Messiahs of indie music, Only Much Louder, is not into indie bands anymore

Rapper NaezyRapper Naezy who emerged as talent to watch out for two years ago from the slums of Kurla isnt quite able to put his finger on what ailed his relationship with new media company Only Much Louder OML I found the meetings feeka insipid he says of the outfit that managed him for around two years This is surprising considering OML pioneered indie music management in the country 16 years ago turning into a game changerNaezy says after Uday Kapur his manager at the outfit quit the firm he didnt think they were able to identify someone who understood the rap scene Only last year Tej Brar OMLs head of artist management had declared that 2016 would be the year of desi hiphop making the likes of Naezy a priority Brar quit the firm last month following Arjun S Ravi former director who jumped ship last year to join Red BullMurmurs of them pushing their own artists at NH7 Weekender the annual multicity music fest conceived produced and organised by OML have been growing louder as is the allegation that they dont lend the much needed push to indie talent that they once did Senior experienced artists are given 3 pm slots while newer artists their own are handed the prime 9 pm slot said a wellknown singersongwriter requesting anonymitySwarathma Benaglurus folkrock outfit moved off the OML roster after they say they experienced a drop in quality of artist managementTwo weeks ago Rolling Stone announced that OML had dropped some of the countrys most prominent indie talent from its roster mdashBengalurubased Swarathma F16 and Parvaaz and The Ganesh Talkies from Kolkata And then two weeks ago Naezy moved onPoprock band The Ganesh Talkies from left Suyasha Sengupta Sambit Chatterjee Roheet Mukherjee and Ronodeep Bose received an email intimation of termination of contract and say they had seen it comingTalent management rebootIn 2002 Vijay Nair launched OML after dropping out of Syndenham College He was 18 While a student he was already managing bands like Pentagram and Zero His older brother Ajay Nair not only took on the challenge of convincing their conservative Malayali parents of the risk he also pooled in his savings to kick off Weekenders first edition in 2010 by mortgaging his flat In three years the fest picked up two more cities Delhi and Bengaluru gradually launching NH7 the online music news platform artist booking agency The Syndicate and Babble Fish Productions which got famous with television shows like The Dewarists Gradually they have expanded into stand up comedy managing All India Bakchod and Kanan Gill although music remains the mainstay with names like Nucleya Ankur Tiwari and Dualist Inquiry associated with them While Vijay started off small like any entrepreneur managing the bands himself gradually he attracted the talent that allowed OML to flyInterestingly he has come a full circle managing certain bands himself but realising he has his hands full Swarathma who have been with OML since 2008 admit they owe their success to Nair In a recent conversation with him they say he admitted to being unable to change the artist management discipline overnight and suggested it was best to part We have been managed by Nair himself directly and were always on even keel But he couldnt continue doing this and in the past few months we werent happy with how the artist management part was going A manager needs to look into logistics yes but also help the talent plan a road ahead Not every artist can do it himself The focus was not entirely on us and the quality was dipping says Swarathma guitarist Jishnu DasguptaFor The Ganesh Talkies the mail from OML concerning the termination of a threeyear contract signed in November 2015 before time wasnt surprising Bass player Roheet Mukherjee says the parting is sure to affect their work OML funded their albums and landed them gigs but sees it as a tough decision the company had to take We personally were having accounting problems The payments were not coming on time Vijay called everyone up personally and said he needed to step back and didnt wish to continue with a band if he couldnt deliver Its like a relationship really For the moment they are on their own and say if their music is worth it the gigs should keep comingNaezy too says they parted on good terms and while he hopes to work with OML again the lack of focus or what he termspushwas affecting his reach Plans were made but not executed Maybe I should have pushed more from my end too I tried I didnt have a focused team to manage meWhy did he do itTo the outsider then it seems that OMLs current roster is dominated by moneyspinners EDM artists and standup comics How does that make them different from any other music management firmVijay NairVijay Nair is clear he is going to take time out to rebuild In an email interview he says Building a scene and ecosystem is more important than standing out For that you have to focus on building a team not just signing talent The reason behind dropping prominent bands he attributes to working on expanding the music division to double its size Reevaluation and training fresh talent is what he must focus on Managing artists in India usually means booking shows But it is much more than that It includes working with brands managing their longterm strategy publishing merchandising royalty collection The list keeps growing as the music business evolves None of the music management firms seem to be focusing on this We are largely busy with daytoday operations OML is clear about how a new team has to be built mdash which usually means taking a step back and training before going out and signing acts Once he has regrouped he may just sign on the same acts again he saysAnkur Tiwari and the Ghalat Family disses the rumours Not being picked up for an event may have to do with OMLs strict curation he argues There may be a few unhappy with the companys recent move but the essence of the indie scene depends on working together not competing Unlike before there are so many more artist management firms and everyone is cool about working with the other Thats the good thing about this space right nowHe is referring to the likes of Big Bad Wolf Mixtape Wild City and Krunk among others Anirudh Voleti who works with Big Bad Wolf says OMLs decision boils down to a change in business model Why judge them for it Big Bad Wolf calls itself a boutique agency that manages only about 10 acts a time The meaning ofindiehas changed too It used to mean nonBollywood but now it could be anything The main aim is to let the scene grow And though there are many of us out there right now the policy is to live and let live he says adding At the end of the day as things stand an indie artist can manage on his own It just depends on his understanding of venues and his drive as artist Thats all it takes