Singer Shibani Kashyap's video from her debut album, Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat, was a hit on music channels and would be aired several times a day. This was 1998; for Kashyap and other non-Bollywood singers, music videos were the best way to get word about your album out, which in turn would drive album sales.
Today, reality shows have edged out music in terms of air time. And Bollywood gets priority over every other kind of music (according to experts any non-Bollywood music is considered 'indie' in India). In a move that symbolised the change, MTV dropped the words 'Music Television' from the baseline of its logo late last year.
Kashyap, who contributes occasionally to Bollywood, highlights the contrast: "A few years ago, I sung a song for the film Maharathi, which played 15-20 times a day on channels. Around the same time, I came out with a song, Alvida, a tribute to victims of the 26/11 attacks. The song got a bleak response from channels."
That's why when Kashyap recently had two songs ready to be showcased, she chose to sign up with Artists Aloud, a digital music distribution company for Indian indie artists. Instead of selling a set of songs on CDs, digital music distribution involves selling individual songs in mp3 format. Songs can be bought individually from artistsaloud.com and are also available on other digital stores such as iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody. "They also organised webcerts (a concert streamed online). Around 10,000 people logged in to view my performance and kept giving me feedback. It felt great," says Kashyap.
Digital stores
An online eco-system is mushrooming in India, filling the gap left by traditional channels to publicise and sell music. On the internet, indie music has the same reach as Bollywood music since the cost of distributing your songs and publicising yourself is the same, creating a level playing field.
According to Siddhartha Roy, chief operating officer, consumer business & allied services, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment — which runs Artists Aloud — Hungama was already distributing Bollywood music digitally in India and abroad. The same network is used to distribute music by indie artistes. "For us, music from Artists Aloud is just another category and we don't treat it differently. The revenue sharing ratio remains the same as well," says Roy.
Another online service called NH7, launched earlier this month, helps listeners discover Indian indie artists and their music. "You can log in to the website using Facebook Connect. Depending on the kind of international bands the user likes and has listed in Facebook, we can inform him of similar artists from India," says Arjun Ravi, editor, Indiecision, the NH7 magazine. NH7 aims to grow into a much wider platform where eventually users can even buy indie music.
The online clutter
But it is too early to call it a success. As Raghu Dixit who has signed up with Artists Aloud says, "I am approaching digital distribution with as much skepticism as the guy buying the music. It is still early days."
The cautionary approach is not difficult to understand. The online shopping culture through credit card is still new to India. Moreover, the business model of digital distribution is such that the prices of tracks have to be kept low — usually between Rs5 to Rs10. This means that artists can earn decent revenues only if their tracks are downloaded millions of times. No individual indie artist has yet managed to earn significant revenues.
"Digital distribution is cost-effective. But whether it is going to make money for the (digital) shopkeeper and the artist remains to be seen," says Savio D'Souza, general secretary, Indian Music Industry. According to D'Souza, while it is easier for talented artists to break into the digital domain, this brings with it a problem of plenty. "Why will someone choose you among 300 other artists on the online store? You will still need hardcore marketing, and that's not going to be cheap. It's going to be far more difficult to be a superstar," adds D'Souza.
Moving beyond MySpace
Ironically, while the dynamics of the internet creates the clutter, it also provides the tools to distinguish yourself and the opportunity to make a direct connection with fans.
"Say you played a gig and people liked your music, they are going to Google your name when they reach home. A band has to be present on every digital platform when the fans do that," says Ravi. But it is not merely about creating a profile on social networking sites. "You have to consistently be in touch with your fans. If people ask questions about where they can buy your music, you need to respond about availability and upcoming gigs," adds Arjun.
"Earlier there was a value in creating artiste mystique. Today its about how accessible you are to your fans. The point is the more you involve fans in your life and art, the more interest you generate," says Jishnu Dasgupta, bassist, Swarathma.
Dasgupta says that they once ran a contest that anyone who tweeted the most during their gig would win a DVD. "The guy who won posted almost 25 tweets. Even if one person among his followers gets attracted to our music and starts following us, that's great."
Putting their music up online and the discussions with their fans helps Swarathma build a fan base and brand value. That in turn helps them score more gigs, both in India and abroad. As Dasgupta puts it, "Today, an indie artist or band cannot afford to say that they don't get new media. It is as important as the A minor (chord)." r_krishna@dnaindia.netSwarathma has been using the online space effectively to score gigs | 
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