Roll back 30-35 years. Focus on the entertainment medium. Few homes had TVs, some had the "transistor radio". Neighbours would flock over to whoever had a radio just to listen to some good music, or a cricket match commentary. Latest songs could only be heard on radio, or if you were rich, on vinyls. Even a decade later, tape recorders and cassette tape players weren't anywhere close to ubiquitous. So what would it imply? Let's deduce from the facts - Sources of entertainment (sp. music) were All India Radio, Vinyl/cassette tape players and I might be missing something but the point I will make here is still pretty valid. Who would be incharge of the content played on radio? Some person. Any person? Not just any person. There had to be something to justify this person who would be in charge of all India radio broadcasting, right? It would be safe to deduce that this person would be partial to good music, and would play (by and large, by the rule of averages) good music on the radio. What good would this do? Again, I consider it safe to deduce that it caused some degree of feedback to register with the music producers/composers of the day. That feedback would be something of the following type - Song A gets picked for playing on All India Radio a lot. The audience likes it and the movie also works. So let's try and make songs like Song A. Out came gems like "Tere bina zindagi se koi", "Chalte chalte yuhi koi", "Chalo ek baar fir se".
I bet I'm over simplifying it, all the good songs obviously did not come out of this mechanism. But nonetheless, there was little driving force to pander to the masses, rather the opposing force, of catering to those partial to good music.
Now switch back to the present. Entertainment medium? LOL. Every house has a TV. Mobile phones (with multimedia capabilities obviously) are ubiquitous. Data transfer and/or download is extremely cheap. So its implications are obvious - everybody is the master of their own music! They choose which music shall fall on their ears. Even if your mobile has only FM, at the press of a button you can skip a song, switch channel! This all sounds good though, why do I have an apprehensive tone? Read closer - Everybody is the master of their own music! It means that, not-so-subtly, power has changed hands. From the broadcaster to the audience. From the music producer/composer, alarmingly to the crowd. So the good broadcaster/producer is not just helpless, he is rendered irrelevant by the shameless pandering of the class-less producers/broadcasters/lyricists/music directors, you name it. I hope we can all agree that by and large the public has about as much class as public-toilet wall art. It comes as no surprise then that "Gandi gandi gandi baat", "tera dhiyaan kidhar hai yeh tera hero idhar hai", and oh Gooood "Sachurday Sachurday, kardi rhaindi e kudi Sachurday Sachurday", and not to mention Honey Singh's classy swill of sewage lyrics mixed with 4 bottles of vodka all get picked over a subtle "Dhak dhuk". From the movie English Vinglish ? Music by Amit Trivedi ? I've lost you haven't I? The young un's must be going "Ey ye buddha kya paka raha hai, chal let's party with the bhoothnath while we do sari nights besharmi ki heights!"
Sigh. Bring the chaar bottals of vodka to drown myself in, please.
I bet I'm over simplifying it, all the good songs obviously did not come out of this mechanism. But nonetheless, there was little driving force to pander to the masses, rather the opposing force, of catering to those partial to good music.
Now switch back to the present. Entertainment medium? LOL. Every house has a TV. Mobile phones (with multimedia capabilities obviously) are ubiquitous. Data transfer and/or download is extremely cheap. So its implications are obvious - everybody is the master of their own music! They choose which music shall fall on their ears. Even if your mobile has only FM, at the press of a button you can skip a song, switch channel! This all sounds good though, why do I have an apprehensive tone? Read closer - Everybody is the master of their own music! It means that, not-so-subtly, power has changed hands. From the broadcaster to the audience. From the music producer/composer, alarmingly to the crowd. So the good broadcaster/producer is not just helpless, he is rendered irrelevant by the shameless pandering of the class-less producers/broadcasters/lyricists/music directors, you name it. I hope we can all agree that by and large the public has about as much class as public-toilet wall art. It comes as no surprise then that "Gandi gandi gandi baat", "tera dhiyaan kidhar hai yeh tera hero idhar hai", and oh Gooood "Sachurday Sachurday, kardi rhaindi e kudi Sachurday Sachurday", and not to mention Honey Singh's classy swill of sewage lyrics mixed with 4 bottles of vodka all get picked over a subtle "Dhak dhuk". From the movie English Vinglish ? Music by Amit Trivedi ? I've lost you haven't I? The young un's must be going "Ey ye buddha kya paka raha hai, chal let's party with the bhoothnath while we do sari nights besharmi ki heights!"
Sigh. Bring the chaar bottals of vodka to drown myself in, please.
