“It is heart-warming to perform and speak to listeners during an online concert. It gives us hope during these difficult times,” says singer Shilpa Rao of her live session from her home in Mumbai on Homejam, a digital platform, that lets in only 24 members at a time. A few days ago, Benny Dayal went live on two days from his home in New Jersey for fans in the US, Canada and Australia on the same platform. Other artistes hosted by Homejam include Haricharan, Andreah Jeremiah and Srinivas.
Shilpa Rao | Photo Credit: Ritesh Uttamchandani
The music industry has switched to digital platforms due to the pandemic-induced restrictions on live events. While the initial days of the lockdown saw many of them going live on their social media handles, enabling fans to listen and interact with them for free, over the past few months, they have been switching to ticketed concerts as a source of income.
Going by the response to these concerts, it looks like the artistes are in it for the long haul. Platforms such as Paytm Insider and bookmyshow have seen a steady rise in ticketed virtual performances. Paytm Insider, for example, has over 70 programmes scheduled this month, with tickets priced from ₹40 onwards.
- Homejam, based out of San Francisco Bay Area in the US, was conceptualised by Soham Tikekar and Tobel Thomas, both working in Silicon Valley companies. For eight years now, they have been active in the music industry by hosting a variety of events, including shows featuring AR Rahman and Diljit Dosanjh.
- The platform allows only 24 fans to join a concert, covering India, US, Canada, Australia and Singapore. While ‘Backstage pass’ allows interaction with a musician, ‘Front row’ pass does not have that option. “When we heard about drawbacks of existing livestream concerts from both artistes and fans, we devised this concept. We believe that the spirit of music is best conveyed in small, intimate experiences,” says Soham over an email.
- Tickets are priced from $40 to $60 for a ‘Backstage pass’. ‘Front row’ passes cost less. “The prices vary based on what the artist is looking for, and what fans would pay. We do share a majority of the revenue with the artistes. Some of them have been supporting charities they closely align with through the earnings on our platform as well,” he adds. Since some vocalists sing in multiple languages, there are multiple sessions with the same artiste, as in the case of Haricharan who had shows in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
- Usually each session lasts for 60 minutes, but gets extended in some cases. “We plan to expand to other music markets as well,” says Soham. Check out www.myhomejam.com
“There has been a three- to four-time increase in the number of online music events. Regional musicians and bands are performing as well, thus crossing geographical and language barriers,” says Varun Khare, business head — live entertainment (IPs and Partnerships), Paytm Insider. “New content is being developed. On our part, we are working on improving the output. So, Besides Zoom-based events, we have a new streaming facility that supports high resolution videos and enhances the audience experience as they can interact with the artiste,” he says.
Initially, pharmaceutical companies came forward to fund online concerts to boost the morale of their employees, doctors and health workers, says Tarsame Mittal, founder of Mumbai-based TM Talent Management, an artist management firm.
“Even though not all artistes are keen about digital platforms, this is the only option now. We are doing private gigs for corporates through Zoom and other platforms. Amit Trivedi, Vishal-Sekhar, Sukhwinder Singh, Anusha Mani, Divya Kumar and Mohammed Irfan are some of the musicians who have performed for us,” he says.
Members of Kolkata-based urban folk band, Bhoomi | Photo Credit: Himadri Ghosh
Up-and-coming artistes as well as seasoned performers are moving into the digital space. Bhoomi, a Kolkata-based urban folk band formed 21 years ago, will have its first digital concert on September 20 on Paytm Insider. Soumitra Ray, 60-year-old founder of Bhoomi, says, “The pandemic has forced us to find a new performance space. Even if we don’t make a profit, we are happy that people will be entertained. They would know that we are still going strong.”
Musicians have adapted to the situation by setting up high quality broadcasting studios and equipment at home. (This costs between ₹25,000 to ₹2 lakh.) Several studios in the metros and major cities are now providing facilities for singers and bands to shoot gigs and stream them live or ‘deferred’ live.
(From left) Purbayan Chatterjee, Darshan Doshi, Mahesh Raghvan and MT Aditya Srinivasan, who are members of the band, Live & In Sync | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
MT Aditya Srinivasan, co-founder of Chennai-based Offbeat Music Ventures, says that there has been an increase in the number of artistes coming in to do gigs. “We have a studio-cum-performance space and have partnered with some streaming platforms as well,” says Aditya, adding that their job now also involves “taking care of COVID-19 protocol.”
