intertaninment

Money and Music

By Ananta Wagle

The musical sector is slowly but surely getting com mercialised in Nepal. A decade ago, singing for money would, if anything, be taken as a joke. Times have undergone a sea change. Singing maestro Narayan Gopal is believed to be the first to demand remuneration for his voice. He charged Rs. 50 for a stage song, it is said. However insignificant the amount may appear, it was a record considering that none of Gopal’s contemporaries were paid for their performance. Nonetheless, not everyone in the sector accepted the concept of selling their voice, and therefore, vocalists and musicians after Gopal could not give the trend a continuity. It was only after Hari Bamsha Acharya and Madan Krishna Shrestha came onto the scene that stage artistes began charging for their performances. The MaHa duo is learned to have been paid Rs. 500 for their antics on the stage at that time. Also, until that time, it was new for the Nepali audience to pay money to watch a stage program.

Navin K. Bhattarai

For a sector that began in such a way, music today has become widely commercialised. It is a profession for many who have discovered that with fame, the line also brings money. The albums that hit music stand on almost a daily basis underline this fact. To complement this is the craze shown by the young generation for music. Obviously, music is here to stay as a business.

Initially, it was musical drama that set the music sector on the road to commercialisation. With time, cinema and audio-visual medium became the major promotional tools for music. Nonetheless, it was musical drama ‘Malati Mangale’ that brought people closer to music.

As things stand today, the cinema industry is the most lucrative option for musicians and singers alike. Not many, however, have been able to establish themselves prominently here. One singer that has made good earning by singing in Nepali films is Ram Krishna Dhakal who is known to charge between Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 5,000 for a song. Dhakal also sings for albums. In the latter category, he is known to demand remuneration according to the type of song he is required to sing. However, for Dhakal, the real money comes from the release of his own audio albums. He receives royalty of some Rs. 6 to 8 on sale of each cassette. The sum amounts to quite an impressive figure, especially in light of the fact that one of Dhakal’s albums has hit record sales of some 1,10,000 cassettes.

Another very important means of making fast money is stage shows. And popular artistes do get frequent offers to be a part of such shows, at both inside the country and abroad. Performing in shows overseas also provides stars opportunity to visit numerous countries. Countries like USA, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and the UK that house significant Nepali population provide good audience to stage shows from Nepal.

Like Dhakal, Yum Baral, Sapana Shrestha, Devika Pradhan and Reema Gurung have kept themselves busy singing for Nepali films as well as cutting their own albums.

Talking of films, musicians are also doing well financially. Prominent music directors, namely, Sambhujit Banskota, Sachin Singh, Laxman Shrestha and Tika Bhandari, are known to demand remuneration amounting to Rs. 3,00,000 per film. Good money, considering that even Rajesh Hamal cannot boast of such a pay. These music directors are also sought to do music for albums and, depending upon the number, charge between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 25,000.

Namaste Band performing

A discussion, in the present context, on the music scenario can never be complete without touching upon pop music. Although Nepali pop music is still in its infancy and very few people have been able to make a mark in the category, things do seem to be looking up. And one name that stands out is that of Navin Bhattarai. He is said to have done for Nepali pop what Baba Saigal did for Indi pop. Bhattarai’s last album ‘Samjhana’ was bought by Moonlight Recording for a Rs. 3,00,000. His previous albums, ‘Rahar’, ‘Abhas’ and ‘Smriti’ had all been big hits. Sanjay Shrestha, Sanjeev Pradhan, Om Bikram Bista and Neema Rumba are other well-known male pop singers while Nalina Chitrakar, and Sarisma Amatya are popular female pop stars. The trend of forming music groups or bands is also fast catching on. With almost all of its latest songs topping hit chart lists, the Pokhara based ‘Kandara’ band can be said to be leading the pack.

Pop singers also get ample opportunity as back-ground singers in movies and also to perform in stage shows.

Having spoken about different categories the contribution of folk music to the development of the music industry in Nepal cannot be ignored. Folk music and folk songs was in fact a tradition – it still is. But unfortunately, the segment could not develop commercially. Apart from attempts by singers like Kumar Basnet and Mira Rana who are still sought after stage performers, the oldest Nepali music form is gradually being sidelined and forgotten. And this is perhaps the curse of commercialisation.

Translated by Navin

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