Control
(Published in "Studio Systems" Jan-Feb 2002 issue)
"Passion demands ... outta control!
If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough."
Mario Andretti, race-car driver
My recent exposure to this incredible quote
and the ultimate truth it contains reminded me so much of my early days as a
Rock singer in the seventies that it made me reexamine my entire life
thereafter! Throughout our existence, we try and acquire skills that allow us
to exert the maximum control over our lives and we are thrilled when we
achieve a modicum of success. Yet the happenings of 11th September make it
even clearer that in reality, we have not even a shred of control and all our
well thought of plans can be reduced to a joke! If this can happen in a
reasonable safe country like USA,
in India,
it can get even worse! Wouldn't it then be great to be like this race driver
and live life to the hilt, for every day, every minute and every second of
our existence?
Living life on the edge was what we did in
the seventies as we experimented with the arts, music, drugs etc.
Fortunately, life was much simpler then and the trick was to be just 'out of
control' and not allow yourself to be consumed by it. Unfortunately, a lot of
my friends did succumb to the danger of this lifestyle and I would definitely
not recommend it today's dangerous times. Yet, this thinking made us stretch
the boundaries of possibilities in everything that we attempted. Today,
everybody seems to going about their business with their hands tied behind
their backs. The constraints of control at every step of the way have
curtailed our very existence and we are reduced to being slaves to market
forces, to government control, corruption and mediocrity. Innovation seems to
have gone out of our lives and yet in today's recession ridden world, this is
the very need of the hour. As Kevin Kelly, Executive Editor, Wired says in his
book the New Rules for the New Economy, "Wealth in the new regime flows
directly from innovation, not optimisation. That is, wealth is not gained by
perfecting the known, but by imperfectly seizing the unknown."
Each one of us has to reexamine our work and
find a new way to combat the sweeping changes that are taking place
throughout the world. Terrorism has brought in the new element of "out
of control" in our lives and we have not been trained to handle these
possibilities. The only way to combat the evil passion of terrorists is with
the passion of the good. With rapid technological advances and liberalization
reforms like Dollar convertibility and with the reduction of import duties on
the cards, paradigm shifts in ways of thinking will have to be achieved by
each of us if we have to face the challenges that India will go through in
the next few years.
The
future of the Music Industry
The rather dismal state of affairs in the
music industry of India
and the rest of the world has seen almost the entire Indian recording
industry paralyzed with nobody knowing what the future has to offer. These
very concerns were addressed at the second annual Future of Music Policy Summit, held in Washington,
USA on 7th
and 9th January. Musicians, members of Congress, recording-company
executives, Internet entrepreneurs, copyright lawyers, union representatives
and computer experts got together to figure out what lay in store for them
and how musicians were going to make a living in the Internet age, preferably
without another job?
These were some of the possibilities discussed.
a) Everything ever recorded will be available on demand via the Internet,
through a high-speed wireless connection to your wristwatch.
b) No one will be willing to pay for any of that music, leaving songwriters
destitute and bands trying to make a living from touring and selling
T-shirts.
c) A handful of multinational corporations will control virtually all
recorded music, limiting public access to it while ruthlessly exploiting
musicians.
d) Musicians will reach listeners around the world instantaneously, with no
need for intermediaries, so fans can support their favorite performers
directly.
According to Soundscan, the company, which
tabulates retail sales, the US
sales of albums in 2001 have dropped by 2.8 percent as compared to those in
2000. The west is seeing a time of disarray and repositioning in the music
business. As Miles Copeland, the former drummer of the Police and owner of Ark 21 records said
"We have to rethink our business, and it may not be the record business
anymore," A senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said
"Technology is forcing the record labels and the artists and the writers
and the composers to come together. The Internet says to the industry that you
folks are yesterday's news, you're following outdated models, your business
strategies don't work anymore, and your profit motive is showing rather
vulgarly."
Musicians and listeners have been looking to
the Internet as a way to exchange music without corporate bottlenecks. The
music business has been shaken up by unlicensed file- sharing services: first
Napster, which is dormant, and more recently Kazaa, Audiogalaxy, Music City's Morpheus, Grokster and others.
As far as India goes, it is wrongly
perceived that the Indian Music Industry is not going to be affected by the
Internet phenomenon. In today's recession ridden recording industry where
every rupee is being fought for, every sale lost is going to affect the
bottom line and the Internet has its maximum effect on the upwardly mobile
who are the biggest buyers of CDs and cassettes. Today, every computer
assembler packs the hard disc of every computer he sells with hundreds of
songs in MP3 format along with all the pirated software it can take, as a
part of his "value addition" program to his consumer. Also the rise
of FM radio and free TV music channels is going to result in less direct
buying of music by the consumer. So where does this take the Music Industry
of India?
It is necessary for Industry leaders to take measures to address these issues
urgently. It is also necessary not to solve these issues in the normal
'restrictive' way of thinking which has pervaded our way of thinking all
these years. We will have to remember that everything that can be shared, will
be shared! Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We need to
examine the basics of our business and think back to music before Edison and before it became a commodity in the form of
recordings. ." As Eben Moglen, a professor of law at Columbia University
and the general counsel of the Free Software Foundation, said "people
make music because they love it, and they'll pay for it because they love
it".
Ban
on Synthesizer
The recent controversy over this often
repeated topic of "technology replacing man " truly brought into
light the issue of the questionable tactics that politicians adopt by taking
populists stands in times of elections to bolster their chances at the polls.
That the press once again fell for it hook, line and sinker with the
screaming headlines in the papers that followed was indeed surprising. The
skill of the Shiv Sena leader in manipulating the press is truly amazing but
does this issue really warrant serious discussion?
The Musician Unions in the west have tried
hard to curb the use of synthesizers over ten years back and did manage to
postpone it's use in specific areas where it actually replaced humans e.g.
strings, brass etc. Unfortunately, they just succeeded in making the use of
these instruments redundant as the synthesizer is capable of hitherto unheard
of sounds that can very well replace the use of these traditional
instruments. The public's insatiable appetite for new sounds resulted in the
active use of the synthesizer for new styles of music that could no way be
said to have truly replaced traditional instruments. Thus effectively, the
unions, by placing restrictions, dug their own graves as the innovativeness
of the creative mind found ways to counter them.
The same story will repeat in India if
restrictions are placed and the Indians are well known all over the world in
ways to cut corners for a lower price. The musicians of India, like
everybody all over the world, will have to learn to embrace the technology
and counter the challenge with their innovativeness. In any case, even with
the enormous technological advances that have taken place in the field of
music production, to replace the technical skills of Indian Classical
instrumentalists with synthesizers or samples/loops seems like a tall order.
Roger
Drego
The name Roger Drego is today synonymous with
excellence in Indian live sound and Roger has pioneered many a sound
innovation in India.
Yet there was a time when Roger was just a struggling young man, making small
amplifiers, strobe lights and repairing equipment. Truly a great leap for
this genius that would never allow any difficulty stop him from achieving the
seemingly impossible. For somebody who has seen him through all these stages
of his life for the last 25 years, it was a source of great joy for me to
attend his silver wedding anniversary celebrations that were held in Bombay
recently. I have seen Lucia and him through the ages and it was great to
party with them, his children Dave, Adele, Mirelle and all their friends at
the grand party they threw at the Bandra Gymkhana. Roger is always looking
for ways to introduce the latest in the country and I am sure he has many an
idea up his sleeve. More power to you, Roger and I hope I am around for the
50th.
Cheers!
Nandu Bhende
homesite
:http://nandu_bhende.tripod.com
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