*A good year for independent artists in India, but can you name 10 such bands?

The year gone by was a good one  for the independent artists in India. This was factored by the phenomenal commercial as well as critical success of Rock On – the radical Bolly flick which changed perceptions about the Indian Rock Artist mindset. We also saw International acts like Bryan Adams, Prodigy,  Porcupine Tree etcetera which gave an excellent break for Indian Independent artists to open for such renowned International band acts.

Thanks to the coupled effect of international acts / Rock On popularity, venues started promoting live band performances. This gave bands a prospect to make money while they play. Classic cases of Blue Frog, Hard Rock Cafes, Attitude (Gurgaon) and the like  spring up surprises of new emerging bands in India to showcase their talent  to an accepting crowd which pays entry-etcetera to hear live music, which is the USP of these venues.

Record labels also started looking at the Indie Rock Band culture  A classic case of Times Music launching the Rock Band Hunt and album deal… did anyone hear of something like this in 2005?

Not only did record labels start looking at talent, but major labels like Universal, tied up with Regional Giants like Speed Records (Punjabi ) for fresh and upcoming talent.

Record labels have their own P&L agendas, but emerging New Media like Mobile, Internet, IPTV are not overseen by such labels. The major record labels are on a sign up / align / lose out mode. With this thought, the major labels have brought a smile on the faces of emerging bands and helped them achieve their professional goals.

Having said that, can you name 10 independent bands? The answer will be resounding â€?no!',  as only three to four names come to mind. There needs to be a space to present their identity and be available as a profile. This is the gap www.myband.co.in  fills.

Here, let me tell you about our initiative, myband.co.in, and the background behind its creation. The youth today are in a constant search of identity. Growing up in a world of media clutter and a multitude of mixed messages is tough to cope in today's day and age. Music is considered a universal language and also one of the most creative ways for the youth, of expressing themselves and their beliefs. Filled with passion and creativity, the musically inclined work on creating and developing the art form and taking advantage of today's technological advances; upload them online for the world to see and hear. Their latent creativity is given a platform and ample opportunities in premier colleges & universities. Notable institutes like the IITs have created music festivals like Mood Indigo for these budding talents to flourish.

Till the recent past, Music and its related fields were not taken seriously by youngsters as a career option  But increasingly, times are changing as there is a bright future to be made if the talent exists  The institutes provide the best breeding ground for Band talent. It's primarily in these institutes, where bands are formed out of passion and likeminded people getting together. 90% of bands from these institutes don't see fruition  Only about 10% of bands formed in institutes make a mark. These bands work on an agenda to perform and all efforts are expended by each individual member to be heard and seen.

This was the impetus for Debashis Dey, Founder & CEO, and me to embark upon creating a platform for musical talent in India. Thus, the birth of www.myband.co.in,  the newest community for the Indian youth; offers an exciting opportunity to showcase their creative talent and skills in all forms of Music. It also collects opinions, offers  comments, ratings, blogs, artist's profiles, interviews and reviews, album launches, online downloads, bio, blogs,  music, video,  radio station, events, pictures,  online downloads,  classifieds, and much more.

Myband.co.in was created to provide a platform to the niche segment of the Indian Music Industry; namely the independent bands, Artists and DJs. The bands, through Mybandâ„?  have created exciting music  and performed at venues like the  Hard Rock Caf?© and  Blue Frog  which have led to exposure and opportunities  for the bands.

In India, there are various regions and each region has its own share of music bands creating sounds and scores either in their vernacular or in Hindi or in English. The bands require syntax for interaction with their fan base and also to showcase their body of work which include an option to share their music. Our goal is to enhance the development of the portal for being the premier, comprehensive resource on the Internet for Independent music aficionados.

Myband.co.in aims to democratize the creation, distribution and consumption of music by:

â€?Assisting Artists/ Bands in showcasing their music by providing a web presence and prospects for performing at  various venues and Concerts

�Creating opportunities to talented artists with few resources

 
�Giving record labels the option to distribute their music online, increasing their viability

 
�Allowing a fan of their music instant access ; anywhere in the world

 
â€?Creating a technology lead One Stop Shop..  for Artist / Bands/ venues / corporate  houses

 
Now, think about a Bong guy in the US who wants to get a Bangla Rock Band for  Debi Pujo… Or a TamBram in S'pore who wants a Chennai Band for Pongal celebrations … Or a Punj in S. Africa who wants a Indie Rock / Sufi  band for his sister's Sangeet party … Or a rocking band for a College Alumni Meet …  The permutations are endless

Where would they go to search -- Myspace? Reverbnation? Facebook?

