Rockonomics - An Indicator of Socio-Economic Development

Guest post by fellow music lover and economic whiz kid Debashish Bose. This post was written after a recent article in the Mint on the development of an indie rock music scene in India and how the upcoming bands are trying to support themselves:
http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/26203912/Rockonomics.html

Debashish:
In my opinion the development of a rock music industry is inherently tied to the growth and evolution of a nation and hence is something I would track very closely if I were to be a longer term investor in any nation. The disclaimer is that I am possibly heavily biased being a bit of a hard rock / heavy metal fanatic and having played in amateur bands before.

Much like trying to "follow the money" when it comes to investing, I will try and go through the process which leads to the formation of a band and the development of the eco-system to attempt to articulate the same.

The roots always lie in it being a middle class movement and the reasons for the same are:

• Whether one considers what might be emerging now in India or what happened in the western world in the 60s, Rock music almost always is and will be a relatively more acquired taste given that it is not the simplest form of music out there. It takes a while for the ear to appreciate it and that cannot come without a certain degree of
  education and evolution of the mental process.
• The musical instruments required to play the same are neither cheap nor something which can be done without a significant degree of training and practice. Also as one goes into the essential accessories like effects pedals, mixers, quality amplifiers etc, the availability and affordability of the same is not easy in India, (though significantly better than 15 years back!)

Now lets delve a little deeper into the social aspects of the same:

• The music is inherently disruptive compared to the prevalent popular music of the time. Think - the change which the likes Elvis and Little Richard presented, or what the Beatles came up with, or further what the sounds of Black Sabbath & Led Zeppelin brought out as compared to the Beatles. In the Indian context, the big names to define the movement has not happened yet, however the texture of the music is in stark contrast to what is popular music ie bollywood music. This is an extremely important phenomenon since disruptive change is only likely to occur when society is at an inflection point in its developmental process.
• Rock music is possibly one of the most honest forms of music in terms of an expression of a heavy dose of realism in its lyrical content and the channelling of animalistic aggression through a musical process. This is in complete contrast to popular music of its time. Bollywood music for eg presents a sugar-coated, escapist veneer which is perfectly suited to forget the harshness of life in the real world. However for realism to become popular, there needs to be a certain degree of comfort with the realities of life, which in turn is nothing but a pure function of a certain amount of affluence seeping
  through society.

Which in turn brings us to the context of forming a band:

• A rock band is almost guaranteed to go through a period of intense struggle surviving on just about nothing or a day job until commercial success can be achieved. While the musicians may well be renegades influenced by idealism, the reality of the situation will no doubt hit sooner or later. Going back however to the first part which I mentioned that the movement is inherantly rooted in the middle class, what is interesting to see is how greater numbers slowly start emerging wanting to form a career in the field. This is inherently linked to a belief that an audience maybe developing for their music and that the musicians themselves are somewhat comfortable with what other future possibilities hold for them should their musical career fizzle out...ie a degree of comfort in being able to take career risks.
• A rock band is just like any entreprenuerial start up venture which is initiated with a strong idealistic framework and with the hopes of bootstrapping its way to success. This starts with the fact that there are 3-5 individuals brought together by an idea and then needing to execute on all parts of the process themselves ie the creative aspect - composition, song writing, playing; the business aspect - arranging gigs, haggling with club owners, procuring equipment, logistics etc. and the management aspect - managing egos & "creative differences". Entrepreneurship combined with middle class roots is exacly what you are looking in a developing economy.

And next we move on the development of the eco-system, which ofcourse starts first with the audience. While a big name, mainstream Western band is almost guranteed a sellout show in India given the complete lack of access to them in the past and hence the consequent pent up demand, its quite another thing for home grown bands to think about the possibility of an audience for their original music. The fact that this belief seems to be growing is a direct
reflection of an evolution of tastes in the broader consumer segment for something disruptively different from the norm and the elements of acquired taste which I initially mentioned - almost exactly the same aspects which you would look for to define emerging consumerism. A whole industry is slowly starting to develop around it which includes the record labels, the rock clubs which host live acts, the musical equipment manufacturers, the merchandising industry etc.

Again all this is still at a very nascent stage but I will insert a quote here from the article I cited initially to sum up what am attempting to describe in this rambling text:
"Tambe remembers attending an OML-organized "unconference" in November. "One British music producer speaking there said that the vibe and energy in Indian rock right now is very similar to Britain in the late 1960s, around the time the pub bands became international superstars," he says. "Something's about to happen. The indie music scene is going to explode. We're just turning the corner."

Happy reading!