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Are we so called FANS killing our favourite music directors??

Topic started by Jay (@ 203.124.234.164) on Wed Apr 23 05:25:53 EDT 2003.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Admin, please take part in this discussion. Its a request. Serious music lovers take part in the discussion please, others keep off. I request.

This write up is taken from a post, written by Mr. Kalidas Swaami at Rahman Online.com. But, this is something which all of us at TFM have to think very seriously.

Mr. Kalidas, sorry to put up this article without your permission, I think we all have to think about this. Read On: (As written by Mr. Kalidas Swaami at Rahman Online.com).

Dear Fans,

I have been observing this for a while now - most of the consistent A R Rahman fans who visit this site wait for his music to release, listen to it 1-2 times on MP3 or Real Audio and then choose not to buy it. There are thousands (may be millions) of A R Rahman fans guilty of this. Many have heard SOME OF Paarthale Paravasam, Kaadhal Virus, Udhaya and most recently, Parasuram over the Internet and criticized it openly in forums to deter a wider range of buyers. The number of music lovers searching for information online has increased dramatically, and these seemingly small negative vibrations we send each time a new Rahman album is out is definitely wrecking his business. Saathiya, which is such a fine album for 2002 was met by aggression from the Tamils in many forums. They blamed Rahman, Adnan Sami and Gulzar for ruining Saathiya (check the earlier messeges in the archive to see what I mean). While ardent A R Rahman fans will be unmoved by such narrow mindedness, the masses (who do research before buying music) will surely think twice before selecting Rahman's music over someone else. I am sorry to say, but if Rahman albums are losing the hype, then we are indirectly responsible for it. Even though the CDs may be selling at nearby stores, lots of us are satisfied to RIP OFF 128 KBPS MP3 music. I still find it hard to believe that scores like Kaadhal Virus and The Legend of Bhagat Singh had to bomb! They are timeless experiments in music, which some of us love to criticise. Sorry about the size of messege folks, but I guess Parasuram is the next one on our HIT LIST. Thanks to you whiners again...

Kalidas Swaami is the original author of the post at Rahman Online.com

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Responses:

• From: Mumbai Ramki (@ 203.197.24.195) on: Wed Apr 23 05:38:48 EDT 2003
  
  1.EVerybody has right to express his opnions .If a cassete is not good ,it is not good .
  
  2.But at the same time ,it is totally unjust to give judgements on hearing just 2 times ..Possibly we can describe how the song looks like ...
  
  3.It is my feeling that SAATHIYA is defintely not good as ALAIPAYTHEY and ADNAN SAMi was defintely a bad choice in my opnion ...
  
  4.The same thing applies to all the music directors ...
  
  5.My suggestion will be to hear the Mp3 s and if u like it please do buy the cassete !!!!!
  
  
  Just because i like a music director it is totally unfair to give a good rating if the music is bad ...
  
  REhman albums are losing the hype not because of this reason alone ....The market is very different these days and there canot be a monopoly in music these days ..
  
  But i do agree that Kananthil Muthamittal ,Parthalae Paravasam ,Kadhal Virus,Bhagat SIngh are excellent albums which did not meet with huge success as it should have ....But i would not agree that UDHAYA and PARUSRAMA are of that quality ....
  
  
• From: Paran (@ 203.123.16.3) on: Wed Apr 23 05:44:42 EDT 2003
  
  Hey this is an absolute fact....
  
  just because everybody cant wait to hear ARR's new music...they tend to look at the earliest available source...and does the judgement based on mp3 and Real files...
  
  this is bad...we all know...ARR's music is meant to be heard from a good sound system..or at least a walkman....
  
  we are spoiling ARR's market.....yes we do....
  boycott MP3's, and other Real files available on the net...
  
  this is not only applicable to HCARRF...but for all listeners who wished the best of luck to TFM...
  
  c'mon guys....we have to do this...for the sake of our music.....
  
  
  Vandeee MAtaram
  
  
• From: Arjuna (@ 195.92.67.66) on: Wed Apr 23 06:43:00 EDT 2003
  
  Dont worry guys!!! ARR is GOD!! He is the greatest of all..His music has a huge market in the international arena..unlike the other mediocre music directors who can sell only in Tamil Nadu..ARR is the one and only one who can cross boundaries!!He is GOD!!
  
  
• From: thematrix1298 (@ 65.95.163.104) on: Wed Apr 23 07:23:36 EDT 2003
  
  hey guys come to reality, it's 2003 tamil music industry is soooo small compared to english but they are still surviving right? i mean i know the sales are not like before but if an album is a hit alot of people will buy it(ie. artist 50 cent). This thread is not just for ar rahman it's for all the music director. Seriously i think ar rahman didn't loose alot of his magic it's just that other md's are catching up really fast. For example in 1990's there weren't alot of famous directors who brought western music but now the whole world is affected by western music style etc...therefore all the new md's know the stuff, this is really bad news for ar rahman because he really has alot of competition. If his music something really specially then he will shine out but it's not the case anymore. Face it!!!!
  
  
• From: Prabhu (@ 203.124.130.219) on: Wed Apr 23 08:28:37 EDT 2003
  
  If an song is really good, people would really buy the audio. If not, they wont waste bucks. Period. No need to use the mp3 argument to excuse a bad album
  
  
• From: Kupps (@ 203.199.209.101) on: Wed Apr 23 09:19:56 EDT 2003
  
  IMHO
  
  We the listeners do not consider the film songs as commodities like, say, TV to be bought individually. If the songs listened over net are good this doesn't immediately induce everyone to go and buy the album (ofcourse if the songs are bad we won't care to buy it). This mentality/behaviour (or whatever it is) of the fans hasn't changed "much" over the period.
  
