India today is at the forefront of the ever growing EDM scene in the World. The last few years have seen the best of International stars descending down to the Country to entertain Fans across all age groups. From Club Gigs to concerts to Festivals, almost all the big names have played across these platforms with some artists making India a must stop destination as a part of their yearly tour calendar. Bangalore with its varied and knowledgeable music listening culture has been fortunate to listen to almost all the acts that has visited India.
I have been fortunate to have been a part of this Bubble as an organiser most times and as an audience on some of the occasions. This is not an article that is going to give my insight into the scene and the Business of it; rather this is an article where I am at my Hypocritical best.
The Growth of EDM has been such that it has nearly replaced Rock & Roll at the moment. The last couple of gigs that I have done has left more questions than answers in my head. Hence, this article more than anything else is just an introspection of those thoughts.
These according to me are the problems affecting the EDM Industry and the Live Music scene on the whole
Promoters and the Glamour:
EDM has grown so fast and big in such a short span of time without even the Foundations being set well. While Rock and Roll in India took more than 20 years of building up with promoters working for a few years to get an Artists down, today, thanks to the internet, the average listener gets to listen to the latest tracks on the same day as the rest of the World. From 10 year olds to 35 year olds, the EDM market has encompassed people across age groups. This coupled with the fact, that it is comparatively cheaper to host an EDM gig has made a promoter of every person with a little money and a few contacts. The want of promoters to push a gig was actually nice when it was restricted to Clubs.
But with big acts starting to tour, the scene had to get bigger which meant big acts, big Crowds, big Production etc. This made some bigger fish want a piece of the action, So people with hardly any experience in the Live Events/ Music space made a beeline for the scene. And sadly, the established players just wanted to cover their backsides and recover their monies; where as the new age Promoters wanted to be a part of it for the glamour. Some of these Promoters were not even involved with the Club scene earlier and hence had no clue on how the business ran except for a few connections and pockets that ran deep. They were willing to pay premium for everything and anything as long as their names and logos stood out. Their Social networking pages were about them mixing with the whose who of the Industry and this made a few other hundred people wanting to be a part of the scene. Little did they know, that the Glamour dies out, the day you enter the Industry. A lot of such new age promoters are already missing from the scene but have left a mark that the rest of us are trying to recover from. Eg: The huge costs that one has to pay for permissions for starters
The Stupid Guest List
Perhaps, EDM's biggest contribution to the Economy has been the birth of Clubs in the Country. From a few Bars & Clubs about 10 years back, we now have a club at every Corner. This ensured that every Club had to have a full house to make any decent Money. And they in turn had to depend upon the Promoters to get the Crowd in. So, more people at a Club, more money for everybody involved,
However, even this changed when the big brands started getting involved and Club Gigs turned into Concert spaces. The Big brands that got these Artists down, obviously want maximum crowds at their gigs and hence have to use local promoters to sell tickets and get in crowds. With a big act every week, the average listener has no money to attend all the gigs. So, it basically boils down to the rapport that the average listener enjoys with the Promoter.
This huge rat race where every promoter is competing with the other in terms of attendance has made Guests lists an inevitable part of every Club Night. Today, we have Local artists promoting their nights on their Facebook page with that hurried last minute announcement on the day of the show, "Hurry. call now to have your name on that limited Guest List". The same Artist will go back to his Facebook page and announce that it was a stellar of a gig and the Crowd was off the hook. I really wonder as to how many of that stellar Crowd actually paid to get in.
The logic in most cases is to fill the Clubs and make money on the Bar which is the ideal solution for a Bar or a Club but the fact that this has carried on to the Live Music space is where the problem is or rather where the Hypocrisy starts.
I don't remember the last time I bought a ticket or paid to enter a Club, Concert or a Festival. I thought I was alone but then figured that almost all my counterparts are on the same boat as me. It has gotten to a stage where its normal to be on the Guest list. And if one like me is either an Event Manager, Artist, Sponsor, promoter or a relative of somebody amongst these, then you just shouldn't pay to enter a gig because its our God Given right to get free entry. It's a shame that one has to pay when one belongs to either of these categories. Now with everybody friends with everybody,we have a unique situation where almost everybody at an event has come in free.
More often than not, the conversations after a gig gets very interesting. You will have the organisers/ promoters rave about how they were 7000 pax in the house when a person whose designed the place will know that there couldn't have been more than 5000 pax. And once everybody has left, you will hear the same promoter say that it was a bad gig and that there were so many people on the Guest list that they didn't make money off the entry. And this is where the Hypocrisy starts. At the very next gig done by somebody else, you will see the same Cry Baby walking in with a few Friends of his through the Guest List. We have created a scene that we want to nurture but where we do not respect the Artist or the Organiser. A scenario where we will not pay to attend a gig, PERIOD!. The last I probably bought a ticket for myself was for Aerosmith and that was some 8 years back. So if my Math is right, there is an entire Generation that does not know what it is to pay a ticket; for most of them, their first live experience was an EDM Concert. The time when the Guest List was Born!
