In India, music goes beyond the regular Bollywood tunes. Globalisation, western influences through the Internet, apart from a host of other factors turned people into taking music far more seriously than they did a decade ago. Musicians in the country have not just started to experiment with different genres, but have started making a career out of their passion. But the question that remains is where does their revenue come from? Today, live performances, gigs, independent recordings, and merchandising, are some of the sources of income for these artists.
It is a huge struggle for a start up to begin earning money. Kryptos, a heavy metal band from Bengaluru, was formed in 1998, but they started making money only in 2004. Salman, the manager for Kryptos says, “For sustenance, an established band depends a lot on live shows and merchandisers. For a new band, college competitions, reality shows and the like form a source of revenue.”
Rushad Mistry of Indus Creed fame is one of the best bassists in the country. Having been in the business for 15 years. He says that live performances and independent studio sessions form about 60 per cent of their earnings.
Rushad says, “To earn money from gigs and performance, you have to stick around long enough to earn a decent living. Now, the scene is better. There are many more gigs and a lot more venues. TV shows like Unplugged also come once in a way.”
Most of these musicians have turned independent as they rather have their music launched online.
On the flipside, thanks to the Internet, one hardly earns any money from albums now. Do you remember the last time you picked up a CD from a retail store? The international artists have endorsements and huge live performances where they earn a lot, but Indian performers have to find alternate sources to sustain themselves. George Martin of Lounge Piranha says, “When you have a band, you have to nurture it. Any enterprising band finds different avenues to sustain themselves. Merchandising, though nascent in India, does form an important part. It is the first step. The other sources are live performances, gigs, etc. Recording for Bollywood music is also a source of income for them,” he says.
Besides being a great source of income, merchandising also serves as publicity, says Abhijeet Tambe of Tigflower — a company that produces T-shirts for bands in Bengaluru. “Abroad, merchandising is a major part of live gigs. It is a decent source of income here as well, but the motive is to use them as tools for advertising. That has greater value than making money on the mark-up’s of these products,” he explains.