Is Carnatic live dead?
ABHINAV RAMNARAYAN
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Live Carnatic recordings are rare. Is it because companies find them unprofitable?
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BETTER BET: Recording in progress at Charsur's studio. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan.
Sree Sankara Hall on TTK Road is abuzz with activity these days. A television blares the video of a Carnatic concert; the stalls are clogged with people reaching out for a Bombay Jayashree or a T.M. Krishna audio CD, and an irate watchman directs customers.
The reason — Saraswathi Stores is open for the season, and recording companies like Amudham, Charsur, Rajalakshmi, Vani, HMV-Saregama and AVM have their individual stalls up, selling cassettes, audio CDs, and music DVDs like hot cakes by the dozen.
Recording companies that deal in Carnatic music have tasted real success with their products in recent years; they have given artistes exposure, and have provided the rasikas a chance to listen to their favourite kritis at home.
Companies such as HMV-Saregama sell about 15,000 CDs a month during the Music Season, according to Umesh Pai, Business Manager, Saregama (Southern Region). This year, he says, HMV Saregama has brought out 60 new titles, produced from its archives, ranging from the veena to nagaswaram concerts and vocal recitals. What it has not done in the recent past though — in the last three years to be precise — is live recording, either in the studio or at a live concert. It is not economically viable to do a recording in Carnatic music, says Mr. Pai. Sales have dipped in the music industry because of piracy, downloading of music from the Internet and so on. The cost of bringing out an album is anything between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh, including recording costs and artistes' commission. There is no real hope of recovering the money, he says . In Hindustani music, apparently, there is a better chance of breaking because the cassettes are released all over India.
Meagre profits?
Yet companies such as Charsur Digital Workstation Studio and Rajalakshmi Audio continue to not just do studio recording, but also recordings of live concerts, which most rasikas will agree, is when they are at their best. Why do they go down a road in which profits are so meagre? Charubala, one of the owners of Charsur, says: "We are not in it for the profit — the Carnatic tradition is one that has been around for several thousand years — and we want to help preserve that tradition in whatever small way we can." So much so that the endeavour is to provide the listener with a wholesome kutcheri experience, without tinkering with the content in any way. Suresh Gopalan, the other partner in Charsur, says: "In the past, only portions of the live concert would be put on tape or the tani avartanam would be edited out. We don't do any of that." Ms. Charubala adds it sometimes takes even four years to break even on an audio CD, but then they are not in it for the money.
Satish Kumar, owner of Coimbatore-based Rajalakshmi Audio believes that it is a profitable business. The advantage is that the shelf life of the product is exceedingly long — up to 15 years, he says. With some of the more popular artistes, the CDs break even in as short a time as two months, according to him. Rajalakshmi Audio has about 100 titles to its name, and will go public in June 2006. Yet, Dr. Kumar admits, he is in the business because he is a Carnatic music addict.
Where does the artiste come in? The concept of paying royalties is pretty much a thing of the past, says Dr. Kumar. Vocalist T.M. Krishna corroborates saying he usually works on a flat rate, but the advantage is that it allows the artiste to reach out to a larger market.
"Sometimes, people come to a concert after listening to the recordings," he says. "Ultimately, we are all a team, each one feeds off the other."
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