Emix Records, which was in the pipeline for some time, was finally launched with upcoming artist Ammar Ali Khan’s album Destiny as the debut release.
Emix Records was formally unveiled at a press conference at the Karachi Arts Council where musicians and industry professionals gathered to celebrate the launch. Emu — the producer and keyboardist of Fuzon — and his business partner Khurram Jamshed are the founding members of the new record label, with the former EMI chief Umer Sheikh as a consultant for managing global releases.
“Record labels all over the world have a greater responsibility than just releasing music and that is exactly what we plan to do with Emix Records,” said Jamshed while addressing the press conference. Jamshed, who has previously been a part of different record labels (such as BMN records), pointed out that Pakistan’s music industry flourished back in 1999 primarily because none of the local radio stations or TV channels played Indian music.”
“Good music is still being produced but our local music channels are crowded with too much Indian content as a result of which the industry is suffering a lot,” stressed Jamshed who has marketed popular albums including Strings’ comeback album Duur. Therefore, he is of the opinion that local artists are not being given a chance; hence record labels should step up and show more responsibility.
On the other hand, Emu, who has always been vociferous about the problems created by record labels that are owned by music channels, welcomed all upcoming musicians and offered Emix as a platform. “Of course we are here to promote new talent,” said Emu. “Any talented artist who is willing to make good music can approach me. I, being a producer myself, may be able to give useful advice on how to make their song unique.”
Meanwhile, Sheikh, the genius of the music business, discouraged people to illegally download music, highlighting that fans end up harming their favourite musicians in the process.
After a short briefing by the founders of Emix, Khan’s debut music video was also screened and enjoyed thoroughly by the audience. Khan is a classically trained vocalist who came to the mainstream through a music talent hunt in 1993.
Although the launch of Emix records is a positive sign for the dying music industry, the question still remains if such ventures will be welcomed by the mafia of existing record labels. Following Noori’s BIY (Believe In Yourself) records and Ali Zafar’s Alif records and now Emix Records, there seems to be some hope for the upcoming artists but at the same time with so many giants in one small industry, mergers between record labels can also be expected.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2011.
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Record labels are useless in this country as there are barely any live shows that artists can make money from. A record label isn't just supposed to put out albums on store shelves (most of the commission from album / single sales goes to the label not to the artist) they're supposed to look after all the financial needs and planning for the artists as well. Hopefully this is different though. EMI was the only label in Pakistan that had any integrity.