July 2019 | Rolling Stone | 41
Dokter stressed the aspect
of transparency enabled by
technology, especially when
collecting data that can then
be tailored or curated for both
a better customer experience
and a profit for those creating
the music by way of reciprocal
rights.
The next panel consisted
of Tej Brar (Founder and
MD, Third Culture Enter-
tainment), Prajakta Koli aka
MostlySane (YouTuber and
Content Creator), Aaquib
Wani (Experiential Design-
er and Art Director, AW
Designs) and Nirmika Singh
(Executive Editor, Rolling
Stone India) who explored
the entrepreneurial ave-
nues available to creators
for leverage. The panel was
moderated by Samir Bangara
(Co-founder and MD, Qyuki
Digital Media) who very aptly
destroyed the romantic notion
of business, saying, “Five
years is the minimum time
to give yourself to become an
entrepreneur.” The panelists
confronted the unpredictabili-
ty of creative and social media
platforms, divining that
serendipity isn’t completely
hopeless. Koli shared, “There
was a time when I didn’t enjoy
making content as much, but
I still uploaded content. Then
one video blew up.” Singh em-
phasized the need for creators
to “chase the dreams that play
to your [their] strengths,”
especially as most creators
function as solo acts.
Post lunch, we headed
to the musical showcase
for the day which featured
an acoustic set by playback
singer Hriday Gattani who
played his unreleased track
“Parasite” and an exclusive
song composed in conjunc-
tion with American music
producer and sonic designer
Arthur Pingrey. The set was
followed by a workshop where
Pingrey mentored artists to
attune their music for a global
audience.
The evening panel titled
‘How To Grow Your
Business in the Music Indus-
try’ was a compelling lesson
for all present. It consisted of
Mandar Thakur (COO, Times
Music), Shreyas Srinivasan
(CEO, Insider.in) as well as
Rajiv Indimath (Entrepre-
neur in Residence, Mumbai
Angels) and was moderated
by Manav Dhanda (CEO,
Sab Group). With the music
industry coming out of theshadow of the film business
and standing on its own,
Indimath spoke of how an
artist’s creative hubris could
spell disaster if they fail to
address what the market
wants. Srinivasan said, “If
you’re an artist, learn about
business,” elaborating on how
the best artists have learned
to succeed in the market and
evolve their content. Making
an exception for outliers, he
stressed the need for creators
to “think about the currency
of the times to succeed.”
Most of the panels pitched
the field to address the con-
sumer or listener, the evolving
cultural soundscape of the
country and the market at
large.The cult of hip-hop,
need for curators
and building new
music landscapes in
India
The second day of Music
Inc. opened with a soulful
showcase by New Delhi
singer-songwriter Hanita
Bhambri. The opening note
by Loudest.in and Deeza In-
novations co-founder Aparaji-
ta Misra built on the energy in(From Left) Sameet Sharma, Petal Chandhok, Yuri Dokter, Sharad Puri and Harvinder
Singh Bhatia during the ‘Music Enhancing Retail Brand Experiences’ panel.
(From Left) Samir Bangara, Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane, Aaquib Wani,
Nirmika Singh and Tej Brar post the ‘India’s Rising Creative Entrepreneurs &
Influencers’ panel.(From Left) BBoy Vikram, Ankit Khanna, Brodha V and Varsha Patra joined
by British producer and presenter Tommy Sandhu post the ‘Building the
Hip-hop Ecosystem in India’ panel.