Unconvention 2009- Conference Report

Venue- British Council, Nariman Point, Mumbai

Date- November 21- 22, 2009

Day 1-November 21^st

Welcome Address- Vijay Nair, Co-Founder and Director Only Much Louder, winner of British Council IYME shared his experience of attending the 1^st International Unconvention in the England under careful observation and deciding to host Unconvention in India. In his presentation he spoke about “striking a chord” with the people of Indian indie music industry and how this industry no longer functions around record labels and their humungous marketing campaigns. The pre-conference tour of Kolkata, Shillong and New Delhi was also touched upon in this presentation which brought out the exclusiveness of Indian indie and how Unconvention was about spreading the right message and making more people aware about the indie music movement. The necessity of each band having their own business model and the importance of “fixing things in an existing set up” became obvious by the end of the presentation. In his talk Vijay Nair also pointed out that “Making the industry sustainable is the right way of developing it.”

Incredible Indie-

Moderator- Andrew Philips- Internationally renowned Multimedia expert who advises on every format from radio to print to digital.

Panelists- Vijay Nair- Founder- Only Much Louder, David Bianchi-Founder, Grand Union Management, Sumit Bothra- Founder, Embargo Artist Management and Atul Churamani- Vice President- Saregama India Limited.

Andrew Philip opened the discussion with his critical view of major labels and how they have molded the minds of common folks into buying below average music over the past few decades. This was countered by David Bianchi’s mixed emotions towards major labels and his opinions on a band success at a commercial level. The follow up to this was Atul Churamani’s talk on the commercial success of indie stars in India during the mid 90’s due to labels like Magnasound and how mainstream music was defined during this time. Fighting the Bollywood wave was referred to as a pointless exercise by indie artists. The importance of right promotion leading to the right amount of success was dubbed as a wise career move. Sumit Bothra spoke about Artist Rights in this presentation and how artists need to be original right from the outset utilizing time in the right way and start finding solutions to their own problems by “creating options”. He further added that “Musicians need to treat their career as a business and make their music available in all corners of the world.”

Metal Block-

Moderator- Rohit Periera- Lead Singer- Khiladi,Host – P Man Show.

Panelists- Sahil Makhija- Owner-Demonstealer Records, John Sullivan- MD, Source Live Events, Shaswat Gupta- Founder, Grey and Saurian, Naveen Deshpande- Manager-Pentagram, Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy- Lead Singer-Scribe.

A strictly metal centric discussion that was laced with the infuriating humor of P-Man. The origin of Indian Metal was traced back to the 1990’s cover ridden metal scene that flourished all across the country. John Sullivan pointed out the benefits of unifying the Indian metal community and binding it with the passion and intensity that surrounds every metal head. He also spoke about the prerequisites of individual inputs by band members, how music needs to evocate where it comes from and the importance of the having the right press kits and publicity measures. Issues like lack of good venues and the mass audience being ignorant to metal music were also tackled by the panel. The complete involvement of band members in the musical process was cited to be of utmost importance.

Unpublished-

Moderator- Girish Talwar-Co-Founder-Only Much Louder.

Panelists- Sumit Bothra-Founder, Embargo Artist Management, Atul Churamani- Vice President- Saregama India Limited, Ali Sachedina- Entertainment Lawyer, Mr.Saha- Director-Hindustan Records, Achille Forler-Music Publishing Expert

A high on firepower no holds barred discussion. Right from the beginning till the end fingers were pointed towards record companies and the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS). The panel advised the musicians in attendance to negotiate every copyright clause, get the right deal and be smart about their publishing. Terms like Blanket License and Mechanical License were explained in layman’s terms to the audience by the industry experts. Bands and artists were asked to exploit their catalog and it was drilled into the minds of the audience that the author is the first owner of all rights and artists need to register their music and complete the registration process.

D-I-Why-

Moderator- Andrew Philips- Internationally renowned Multimedia expert who advises on every format from radio to print to digital.

Panelists- Ruth Daniel- Director, Fat Northener Records, David Bianchi-Founder, Grand Union Management, Arjun Vagale- Jaleebe Cartel, Ameeth Thomas- Lead Singer-Junkyard Groove

DIY or Do It Yourself approach adopted by many bands off late was analyzed in detail keeping in mind the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. Most of the panelists came out in favor of following this approach which was strengthened by Ruth Daniel’s showcase of a video by the Ironweed Project. This video of the track Boom Boom Clap served as an eye opener as to why bands should resort to the DIY style of music making.

Day 2-November 22^nd

Music as Culture-

Moderator-Andrew Dubber-Founder-New Music Strategies and Professor at the Birmingham University.

