MUMBAI: Only Much Louder director Vijay Nair was adjudged British Council's Young Music Entrepreneur 2009 on 10 March at a function hosted by British Council in association with the Rolling Stones in Mumbai.

Last year, Girish (Bobby) Talwar, Promoter Director of OML was the India finalist for the YME awards. The award has been lapped by OML for two years in a row now.

The Young Music Entrepreneur is an award to champion and celebrate the importance of creative entrepreneurs working in the field of music and to showcase international innovation in music promotion using the UK as the nexus for cultural, creative and commercial exchange.

The jury members for the awards comprised Rolling Stone publisher and editor Radhakrishnan Nair, Rolling Stone India contributing editor Luke Kenny, Founder and Council member of the Music Managers Forum Stephen Budd and Simon Gammell, Director, British Council West India. During the occasion, the name of Adam Pushkin was announced as British Council's new Arts and Creative Head, India.

The other nominees for YME were Sanjeev Thomas, Music Director and Owner of Rainbow Bridge Studio, Gaurav Dobhal Co-founder, TempoStand Online Music Private Limited and Akshai Sarin Owner of AXYZ Music International. The nominees had an interactive session with Stephen Budd and were also interviewed by members of the panelists before the decision was made.

Even before the awards were announced, it was clear who it was going to. "Vijay has been working in this business for several years, this is definitely going to him," Sanjeev Thomas of Rainbow Bridge said. As per the judging criteria, the finalists were solely judged on the merit of their entrepreneurial abilities in the music business.

Nair's body of work in the Indian independent music scene is wellknown. He started young and managed bands and musicians coming from varied genres. Some of the famed acts OML presently manages are Swarathma, The Raghu Dixit Project, Pentagram and Indigo Children. OML's other ventures include music label Counter Culture Records, Babblefish Productions and OML Digital.

The past few years have been good for the independent music scene, and musicians are definitely making money, feels Nair. "Musicians are making more money than before for sure. From where we have come, it has been a way up - but there's a long way to go."

The Young Music Entrepreneur 2009 awards are held globally. And now, Nair will compete alongside nine other national winners for the overall International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year to win the title and a financial award of ?5000 to develop business links with the UK. Besides this, he will also get the opportunity to travel to London and Manchester on a pre-set programme to get an overview of the music sector specifically tailored to business needs.

Speaking on the areas he will be focusing on during this programme, Nair says, "I would be meeting hundreds of British entrepreneurs, my target would be to find out ten key guys out of them and focus on how I can expand the business opportunities.

What's Next

During the UK tour, the national finalists will take part in the judging procedure where they make a presentation to an experienced UK industry jury about their work and their understanding of, and vision for their creative sector in their respective countries. Finalists will be asked to select one track from their country that they feel could have a wider UK and international appeal. All tracks will be collated onto a CD which the British Council will promote and distribute at The Great Escape and through its wider network. In addition, work selected for the CD will also be featured on our Creative Economy webpage for visitors to vote for their favourite.

Indigo Children previously known as Superfuzz played at the British Council event. Click here for video