After much talk from a article we posted a few days ago about the current Bhangra Music industry “Are DJs now also jumping onto the bandwagon” We recently approached Industry music producer AV on his thoughts on the current state of the music scene. He’s worked for renowned labels such as Universal, Tips Music, VIP Records & more. Here’s an insight from an insider’s point of view.
STATE OF INDUSTRY FROM A PRODUCERS POINT
I love what I do & think there are many positives in the music industry. But there’s no point me writing a whole piece saying how good I think Tru-Skool, Kaos, Surinder Rattan, Sunil Kalyan etc are. So here’s my perspective on what I’ve seen, these are just MY opinions. Real Talk…
Back in the day when I started producing music I was handing out demo’s to companies, entering competitions on radio & trying to learn everything I could about music production. It seems all my peers were trying hard at that time doing the same thing I was. A lot of us went on to University to study music & do what we could to further ourselves. Nowadays these type of principles are just non-existant for most. Many people don’t want to work for it no more, instead they just want instant fame without having to do much. But you have to ask yourself, how do they get away with it?
Is it right? Whose to blame? It’s simple, In the age where labels don’t care who produced the product, they will listen to it & release it as long as they feel they can make a profit on it. Usually, a DJ will have a product (single/album) ready to show the label, and most times the label will get the whole product for free, they will usually give the DJ a video or two for their trouble. So the DJs now happy he has a video & reputable label to release with & the labels happy as they have the product for free which adds to their catalogue. The DJ will be lucky if he gets any PRS for it.
This all makes it harder for real producers/musicians to come through now, as the labels have it soo easy with ready made products come at them constantly, why would they then put their profits into real producers whom they would have to pay for their production services not forgetting the videos, PR etc on top. Maybe I’m bias but I don’t you can put much blame on the real producer behind the music. Being in the industry for a long time I know how hard it can be to keep this job up for a living, producers are not selling out, they purely just have to make a living. I’m sure people in all types of work dislike certain parts of their job, but you have to do it at times, that’s life.
I think people out the industry would be shocked to find how much music out there isn’t made by the name on the cover, If you think about it the statistics are quite shocking. I don’t have anything against DJs, a lot of industry DJs are good friends of mine, they are young people who want some limelight, fame & possibly some more bookings aswell. I think we have to look beyond the DJs a lot of the time to see the core of the problem.
Maybe in the future when the young talented people of today start running labels, things may change, maybe they’ll stop accepting ghost products? Because now it’s all run as a business all about making the most profit possible, which don’t get me wrong is fair enough. They are a business at the end of the day, they have to look after themselves aswell. But until the people at the top change, nothing will change.
Also we now have people build up hype for their products in many different ways. I’m all up for good promotion on tracks but when you start buying YouTube hits I think you cross the line. What these people don’t understand, you can do all you want, but if your product is wack, all the YouTube hits & silly PR tactics I see these days are not going to help. What happened to the day where people worked hard & relied on their music to do the talking?
I think there are many really talented singers out there who deserve a lot more recognition. It sometimes gets to me that you don’t really need to posses any vocal ability to be able to sing now. It seems some producers just point out a few good looking people & sign them up, give them simple lyrics, dress them up a certain way, a few cameos in their video, and there you have it, the next big thing. In some cases, the label/producer will most likely take most the singer’s royalties/management but the singer won’t mind as he knows that well known producer is very well about to make him a star.
In my opinion, amazing UK based Vocalists like Ali Abbas & San2 should have been mega ‘Superstars’ a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong, both doing very well, both have credibility, but maybe they don’t stick to the commercial aspects young people crave these days, maybe if they came with cheesy lyrics, dressed a certain way, had an expensive video, flash cars & a few models in their video they may have had a million YouTube hits.
FINAL SAY
I want to big up BhangraReleases.com for supporting the industry and bringing quality music news to visitors instead of uploading anything. I feel this was missing in the industry so well done guys. There are many positives in the industry, people working hard, some young talent coming through, a few artists crossing over to mainstream which is great moves. So I hope all this continues.
I understand how everyone has their own opinions, I thought I’d just give you guys an insight on my opinions from what I’ve witnessed over many years. I’ve also seen many good artists come through in recent years & hope many more talented people will come through & carry on to do well.
One Luv. AV
Facebook: AV.Worldwide
Twitter: @AVWorldwide
Follow
comments feed
