Syndicates and Pirates of the World Music Industry: Local Experience & Examples

The world music economy like others sectors of economy is concerned with the generation of wealth for public good . But what we find today is that the world music economy is increasingly controlled by major private transnational corporations. The production, distribution, advertising marketing  and  copyright of music are concentrated in the hands powerful few corporations linked to one another and control the world of music. The "big four"( Universal Music Group,  Sony BMG ,  Warner Music Group & EMI) music groups control about 70% of the world music market, and about 80% of the United States music market.

The Big Four: EMI, Sony, Universal & Warner Music 

Each Record company has its own stars and an army of skilled technicians under long term contracts. They even cultivate a recognizable style in the music they produce. Artists have to often adjust to these styles most of them leaning on commercial interests and conform to the company’s rules and  demands. The big four control every phase of the process. They also have their own chain of businesses in other sectors of the economy. The market presence of these conglomerate companies is strong outside the first world developed countries of the west.

In India companies like Sony , Universal Music, Virginia Records, HMV represents over 50% of the Indian music market and well established in the Indian Music Industry(IMI) a governing body of the I. What does this presence of international record companies mean for musicians and bands in India ? Unlike in the west the Indian Music Industry is heavily dependent on Bollywood (Hindi Film Industry) for generating market revenue and business. The IMI “prestigious” gold and platinum award categories based on no. of copies sold largely gravitate towards bollywood which accounts for more than 50% of the Indian music market. Not many bands/artists and musicians in India have been able to circumvent the system and get their music and sound to a wider audience .   In fact, the music industry in India has long been a monopoly of Bollywood’s power game and we are yet to see a culture of bands and alternative genres emerge in the country . The major record companies/labels have mostly limited their investments to Bollywood music . Their overwhelming market presence in India and concerns with profit maximization have badly affected the culture of music in India .

Alternative Road

Radiohead - In Rainbows 

In the west we see innovations with new models of marketing music developed to address the conventional bondage of artists and bands to multinational corporate business.  The corporate model has been criticized for privileging the commercial value of music and compromising on quality musical experience and encroaching creative arts.  Marketing ideas such as Radiohead's "pay what you like" album In Rainbows and Coldplay's move to give away tracks to promote their album and Nine Inch Nails in the UK have recently experimented with alternative models in reaching out to audiences . The distribution and sale of the Radiohead 2011 album In Rainbows, bypassed record labels altogether and parting company with their record label EMI . The decision comes in the wake of a recent deal between  EMI and the download service 7Digita that made Radiohead's back catalogue, including The Bends and the much-lauded OK Computer, were made available digitally[2] .

ColdPlay- Left Right Left Right Left 

Digitizing Music

The privatization of technology in the form of the internet and others has revolutionized the world of music. Corporations/record labels who have global business chains operate relatively comfortably in many parts of the world . They use the internet as a media to create new consumers for their commodities . The decline in sales of physicals copies of records in the world music market and the rise in digital consumption of music is a sign how markets are transforming themselves . One reason for this is the relatively low price of these digital records. Customers can buy single tracks, making this new music business model highly attractive in the west but especially efficient in emerging third world music markets. 

Spotify founders Martin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek. Photograph: Courtesy of Spotify

As the world of music enters a new digital age there is a transformation in the way we consume and listen to music . Spotify and Pandora in the US created inspired applications (apps) and playlists to listeners moods and situations. In India Flipkart's “Flyte” platform launched in February offers users the option of legally downloading songs for as little as Rs 6 a track while albums are available for download starting at Rs 25. What's more is that these downloads are Digital Right Management free implying that there are no access related restrictions on the use of digital content after purchase.

Flipkart's “Flyte” platform launched in February 2012

 Music Piracy 

A pirated CD/DVD stall at Jail Road, Shillong 

It seems pirates of the music industry keep up well with the technological changes of our times. Piracy in music has adapted , survived and thrived right from the days of audio cassettes . In Northeast India and India in general the pirate music industry is a thriving business in the form of sale of copied CD’s , DVD’s  and now increasing with illegal music downloads. This parallel underground music industry whose profit runs in billions and trillions of dollars have made the internet their new home . It is estimated that 95% of the download of digital music was illegal and cost £180m in the UK market alone.

This humungous parallel music industry based on piracy accounts for nearly a quarter of the world music economy . The world music industry as a whole is still losing out to internet pirates on a huge scale despite record-breaking growth in digital sales of music from sites such as iTunes, the majority of music downloaded in 2008 was done so without payment to either the artist or record label, according to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

The research carried out in 16 countries by the record industry body found that an estimated 40bn files were illegally shared in 2008. The IFPI report took responses from a number of consumer surveys over the last three years about downloading habits and compared them with the 2.3bn legitimate online tracks that were sold in 2008. The report predicted that  the UK market alone will lose more than £1bn by 2012 if nothing is done.

The illegal music industry in India is a huge  unexplored market   In July this year India was included in the ‘International Piracy Watch List’ by a U.S. government panel that is looking to highlight countries that are doing little to address high rates of digital piracy.

 “The Special 301 Report again lists India as a priority watch nation. Despite a large domestic creative industry in film, music and other copyright intensive industries, India continues to lag badly in both the legal framework for IP protection,” the report said. “Among continuing issues in India are extremely high rates of camcording piracy, high levels of unlicensed software use by enterprises, and a lack of effective notice-and-takedown procedures for online piracy,” it added. A new study recently pointed out that online piracy levels in India remained at 60 per cent, with nearly $2.9 billion of unlicensed software being installed in 2013. According to non-profit organisation BSA, India is second only to China (over $8.7 billion) in the Asia Pacific region in terms of commercial value of unlicensed software sold in 2013.

