‘Word of mouth wins larger audiences’

Panellists say online streaming has made music more accessible

LAHORE: “Online streaming has made music more accessible but it has also brought in new challenges for musicians and music industry,” said Wes Malik, a radio jockey.

He was moderating the Lahore Music Met’s 11th session, titled Music in Market: New Models of Distribution in Pakistan.

The panellists included Ahsan Bari from Sounds of Kolachi, Khalid Bajwa from Pitari.com, Zeeshan Khalid from Taazi.com, Raavail Sattar, a musician, and Umer Sheikh, a music industry veteran. A number of people, including Ali Gul Peer, the entertainer, attended the interactive session.

Ahsan Bari said today a musician had to be his own public relations firm, a financer and a businessman. “He needs to be a jack of all trades to emerge successful.” He said that one had to frequently compromise the quality of one’s work by looking for commercial ventures for survival. He said live performances remained the strongest medium to connect with the audience.

Umer Sheikh agreed with Bari saying, “Word of mouth wins one a far larger audience than any other medium.” He said electronic media was an undeniable reality that needed to be accepted with all its advantage and challenges. He said millions of people used smart phones today to surf the internet.

Zeeshan Khalid and Umer Khalid talked about how the local music market had evolved and accepted new trends. They said musicians from across the border accessed this market using the online media. Raavail Sattar expressed concern over the challenges the new medium posed for new talent.

“Shafi Qadri, a man in green turban, has reached out millions of Pakistanis, far more than any other musician of the country. This has made him the face of a new pop culture,” said Umer Sheikh. He said people from outside music industry, too, had understood the importance of evolving trends.

Khalid Bajwa suggested a ban on pirate websites saying that this would benefit the local music industry. His argument was, however, disputed by other panellists who termed accessibility as the most important factor behind the success of online music Industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2015.