT going to name people or entities because I feel the issues affecting the scene and correspondingly focusing on them is the bigger end of the stick and should be where we should ensure the emphasis continues to lie. Neither am I going to pick any ‘side’ because I feel it is downright futile to do so. However, what I want to in all earnestness do, is voice my opinion on the #SupportTheScene wave which has been doing the rounds lately, the scene in general and why I feel that the coin has two sides, as does responsibility and whatever the fuck else. So, unless you are keen on addressing the elephant in the room like a true fan, you could possibly skip my banter; lest of course if you want to allow me to have a chance at fuelling your mind and making you channelize your thoughts.
Now to get down to kick off, music is an extremely exigent and competitive business. As much as it may seem to be a cinch; behind all the grandeur, extravaganza, love and energy there lies a serious functioning line of business. It is akin to a chariot packed with a number of horses to be kept track of. Horses with their own minds, whims and fancies mind you; which need to be dealt with, with extreme precision, deep insight and at times even guile. Whether it’s sponsors, logistics, sales, marketing, promotions, accounts, operations or any other business function, there is immense amounts of back-breaking work and investment which is put in to conceptualise and bring forth, the final product which we as fans experience and to add to that the recent boom in the market that our country has seen with many of the world’s biggest names from the industry docking ship on our shores increasingly over the past few years which has increased the competition multifold.
Therefore, in my opinion, it is our duty and responsibility as true fans to respect and appreciate the toil and efforts put in by festival/event organisers and their partners and make sure we pay the price for the tickets if we choose to attend a concert or festival and not push for free tickets (unless you win a contest), upgrades to VIP, free alcohol or the like. Additionally as fans of music, it goes without saying that we most certainly need to broaden our outlook towards, different music. To be extremely honest, I have over the due course of time seen people claiming to be fans and asserting themselves to be supporting or actually supporting a certain person or entity or festival or the scene as a whole with all their heart but in reality they run after a commercial act or festival and choose to ignore and not give even an iota of a chance to an unconventional artist who actually might be a much bigger name globally or may just be far more talented.
Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t in any way mean to sound like the government here and I’m not calling for a ban on followers of commercial artists (hope I don’t get into trouble for saying this) and neither am I meaning to propagate an agenda against people who ardently support a select few artists or types/genres of music however, I will definitely say, go out there and give the music a shot. If it is down your alley, you would have found something more to listen to, if not you in all likelihood you would have an opinion about the music and hopefully be a few drinks down.
Likewise, apart from the regulars at gigs and true appreciators of music, there are times when people who call themselves fans, choose to ignore domestic artists who have an ocean-load of potential and the talent to be recognized globally and make us proud to have talent from our country grow towards and someday reach the pinnacle in the industry. Again, I know money doesn’t grow on trees and neither am I trying to force anyone to follow what I put forth but just a little perspective here, if we support our homegrown artists more, they get better at their craft and make more money, as they make more money they buy better equipment which in turn enables them to get better at their skills. Now, as these artists get better with their skills, they are certain to get recognition and as they get recognition, they perform in other countries and talk about the scene in India and in turn make our scene grow. Moreover, as these artists grow, they also release their music on and join hands with some of the leading names/labels/brands in the industry globally which also could ensure growth of the scene.
Now as I had propounded, there is a responsibility and the coin does have two sides. In all fairness, the responsibility of the fan to help the scene grow corresponds to a responsibility which lies with the entities organising festivals and/or events. These entities have a sizeable responsibility of their own which to me is a colossal one.
First, I feel the entities need to recognize the fans trust shown in them and shift focus to providing a well managed, secure and trustworthy product and should not aim to simply make enough money and generate enough ‘crowd’ after booking an artist. This will provide longevity to their brand, develop their product and increase their fan base in time. There should be focus on innovation and providing state of the art production, visuals, sound systems, security and safety measures. Attention to detail is another key cornerstone and should include focus on amenities such as clean, hygienic, well maintained washrooms, larger bars with more people attending to the concert goers and better managed ques at ticket counters, bar counters and the like.
Secondly, I agree that organizing an event or a festival is for the purposes of business at the end of the day even though it may be fuelled by a remarkable degree of passion and the ultimate goal is to earn money and make profit from the product being provided but there is a need for the entities to understand the position of the industry globally, which has been growing extensively since fans from India in today’s day and age are well traveled and have experienced music festivals in other countries which fuels their perception in relation to the standards at festivals in India and even if such fans haven’t experienced such festivals or events, they have access to the internet in quite a few cases which by means of pictures and videos provides them with an insight regarding the scale of festivals and events being done abroad and the amenities and quality of equipment etc., used and hence, fans are going to demand somewhat a similar standard as part of festivals and gigs in India.
The said entities could possibly argue that, sales at the event, the number of attendees, the money earned in the end and workable cost cutting will ensure their growth but uncannily in the long run it might be an impediment to just that. All in all, to conclude it is clearly ascertainable that the responsibility to support the scene, make it grow and make it bigger coexists between the fans and the entities bringing down artists and doing festivals and gigs and both parties need to make honest efforts towards making sure the scene grows and expands leaps and bounds and brings itself to the stature where we collectively desire it to be.
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