The Mix
T
he music inc. confer-
ence, which was held
over the past weekend
(June 21st and 22nd) at the
JW Marriott Hotel, Mum-
bai, saw the music commu-
nity gather to address the
intersections of music. With
panels spanning the topics of
technology, creative entre-
preneurship, advertising and
licensing, regional and inde-
pendent music, music festi-
vals, tourism, weddings, popculture and more, the event
organized by music business
community Loudest.in and
media information platform
Exchange4Media sought to
deconstruct the Indian music
landscape, address key issuesand build a bridge between
creators, the industry and
emerging networks.
The two-day conference
brought to the fore numerous
interesting panels which were
interspersed with amazing
artist showcases and work-
shops that formed a needed
respite from the jam-packed
schedule. The event united
playback and independent
artists, national and glob-
al industry big-wigs and
representatives. While it was
immersive, well-intentioned
and painstakingly curated,
the speakers could’ve done a
little more to acknowledge the
contribution of independent
artists, amplify their position
and address avenues of lever-
age and representation in the
industry.
Yet when the conference de-
livered, it really left attendees
with some food for thought.
Here are the high-
lights:Technology,
business and music
are inextricably
linked
The conference kicked off
a little late but the delay
allowed for the hall to be
filled with attendees before
Anurag Batra (Chairman and
Editor in Chief, Exchange-
4media and BW Business-
world) delivered the opening
welcome note, highlighting
an on-going 360 degree
reinvention of music. TheDharavi Dream Project’s
(TDDP) hip-hop afterschool
showcased a dynamic set
which included performances
by their beat boxers, rappers
and break dancers. Theirs
was perhaps the most show
stopping performance of the
day, representing three of the
four elements of hip-hop (we
have TDDP’s Bboy Vikram to
thank for this short lesson)
— breaking, rapping and beat
boxing.
Being a forerunner of the
internet revolution in India,
Neeraj Roy’s (Hungama Digi-
tal Media Founder and CEO)
keynote speech addressed the
need for the Indian market
to introduce new revenue
models in order to meet
the estimate of 600 million
smartphone users joining the
market by 2024. With music
streaming becoming one of
the fastest growing digital
categories in the
country, Roy con-
nected this surge
to the boom in
access to Internet
data.
The first panel for
the day titled ‘Music Enhanc-
ing Retail Brand Experiences’
saw panelists Harvinder
Singh Bhatia (Co-founder and
CEO, Radiowalla Network),
Petal Chandhok (Partner at
Trust Legal, Advocates and
Consultants), Yuri Dokter
(Founder and CEO, DJ
Monitor), Sharad Puri (Gen-
eral Manager, JW Marriott
Juhu) and moderator Sameet
Sharma (VP and Business
Head, Viacom 18) discuss the
impact of music in the retail
environment with Bhatia call-
ing it an absolute “must have.”Key Takeaways from
Music Inc. 2019
Leading experts in music agree that technology is both the
future and saving grace of the music industry
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MUSIC INC.Mumbai singer-
songwriter Tejas Menon
performs at Music Inc.40 | Rolling Stone | July 2019