20 Aug 2017  |   03:26am IST

Is Konkani music radio ga-ga?

Bringing to the fore the age-old favourite medium of the radio, Café questions how it can play a large role in the promotion of Konkani music

Fernando Monte da Silva

For the generation of the ‘70s, their day began with the radio. Clocks were designed to go off to music, rather than just beeping. In similar vein, for the next generation, it turned into a drive-time companion, where the radio became a fellow traveller on a journey whether short or long. For lovesick couples, secret messages of admiration were shared on air. And of course, let’s not forget singing along to the popular jingle of ‘All India Radio’, which is basically the melody and arrangement of The Doobie Brothers’ 1972-released, first-ever big hit, ‘Listen to the Music’.

For decades on end, the radio ruled the world of music, and the industry that needed it in order to survive. Whether as an artiste or a record label, you needed to have the backing of the airwaves to be relevant, your music to be in wide rotation across the country. This, of course, meant spending a massive amount of money to get radio promoters on board. However, taking a massive time-jump forward, we see that it’s no longer the case in question anymore. Listening habits have since evolved, with the availability of greater options now. Today we have terrestrial radio, satellite radio services, online programmes, podcasts, streaming radio platforms like Pandora and iTunes Radio, and so on. However, while all of this implies that for the world at large, conventional radio isn’t that relevant anymore, for the Konkani music industry, it makes all the difference in the world.

Silroy Fernandes, whose radio-based career moves have taken him from the public sector to the private one in this area, and is now a mainstay with All India Radio (AIR), points out how radio works to promote artistes, especially when it comes to local languages like Konkani.

“An artiste can come to the station and provide us with a sample of their original work, and if the quality of production of the music is good enough in terms of audible quality, we’re happy to air it for them. All that the artiste needs to do thereafter is provide us with an NOC, stating that we have permission to air their music. We especially promote local languages when it comes to larger programmes, wherein states are asked to submit music in their local language, to be aired often on a national level. That gives the artiste exposure on a much larger scale, and we believe that this showcase will really help boost the visibility of the artiste in question,” he says.

And it isn’t that the impetus for music in Konkani isn’t required either. Lorna and Chris Perry’s contributions were the last that made the big news, with ‘Seby and the Wings’ stirring the mix once more, when they brought ‘Mira Mira’ to life. While the talent is doubtlessly there, and music is still being made, the problem arises when it comes to promotion and air-time. In an age of Biebers and Perrys, and their record-label driven initiatives that flood the internet and audio programming, how can Konkani music be expected to compete on level footing?

Pankaj Kudtarkar, another popular voice on air in the state, points out that local radio could help the local artiste thrive, adding however that artistes need to keep up to their end of the bargain too. “There are many stations out there, all catering to different kinds of music. And in my experience, local music and talent has always been given a chance. The problem lies in the fact that I find that quality is often compromised by many upcoming artistes. There is a desire for instant exposure, and hence things are rushed. This has led to a drop in quality in more recent times, as compared to some of our legends of the past. When we would get submissions at my previous radio station, we would pass them along to our higher-ups, who would select what was to be played. Evidently, if something was sub-par, they wouldn’t be able to air it, as once it is cleared, it can’t only be aired once, and if a song isn’t good, and it’s aired repeatedly, ratings would naturally suffer. Hence I would like to emphasise that quality of the end product is a must, and radio as well as other mediums would be more than happy to do their bit to aid.”

There can be no doubt that Konkani music still has a lot of ears tuning in to it and now there are ways to make the melodies hand-crafted in Goa reach those ears. Video may have killed the radio star, according to the old pop-anthem by Buggles, but the radio will certainly do what it can to keep the Konkani star alive, as long as the artistes keep the good music coming.