The VIP who does not Pay
The people on the Guest list are slightly better off. They just want to get in free for they just don't want to spend on entry but will blow a lot more at the Bar and I can live with that. (Yes, I'm a hypocrite. I usually have about 15 of my closest Family and Friends on the Guest list by hook or crook).
The biggest problem as I see it is the VIP. In Most cases, the VIP area is a specially demarcated zone for Sponsors, Organisers and some "very special people". Slightly elevated from the rest of the crowd, this zone definitely gives a person a sense of accomplishment and a chance to look down at the lesser Mortals. Drinks and Food at this zone is free of cost and comes with all the luxury possible. The VIP is an aspirational zone. So much so that some people are insulted when they don't get into the VIP zone for it makes them look normal which is not acceptable.
So if an Organiser needs Sponsors, he has to make space in the VIP zone for them. And if he needs permissions, then he needs to keep aside all the VIP tickets and a few of the normal tickets. The VIP is a rather unique species. He will come in a fancy car, wear fancy clothes but cannot afford to spend Rs. 3000/- on a ticket or buy a drink for Rs. 300/- at the Bar. And worse than that is the fact that while at the VIP, one shouldn't dance like there is no tomorrow. That is for the Crowd at the General area, In the VIP, one usually has to have a twitch on their nostril and have their heads above the ceiling. I can come up with a very nice full form for VIP in Tamil but will refrain myself from doing it. (Any Guesses?)
So essentially, an organiser ends up spending money on the Artist, production, permission and on the Stupid VIP who will not pay for entry or spend money at the bar.
In other words, the Organiser/Promoter needs to be a Samaritan willing to please everybody by getting an Artist down and then making sure that everybody is satisfied and hopefully at the end of it make some money
Conclusion:
The EDM bubble is here to stay but its time the stakeholders stop and take a hard look at the Industry. It is no use having stellar acts on one's Company profile if we continue digging a hole that we might never get out of.
My wish list is to see an EDM gig where the production is top notch, where the Artist is a big name, with a VIP zone that has butler service and the works but where every single person has paid for their entry. For if we do not do it now, then we have probably sounded the death knell for the Live Music Industry in India.
However, I still don't know if I am going to pay for my next gig but I do know that I will make an effort to pay and make people understand the importance of paying to attend a live event.
From,
The Hypocrite
I have been fortunate to have been a part of this Bubble as an organiser most times and as an audience on some of the occasions. This is not an article that is going to give my insight into the scene and the Business of it; rather this is an article where I am at my Hypocritical best.
The Growth of EDM has been such that it has nearly replaced Rock & Roll at the moment. The last couple of gigs that I have done has left more questions than answers in my head. Hence, this article more than anything else is just an introspection of those thoughts.
These according to me are the problems affecting the EDM Industry and the Live Music scene on the whole
Promoters and the Glamour:
EDM has grown so fast and big in such a short span of time without even the Foundations being set well. While Rock and Roll in India took more than 20 years of building up with promoters working for a few years to get an Artists down, today, thanks to the internet, the average listener gets to listen to the latest tracks on the same day as the rest of the World. From 10 year olds to 35 year olds, the EDM market has encompassed people across age groups. This coupled with the fact, that it is comparatively cheaper to host an EDM gig has made a promoter of every person with a little money and a few contacts. The want of promoters to push a gig was actually nice when it was restricted to Clubs.
But with big acts starting to tour, the scene had to get bigger which meant big acts, big Crowds, big Production etc. This made some bigger fish want a piece of the action, So people with hardly any experience in the Live Events/ Music space made a beeline for the scene. And sadly, the established players just wanted to cover their backsides and recover their monies; where as the new age Promoters wanted to be a part of it for the glamour. Some of these Promoters were not even involved with the Club scene earlier and hence had no clue on how the business ran except for a few connections and pockets that ran deep. They were willing to pay premium for everything and anything as long as their names and logos stood out. Their Social networking pages were about them mixing with the whose who of the Industry and this made a few other hundred people wanting to be a part of the scene. Little did they know, that the Glamour dies out, the day you enter the Industry. A lot of such new age promoters are already missing from the scene but have left a mark that the rest of us are trying to recover from. Eg: The huge costs that one has to pay for permissions for starters
The Stupid Guest List
Perhaps, EDM's biggest contribution to the Economy has been the birth of Clubs in the Country. From a few Bars & Clubs about 10 years back, we now have a club at every Corner. This ensured that every Club had to have a full house to make any decent Money. And they in turn had to depend upon the Promoters to get the Crowd in. So, more people at a Club, more money for everybody involved,
However, even this changed when the big brands started getting involved and Club Gigs turned into Concert spaces. The Big brands that got these Artists down, obviously want maximum crowds at their gigs and hence have to use local promoters to sell tickets and get in crowds. With a big act every week, the average listener has no money to attend all the gigs. So, it basically boils down to the rapport that the average listener enjoys with the Promoter.