Panelists- Ishita Chaudhry-Founder YP Foundation, Clare Edwards- Birmingham based Music Promoter, Jez Collins- Founder-Birmingham Music Archive, Keith Wallang- Founder, Roots Festival, Mr.Saha- Director, Hindustan Records, Tajdar Junaid- Co-Founder Cognac.

Andrew Dubber opened the discussion with a presentation of music as a culture in his native New Zealand. This was followed by each panelist’s perspective on music as a culture. The Birmingham duo of Jez Collins and Clare Edwards presented the Birmingham music scene. Clare Edwards showcased a video about the localization of a particular area in Birmingham through music. Mr.Saha largely expressed his thoughts about music as a culture in the eastern ad southern parts of India. Ishita Chaudhry’s take on the Music Basti campaign based out of Delhi and how music has helped her run the YP Foundation earned the appreciation of many. Tajdar Junaid one of the most authoritative voices from the Kolkata music scene demonstrated his Ruhaniyat project with the bauls and fakirs of West Bengal, whose voices will finally be heard on a global stage in the Warner Bros produced Waiting City.

Key Note Speech-

Speaker-Bant Singh-Folk Singer from Punjab who fights for social change.

Less of a speech more of an interaction with Bant Singh who captivated the audience with his soulful melodies from the hinterlands of Punjab. Bant Singh’s struggle for social justice and his songs against casteism left the audience speechless. A session that was coordinated by Vijay Nair of Only Much Louder saw this immensly talented folk singer from Punjab become a true champion of his cause. The three standing ovations that he received from a crowd largely filled with rock musicians and businessmen will strengthen his unbeatable spirit. An independent musician at heart who is complacent  towards  political agendas ,  Bant Singh inspires, motivates and pushes boundaries to stand against social injustice.

Yellow Brickroad-

Moderator- Vijay Nair- Co-Founder, Only Much Louder

Panelsits- Vishal Dadlani- Lead Singer Pentagram, Ali Sachedina- Entertainment Lawyer, Rahul Ram-Lead Singer- Indian Ocean, Kiran Nagesh- CFO Hi Fi Group.

David Bianchi- Founder, Grand Union Management.

Transportation of Indian music abroad took center stage as Rahul Ram spoke about Indian Ocean’s latest tour of Russia organized by the ICCR. Kiran Nagesh shared his set of stories of bands wanting to breakthrough to countries with better music scenes before conquering their local music venues. A well moderated session which also exposed the various drawbacks of authorities trying to control the music scene in our country. David Bianchi’s advice to bands planning to tour abroad reached the eager ears of many. All of this finally boiling down to the fact that it’s essential music doesn’t get lost in translation while being exported from one country to another.

Indie Top 10-

Moderator- Mike Mcnally- Marketing Strategist

Panelits- Gaurav Vaz-Director, OML Digital, Arjun Ravi- Editor, Indiecision, Suraj Mani- Lead Singer-Motherjane, Mandar Thakur- New Media Expert, John Sullivan- MD, Source Live Events.

Gaurav Vaz started off the proceedings with a presentation on the Top 10 Indie Music Business Models citing examples of business models pioneered by bands from India and world over. This was followed by Mike Mcnally overtaking the discussion as its chief moderator and advising musicians to pave their own path into the music industry, come up with innovative marketing campaigns to get noticed. Arjun Ravi credited the Bangalore based folk rock band Swarathma for their excellent online campaign asking other bands to take Swarathma as an example which was followed by Suraj Mani advising bands to start forming their own teams. He drove his point home when he added “Iron Maiden is just five guys on stage and 50 guys backstage”

My Way or the Highway-

Moderator- Andrew Philips- Internationally renowned Multimedia expert who advises on every format from radio to print to digital.

Panelsits- Dhruv Jagasia-Manger, Indian Ocean, Mandar Thakur-New Media Expert, Mazher Ramzanali- Founder , 21 Tigers Enterntainent, Amit Keswani- VP, Sales & Marketing JSM Corp, Jitesh Rajan-Member, Bombay Rock Association.

A heated discussion where words proved stronger than bullets. The programming policies of JSM Corp which runs Hard Rock Café in India was looked upon with suspicion by members of the panel and the audience. But eventually, there was general consensus among the panel that venues are a ‘business’ and would only invest in bands which can get them appropriate return on investments” The dire need of musicians developing their own venues was given top priority once again. Mandar Thakur presented tentative statistics of music sales in India and how it has been dominated by Bollywood right from the beginning. Mazher Ramzanali’s talk on branding systems and his work towards making this industry sustainable along with the Dhruv Jagasia’s parle about the management tactics that he applies in his work with Indian Ocean brought a big smile on the faces of many. The sly humor of Andrew Philips left people with cramps.