Govind Vasantha, frontman of Kerala-based Thaikkudam Bridge, is excited that the band finally got together after six months for a show, albeit a digital one. They recorded a one-hour session at MIJ studio in Kochi for a US-based retail giant to be streamed in connection with their annual conference next month. “We made a lot of mistakes! We were worried — but we got it right after a few songs,” he says.
- The band Live & In Sync was formed during the lockdown. Members perform live from different parts of the country without lag and latency. It has become the first band of its kind that has been signed by an artist management firm [TM Talent Management] for online concerts. The quartet has sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee, drummer Darshan Doshi, iPad musician Mahesh Raghvan and percussionist-cum-sound engineer MT Aditya Srinivasan. While Purbayan and Darshan are in Mumbai, Mahesh is based in Bengaluru and Aditya in Chennai.
- “It was born out of me being stuck at home during the lockdown, desperately wanting to do something. Latency is a big issue with online sessions and I had an idea about how to deal with it. I approached a lot of musicians and Purbayan da just jumped into it. Humongous effort has gone into it and but for the other three I could not have executed it,” says Aditya. A live show on Facebook was a huge success, with compliments coming in from stalwarts such as Ustad Zakir Hussain. “It is interesting that we band members haven’t met each other since it was formed,” says Purbayan.
- They feature guest artistes, some of them being Vijay Prakash, Akriti Kakkar, Selvaganesh, Rasika Shekhar, Mame Khan and Taufiq Qureshi. “We will be taking part in an international festival later this month that will reach out to 3,000 people. We are also working on tying up with an international music label and will collaborate with international artistes as well,” he adds.
- Although they play independent music that focusses on classical fusion, they are open to presenting other genres, including film music, depending on the profile of the guest artistes.
Wonderwall Media, which manages the band, has been organising recorded and live shows for corporate clients and cultural organisations in the US and West Asia. They held events featuring several singers, including one for the Detroit Malayalee Association, streamed during Onam. It featured Sithara Krishnakumar, Sayanora Philip, KS Harishankar, Sachin Warrier and Anoop Sankar. “We recorded sessions for cultural associations in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Paris and Singapore. Since live streaming comes with technical glitches, many clients prefer recorded gigs. We also customise the performances, say with the client’s logo, if needed,” says Lakshmi Venugopal, head (corporate communications), Wonderwall.
While MNCs are the major clients and organisers of digital shows, the NRI community is also funding concerts. Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee and his wife, ghazal exponent Gayatri Asokan, have been performing from their home in Mumbai for a few such organisations in the US. “Last year we had toured the US for a month and some of those organisers arranged for digital concerts. There are about 100 people for each concert. Since people are paying to listen to us, it became important to invest in a high quality studioIt helped that my husband is a techno geek. Although some musicians haven’t yet got the hang of digital platforms, it is a reality that physical concerts won’t happen any time soon,” Gayatri says.
Singer Haricharan | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Nevertheless, the musicians admit that digital concerts are not money-spinners. “If leading artistes earn 70-80% of their usual remuneration, lesser-known musicians are getting even less. Some musicians are ready to perform even for one-fourth of what they used to charge. An artiste who used to charge two lakh is now happy to take home ₹40,000-50,000,” points out Sujith Unnithan, COO, Wonderwall.
That happens mainly because organisers and listeners presume that they need to pay less for digital concerts, says Harish Sivaramakrishnan, frontman of the Carnatic Rock band, Agam. “I can’t wait for live shows to start. I am doing online shows because it is one way to stay connected with fans and I am one of the fortunate few who is getting paid for this. A lot of musicians are forced to do it for free,” adds Harish.
Soham Tikekar (left) and Tobel Thomas, founders of US-based Homejam, a digital platform that allows only 24 fans to attend a virtual session | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Nevertheless some artists say they enjoy performing for small crowds. “I have been doing live shows from my home for large as well as small groups. There is a personal touch when there are few people. In fact, I got emotional when a listener from the US wanted me to dedicate a song to her mother fighting COVID-19. I sang ‘Kanne kalaimane’ for her,” says Haricharan. “But...”, he adds, “I miss performing with my band, travelling with them and the energy on stage. And, of course, the applause.”