  During MKT/PUC era -> KVM/VR era -> MSV era the originals (i.e. the gramaphone records) were in the possession of only a few avid collectors. But we all know how big were the fan clubs for each MDs of each of these eras. Such a huge following was merely based on radio listening plus a few light music concerts. During IR era also this trend continued but the no. of people who wanted to have a personal copy relied on "friend to friend copy of cassettes". Though the MDs and producers were "asking" people to buy original cassettes but still nothing much was enforced. There was no Album release function that got such a fanfare, publisised event as a film release. If I am not wrong the first such a thing to happen is for Dhalapathy in 1991. But the globalisation of economy made a rapid change from the producers (MDs/film producers/directors) they all changed to commodity mode and started releasing albums spending and expecting much money from it. But still the people (atleast the old people, middle aged people) have not switched to this mode.
  
  Now the question is should they? My answer to it is Why should they? A film album is not a private album like what happens in west. A film songs are still (supposed to be) part and parcel of the movie. So IMHO not all people have to spend money seperately to buy the original cassettes/CDs. Listening thru MP3/real/copying cassettes/CDs from friends etc., cannot be equated to a pirated VCD's effect on thamizh film.
  
  Also, if we feel that one should not pass the judgement based on a few listening of film songs then the same should apply for all reviews (esp, film reviews on popular magazines and TVs).
  
  Now assume there is a newly released album. One listens it and uploads its MP3/real version. Many listens and most of them feel it is bad. Why should we conclude that this review has killed our MDs? Actual the album has killed the MDs. I need not buy the album myself to know that it is good or bad. why should everybody repeat the same mistake a few has done. If everyone has to buy his own copy and then only has to decide whether its good or bad then where is the pressure on MDs to give good songs?
  
  
• From: Fan (@ 65.176.168.64) on: Wed Apr 23 09:49:58 EDT 2003
  
  Kupps, adeyngappa. all issues brilliantly tackled. as far as music is concerned, people first try out and then only buy, and word spreads fast too. so, internet is not killing Rahman, it is a big forum these days the world of commerce, people are going to search for opinions, samples etc. what do you think all the online music vendors like cdnow, amazon are doing? giving you samples. Mr. Kaalidas Swami is brainwashing himself only.
  
  
• From: MystyCresendo (@ 199.175.150.253) on: Wed Apr 23 13:46:30 EDT 2003
  
  Absolutely agree with Kupps. It seems Mr. Kaalidas Swami is just trying to "sell" ARRs songs however bad they may be (and getting worser by the album).
  
  This argument is something like poor software writers blaming software piracy for lack of sales. The underlying issue here is "bad quality" software which is killing sales. I still have friends that do buy "good stuff" whether it is music/software.
  
  And excuse me, calling Kaadhal Virus album as "timeless experiments in music"... come on, Mr. Swami... Wake up! (or as Morpheus would say "Welcome to the real world...")
  
  
  
• From: bb (@ 206.154.118.2) on: Wed Apr 23 14:37:50 EDT 2003
  
  May be we should all be like the guys who come out of theatre in sun tv's thirai vimarsanam, who keep saying "padam soooperA irukkunga, super hittunga" for every film that is being reviewed, regardless of whether it is good or not :-)))
  
  
• From: rajaG (@ 208.24.179.28) on: Wed Apr 23 15:05:56 EDT 2003
  
  BTW, most music directors get a fixed contracted rate for composing (I know! I know! periya vaarththai thaan :-)) music for a film. They do not have an immediate financial interest in the sales of the CD/cassettes.
  
  
  
• From: Anbe sivam (@ 206.102.161.11) on: Wed Apr 23 16:43:37 EDT 2003
  
  Guys,
  
  Is it not true that all MD's going through this problem? The topic appears to me as if only ARR is facing this problem. That is not true.
  
  When the technology emerges(like mp3 and cable modem) and there is no enforcement of law, people do access the source which is costless for them. It is definitely wrong. But world is not that perfect.
  
  Also present day songs has no longiveity. So just for few listenings, people avoid buying albums. This is true only for computer literate and guys having fast internet access. I think we form a very little tiny bit of total demographics of music lovers.
  
  
• From: ganjinx (@ 167.203.48.180) on: Wed Apr 23 16:58:36 EDT 2003
  
  I have to agree partially with the post.
  There are 2 points made
  1) Is it ok to criticise a song just by listening to ra or mp3 .
  2) Not buying the CD/cass since we hear it online.
  
  Both are very valid points and i can say that i am guilty of both.
  Regarding the 2nd point
  I have around 150 original CD's which was bought from 96 to 2001 but after that i have bought only 1 cd.
  But i have burnt all latest ARR songs after downloading from the net and love most of them. i have seen many of my friends do the same, so Without going to the quality discussion, we can definitely say that it is hurting the sales.
  regarding the 1st point,
  Is it ok to comment on a song after just hearing the realaudio songs on the net.Definitely not.even most of the mp3's are bad.
  Many people are just hearing the ra songs in sites like raaga and commenting.Thats a NO NO.
  just my 2 cents
  
  
  

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