With absolutely no doubt, the most important thing that we adore about Bollywood is its music. If there’s one common thread that strings together all films that are released in Bollywood, it has got to be the entertainment with the frill of music that just adds spice and masala to these Bollywood movies.
But let’s think about it the other way. Popular Bollywood music has been around since the 1950s and ever since then, its audience has increased exponentially. People might probably be unaware of their Chief Minister’s name, but will surely know the lyrics of ‘Munni Badnaam’.
We love our music Industry, we honestly do. It has given us songs ranging from energetic party anthems to songs that just match well with our mood even when we feel dim. From songs that give us goosebumps sometimes to songs whose lyrics are downright ridiculous, we have it all. But if I ask you to name a few Hindi songs from your collection, it is for sure that most of the songs you will name will be from Bollywood movies. Ok…just for the sake of your satisfaction, try it once.
Bollywood music is definitely one of the reasons why most people love Bollywood, but have you ever thought that how despite having other film industries as well like Tollywood, Mollywood, Sandalwood, Pollywood and so many talented indie music artists in our country, Bollywood still manages to steal the thunder. With this, can we say that the music industry of our country is dominated and monopolised by Bollywood completely?
But if this is the case, it becomes important for us to know the rationales behind how Bollywood maintains its monopoly and governs the music industry of India.
1. Success of Bollywood stands out and above all
It’s a fact that Bollywood stands out and above all other national cinemas as far as its reach is concerned. As the majority of people in our country speak and understand Hindi, Bollywood becomes the choice of Indians. It is therefore that Bollywood music automatically gets its audience with the vast reach of the industry. Since most people in our country listen to Bollywood music, the industry has created its monopoly over the Indian music industry.
As per KPMG in India analysis Bollywood music accounts for about 50 per cent of all consumption in the country and the rest is then divided into regional music, music by indie artists and international repertoire.
2. Opposition between Indie & Bollywood music industry
The tussle is no new to the film industry. It’s not just restricted to Bollywood but other film industries in India to keep their focal point more on the songs as compared to the artists. Yes! The sad reality is that the film industries in our country are highly song-focussed and not artist-focussed which always makes the artist play a secondary role.
The mannerism in which the film industry works often makes the artist and his talent take the backstage while making the lip-synching actors gain all attention from the audience. Although, this is a necessary step in the process, still, it is important to note that the practice often makes the audience ignore the actual talent behind the scenes.
3. Bollywood looks for a shortcut
Bollywood uses a simple strategy: What’s already popular, make it your own. Let me make this easy for you. You must have probably noticed that Bollywood tries to adapt to what’s already famous. We have seen an immense number of Bollywood songs that are a copy of songs that are already a hit. Simply, if something is becoming somewhat famous and is being enjoyed amongst the Indian consumers, soon enough that music gets featured in Bollywood.
We have a clear example of the latest trend in Bollywood where old evergreen hits are getting recreated. The music industry today just looks for a shortcut by picking old or other popular hits to make money by adding a new twist to it.
4. Bollywood: A promotional instrument
For most music artists, Bollywood acts as a promotional instrument. Everybody wants to get into the big industry. Many music artists and singers believe that getting into Bollywood would get them the name and fame they always aspired about, which to an extent is true as well.
Far from doubts, Bollywood has great promotional potential as with its vast audience and reach, it provides the music artist and singers to reach the 1.3 billion population of the country. Therefore, even the artists and musicians intend to get into the industry to create a fan base and an audience.
5. Ownership of music
Gaining ownership with the help of Copyright laws is one of the most important factors that allow Bollywood to access a complete monopoly over the music industry in India. The complicated process of music creation and the involvement of multiple individuals makes it difficult to understand who should be considered as the owner of the song and who is the principal creator of the artwork.
The process and gaining rights over the musical piece majorly go to the music label or film production company that ultimately gives the label the control to exploit the content as well. This simply denotes that the Music Label owning the copyrights can use the ‘work’ in whatever way they seem fit.