Fusion from Northeast India

To understand how musicians/ bands in Northeast India are responding to this powerful vertically integrated industry controlled by multinational conglomerates and corporations and dealing with the affects of music piracy, I interviewed members from the fusion bands Voices and Purple Fusion.

Voices

Voices is a folk fusion band from Shillong Meghalaya . It was formed in 2004 and has so far produced one album. Their album Voices Na Rympei released in 2005 has sold nearly 10,000 copies . The band combines different styles like Khasi folk, blues, jazz and instruments like flute , duitara (traditional string instrument), nakra(traditional Khasi drums), etc. with other modern electronic instruments .  At present, there are five core members with additional session musicians. I had the opportunity of meeting flute player Benedict Skhemlang Hynniewta from the band . He talked about the evolution of the band from the days he started playing with Kong Silvi Pasa, a renowned veteran musician from Meghalaya. 

When asked about the reasons for the long hiatus of nine years and not producing their second album . He pointed the many hurdles that musicians in Northeast and India in general had to face. Rampant piracy and absence of an organizing structure like elsewhere in India were factors which has “dampened the spirit” of the band, he explained . The difficulty of getting sponsorships is another problem and meant that the band has mainly to depend on live shows and gigs to cut an album. Recording labels are almost nonexistent in the region and the sponsors were usually businessmen, companies and government institutions.  Recording studios are comparatively o.k. but lacked the resources and cutting edge technological infrastructure that artists working with major recording labels have the advantage of.

                                             Voices - Na La Rympei

Purple Fusion

Lamtsala H Sangtam- Lead Vocal Imsanger Lkr - Guitar Mhathung Odyuo - Bass Temsu Kichu - Drummer James Chakhesang – Photographer

Purple Fusion(PF) is a Folk Fusion band from Nagaland, India that experiments in Naga traditional and folk music. The Band was officially formed on 28th August 2012 with an aim to promote the rich tradition and culture of Nagaland , India in the form of fusion music. PF incorporates folk with genre of the west like Blues, Jazz, Funk, Reggae and Rock to create a blend of music which is different and unique . Purple Fusion’s debut music video “Tring Tring- Marks of War “ which was released on 4th Jan’ 2013 has been featured in some of the leading music channels like VH1 and MTV. They have collaborated performing with some of the biggest names in the international music industry as well as India (country own) like with John W Schlitt - Petra(Grammy award winner) , Rahul Ram – Indian Ocean etc.

PF has has worked with very successful National Music channel under MTV India for a music program call MTV SoundTrippin S2, Music Producer – Sneha Khanwalker, where the lead singer Lamtsala was the main act for one entire episode.PF’s first album is slated to be released next month in August followed by album tour in Nagaland and other parts of Norteast India .

 I conversed with Imsanger Longkumer ,the lead guitarist from the band, over the phone to give me an idea about the state of music industry in the region and how PF as a band was dealing with it . I asked him how the Indian Music Industry , Folk-Fusion as a genre in India and how it has been received in Nagaland and other parts of the country.

He explained, that except for Bollywood music there is very little scope for other genres of music in India . In order for “western music” to survive it is very difficult with hardly any major record companies taking an interest. According to him, record companies are mainly responsible for this . Record Companies are motivated by only one thing and that is “profit”. And Bollywood is where all the profit lies.

But against all odds PF as a band is working its socks off to popularize the genre of folk-fusion . In the context of music in Nagaland, he said the band is working hard to underscore the value of one’s culture and tradition in the way we look at modernity.

After working for nearly year and a half independently doing live shows ,concerts  and extensive touring the band is finally ready to release its first album which will be available in both physical and digital copies.

Purple Fusion opens at the Ziro Rock Festival , Arunachal Pradesh 

The state of the world music industry urgently needs a reevaluation . Major multinational corporations that operate in the guise of free trade have destroyed music cultures but rich musical heritages .  Media and technology  like television, mobile phones and new media like the internet  provide new opportunities and possibilities in world commerce and trade . One can only expect the moguls of the music industry profits and  businesses to grow fatter and bigger.

Piracy is a threat no doubt. But it is not still an alarming concern for the major record companies . Their market share of profits in countries like India is staggering . Piracy one may argue , has in fact aided these vertically integrated tyrannical corporations to only become stronger and more efficient if one looks in the case of Voices and Purple Fusion . Music from the west and recently from South Korea flood the markets in the Northeast that are cheap and easily transferable making it difficult for artists and other genres of music to flourish . We should perhaps ask ourselves if the structure of the world music industry would stand with the pillar of piracy?  

There is a paradigm shift in the music industry as we enter the digital age . New applications like Spotify in the west has transformed the way we listen and consume music and with the introduction of Flipkart Flyte in India the world of music which was at the door has finally entered  .However, as the music industry heralds a new digital age already there is tension . It is a site of contestation and conflict as we see artist bypass records labels in protest . The 2009 blocking of YouTube videos in Germany for copyrighted videos without copyright’s permission are fine examples of the turbulent ground on which the music industry stands .

Bands like Voices and Purple Fusion realise the importance of adapting to new changes in technology and thought. The bands have their  personal page in  Facebook and YouTube  and reach out to fans through updates and music uploads (audio and video).They believe working with the digital media provide new possibilities in artist- listener/buyer relationship . But at the same time they believe that we as members of society in the region have to address prevailing issues of corporate model of music industry and the effect of piracy.