This huge rat race where every promoter is competing with the other in terms of attendance has made Guests lists an inevitable part of every Club Night. Today, we have Local artists promoting their nights on their Facebook page with that hurried last minute announcement on the day of the show, "Hurry. call now to have your name on that limited Guest List". The same Artist will go back to his Facebook page and announce that it was a stellar of a gig and the Crowd was off the hook. I really wonder as to how many of that stellar Crowd actually paid to get in.
The logic in most cases is to fill the Clubs and make money on the Bar which is the ideal solution for a Bar or a Club but the fact that this has carried on to the Live Music space is where the problem is or rather where the Hypocrisy starts.
I don't remember the last time I bought a ticket or paid to enter a Club, Concert or a Festival. I thought I was alone but then figured that almost all my counterparts are on the same boat as me. It has gotten to a stage where its normal to be on the Guest list. And if one like me is either an Event Manager, Artist, Sponsor, promoter or a relative of somebody amongst these, then you just shouldn't pay to enter a gig because its our God Given right to get free entry. It's a shame that one has to pay when one belongs to either of these categories. Now with everybody friends with everybody,we have a unique situation where almost everybody at an event has come in free.
More often than not, the conversations after a gig gets very interesting. You will have the organisers/ promoters rave about how they were 7000 pax in the house when a person whose designed the place will know that there couldn't have been more than 5000 pax. And once everybody has left, you will hear the same promoter say that it was a bad gig and that there were so many people on the Guest list that they didn't make money off the entry. And this is where the Hypocrisy starts. At the very next gig done by somebody else, you will see the same Cry Baby walking in with a few Friends of his through the Guest List. We have created a scene that we want to nurture but where we do not respect the Artist or the Organiser. A scenario where we will not pay to attend a gig, PERIOD!. The last I probably bought a ticket for myself was for Aerosmith and that was some 8 years back. So if my Math is right, there is an entire Generation that does not know what it is to pay a ticket; for most of them, their first live experience was an EDM Concert. The time when the Guest List was Born!
The VIP who does not Pay
The people on the Guest list are slightly better off. They just want to get in free for they just don't want to spend on entry but will blow a lot more at the Bar and I can live with that. (Yes, I'm a hypocrite. I usually have about 15 of my closest Family and Friends on the Guest list by hook or crook).
The biggest problem as I see it is the VIP. In Most cases, the VIP area is a specially demarcated zone for Sponsors, Organisers and some "very special people". Slightly elevated from the rest of the crowd, this zone definitely gives a person a sense of accomplishment and a chance to look down at the lesser Mortals. Drinks and Food at this zone is free of cost and comes with all the luxury possible. The VIP is an aspirational zone. So much so that some people are insulted when they don't get into the VIP zone for it makes them look normal which is not acceptable.
So if an Organiser needs Sponsors, he has to make space in the VIP zone for them. And if he needs permissions, then he needs to keep aside all the VIP tickets and a few of the normal tickets. The VIP is a rather unique species. He will come in a fancy car, wear fancy clothes but cannot afford to spend Rs. 3000/- on a ticket or buy a drink for Rs. 300/- at the Bar. And worse than that is the fact that while at the VIP, one shouldn't dance like there is no tomorrow. That is for the Crowd at the General area, In the VIP, one usually has to have a twitch on their nostril and have their heads above the ceiling. I can come up with a very nice full form for VIP in Tamil but will refrain myself from doing it. (Any Guesses?)
So essentially, an organiser ends up spending money on the Artist, production, permission and on the Stupid VIP who will not pay for entry or spend money at the bar.
In other words, the Organiser/Promoter needs to be a Samaritan willing to please everybody by getting an Artist down and then making sure that everybody is satisfied and hopefully at the end of it make some money
Conclusion:
The EDM bubble is here to stay but its time the stakeholders stop and take a hard look at the Industry. It is no use having stellar acts on one's Company profile if we continue digging a hole that we might never get out of.
My wish list is to see an EDM gig where the production is top notch, where the Artist is a big name, with a VIP zone that has butler service and the works but where every single person has paid for their entry. For if we do not do it now, then we have probably sounded the death knell for the Live Music Industry in India.
However, I still don't know if I am going to pay for my next gig but I do know that I will make an effort to pay and make people understand the importance of paying to attend a live event.
From,
The Hypocrite
1 comment:
Good read! Interesting to see it shown in another perspective. Will definitely think twice when I do go for my next gig..!
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