Myband brings it all under one umbrella brand …. With very little effort, all his music requirements are met and he has enough and more options to choose from  2010 ushered in an era of young musicians creating original music, across genres. Perhaps, making India the happening place to be in Asia today. Aspiring bands from across the borders, come in droves to launch their music careers in India  While music channels launched DJ competitions, Indian Idol, etc. ; apart from the winner, the rest of the hugely talented singers fall by the wayside.

Performing to a live audience is what these talented youngsters crave. Instant feedback that they get from lounge patrons, concert crowds is what gives them a high. Myband connects these musical talents to their audience and vice versa. Creating a culture of appreciating contemporary music of this century is as important as conserving the history of our times.

Music has been always been the binding force across the classes in any society. Myband is a music community that takes very attentive care of its users and provides a service to the target group which is the Indian youth.

Myband.co.in aims to showcase the latest and best in contemporary Indian Music and more. The site has some compelling features   The site has a very visual interface. It is a community focused site. It is a new favorite with a growing community of music lovers.

The best part of myband is their comment and feedback system... the user community watches the quality of bands, and offers their recommendations and warnings. Myband is well on its way to becoming a very big player in the P2P world of 2011. It is considered as a site with many firsts in the music community.

Myband.co.in, was the first mover in the space of promoting unheard talent. Companies like Artistaloud.com etc soon followed Myband, where they started with an objective of promoting independent bands, but surely fell to the BOLLYWOOD popularity. Today they have 80% of the artist – who are directly or indirectly related to Bollywood.

Also destinations like BLUEFROG, which started as a destination and platform for young and upcoming bands/ artist, slowly gave in to commercial objectives. The passion for music was overruled by P & L objectives. Today a band which is good in their creativity does find it hard to get a date / time for a performance in Blueforg. You need also to be connected to one of the promoters to get a space for performance. Hard Rock caf?© too has gone good to bad wrt to platform for band performance. With Oly Much Louder getting the mandate to manage the Gig calendar of Hard Rock, its only artists and bands which are close to OML that get a chance to perform in HRC across India. No wonder Pentagram etc who are closely associated with OML  perform 2 in a month In HRC  What did happen to the objective of platform for upcoming artist and bands ? One has to think

Trends for 2011

When we attempt to predict the future trends of music for 2011, there are many different factors that come to mind. Technology would definitely play an important role in the future of the music industry.

Artists are leaning towards more technologically advanced and faster paced sounds. Also most consumers are rarely buying albums from music stores, and are listening to music by using new media options like cell phones, computers; watching music videos on their TiVo. It is likely that music trends will have to adjust to meet the demands of consumers. Most consumers in our target group are now accessing their music through the internet.

The overall trends in music for 2011 will likely be based around technological advances. As technology continues to expand the horizons of the music industry, musicians will not only have access to more exciting sounds and new trends, but they will also be able to distribute their music to their fans in a variety of digitized options in the coming future.

Apart from Technologies as the forefront premier distribution / showcase platform, the LIVE gigs scene would also be on the increase. With more venues offering to showcase Band talent in their venues, the bands will get an opportunity to promote their talent to a larger audience.

Events like the NH7 organised by OML will also provide a larger platform for bands to perform LIVE in different cities. Corporate Houses are coming forward supporting such events which are only growing in stature and time.

We're also looking forward to 2011 for myband's foray into other geographies powered by a complete transfer of technology and business- and operations knowledge base We've also launched myband.asia which covers all of asia and will be on a subscription model for artists. Also on the anvil are myband.ru for Russia, myband.sa for South AFrika, myband.pk for Pakistan and myband.ae for the Middle East.
Here's to 2011.

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Jai Rajagopal has 18 years of Media Advertising Sales, Online Business and Telecom VAS – Business and Content, Business development and operational career reflecting pioneering experience and record breaking performance across Media, Entertainment and New media Industry. He remains on the cutting edge, driving new business through key accounts and establishing strategic partnership with Telecom operators, Content owners, Advertising agency and Brands to derive revenues. He has initiated and Sales of New Product Services and Applications across content owners and mobile operators  Jai also has enterperuner experiences in U.K & Stockholm Sweden where Jai was part of the Fisrt ever Ethenic Record label, which promoted Arabic, Indian Music - Non Bollywood Music, across Europe. His responsibilities with the record label included Licensing Agreements, Artist management and On ground Event initiatives.