The Indian rock music scene (indie, Hindi/Kannada/Tamil, heavy, metal, hard, soft and whatever else have you) has to thrive on social networking sites and gigs to really push forth their content at a time when CD sales are painfully low and merchandise like T-shirts and mugs are deemed as more money-worthy than albums themselves.

But a growing number of major artistes of the indie scene are taking to online radio to widen their audiences, thereby tapping the YouTube and compulsive download generation that always finds time to be online.
Online radio channels such as BC Radio, Radio Flote, BoomBox Project, Monkey Radio India, NH7.in and Native Noise, are doing what private FM channels mostly refuse to — champion non-Hindi film music over Sheila and her Jawaani. Online radio is different from simply putting up your music on the Internet for free listening. With slick programming and streamlining of musicians, most of these radio channels bring together a plethora of budding and established Indian artistes through their music and interviews, thereby opening them to a much wider audience.

CLEAR CATALOGUES
“My main source of listening to newer bands has been through Internet radio because you can do so even while being on the move. While iTunes features a wide range of artistes, smaller indie Indian musicians may not always find place there. And if they do, they may get lost under the barrage of popular artistes. In such a scenario, local online radio channels are a good option for bands and artistes to widen their base in India. These channels catalogue artistes and genres well thereby making it easier for the listener to directly go to a sub-section that interests them,” says musician Raghu Dixit of the eponymous band.
When RadioFlote, an online channel launched by Bengalureans Mahadevan Kalyanaraman and Sikanth Gopinath, was being planned, the founders first tapped musicians that they had interacted with in the past.

After gaining access to their works, RadioFlote came into being with a database of artistes ranging from Parikrama to Girish and the Chronicles. Says Mahadevan, “Earlier we would approach artistes and request them to give us access to their music. Today artistes approach us and want to be featured on our site. Online radio channels give a music lover access to bands they haven’t even heard of.”

EASY TO SET UP
Kaustub Pandey, co-founder of BC Radio, took a gamble when he didn’t take up a summer internship last year. This IITian worked through the holidays to set up radio channels to promote indie Indian musicians.
IIT, famous for its Mood Indigo annual festival, has always attracted Indian bands to perform on its prestigious stage. Kaustub teamed up with friends who were part of the core organising teams of Mood-I and DeshRaag festivals, and formed a company with four founders. “The Internet is the easiest medium today. Setting up a radio channel is not a legal or bureaucratic hassle. You are not caught up in acquiring a million licences,” he feels.
An artiste who did not wish to be named, said, “One of the best things online radio does for the audience is kill the middleman and make music easily accessible. I have nothing against real RJs per se but most of them can be very annoying. Today there are very few who really know their music. Either they love their own voices so much that they talk endlessly or they cut off the coda of a song because of time issues. Worse still, often they don’t mention the name of the song. With online radio, you can clearly see the name of the band and song, and it is always about the music, not gupshup.”
Pandey seconds this and adds that since there is no time or space restriction on the Internet, a discerning listener is not peeved by ad interruptions or incomplete songs. He adds, “Accessiblity is everything. Today most people check on the virtual world through their smartphones. Cars, and not necessarily the luxury ones, come today with Bluetooth enabled music systems. All a person has to do is hook up their phone and the player, and then select the radio channel.”
Tariq Abdullah drives from Marine Lines to Powai and back everyday for work and is hooked on to online radio. “When I was in college I went for concerts all over the country. These indigenous channels are giving me access to the music of some of these bands that rarely visit Mumbai. I listen to channels like Native Noise and Bengaluru’s RadioCity Freedom on my Skoda via Bluetooth. In fact when I was in Hyderabad last month, my Internet connection was flying thanks to 3G. Most of these channels put music on their site in varying bandwidth to enable people with all sorts of connections to listen to uninterrupted music.”

EXTENT OF FANBASE
When Dualist Inquiry’s Sahej Bakshi started out as a musician in 2005, he knew the Internet is the one medium to watch out for and use effectively. Today it is the most operated medium, he feels. “People may not pop in a CD into a player but will definitely check out a song on YouTube. A lot of people love online radio and these channels are a great way for a musician to get a feel of his fanbase,” he says.
Google Analytics gives a clear idea of the geographical extent of online traffic and those with any business online are constantly monitoring this. Kaustub says that a large portion on his online listeners come from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. “Sometimes we get 2,500 people a day checking out our channels. There has been a sudden rise in the numbers from Hyderabad, so we’re happy that the reach is widening. This medium is picking up and it hasn’t peaked yet. But it’s just a matter of time. Online radio channels are hardly advertising, so the response so far has been encouraging. When we get a good marketing campaign in place, you can imagine how the numbers will rise. One of the best things about the Internet is how indie musicians can be transported to even smaller towns like Indore, Baroda and Bhopal — cities that don’t have as much of a live music scene. These channels can penetrate to these towns because, well, the Internet is free for all,” he says.
Raghu Dixit knows how hard indie musicians have to work to find space in a Bollywood-ruled country. Music festivals and concerts at restobars have certainly given newer faces a platform to perform but beyond that there is little recall value. “Right now any platform is good. Online channels keep an artiste alive in the audience’s memory much longer than a concert or festival. The bassist of the Raghu Dixit Project, Gaurav Vaz, started Radio Verve online seven years ago and though it isn’t operational today, he wants to revive the project or do something on those lines because everyone is on the Internet today. So no musician wants to lose out on a piece of that pie.”