AR Rahman & Shekhar Kapur’s Media Startup Qyuki Goes Live

AR Rahman & Shekhar Kapur have finally launched their media startup ‘Qyuki‘. We had initially reported this venture about this venture in November 2010 and the company had secured funding from Cisco Systems in February 2012. At that time, Shekhar Kapur had said that Qyuki will allow the co-creation of creative content and partly crowd source content like lyrics and music among others. In addition, he had also mentioned that they had hired around 25 people into their Bangalore office and the platform was expected to go live in May 2012. The company is headed by Poonacha Machaiah, who was previously the chairman and CEO of ABOVE Solutions Inc.

Mentors: At launch, Qyuki seems to have signed up experts across several creative categories like film making, music, novel writing and photography including Imtiaz Ali, Chetan Bhagat, Ranjit Barot and Suresh Natarajan to provide creative ideas to artists and also collaborate with them in creating new content.

What Does It Offer? When we checked, we observed that Qyuki offers a platform for artists to share their content, connect to people with similar creative interests, view creations from various other artists, and collaborate with them to create content. The website is currently divided into three main sections namely Creations, Community and Inspirations.

he Creations section showcases all the content previously uploaded by various artists and experts in a Pinterest-like pin-board format. This content can be a film script, a poem, a song, a photo, or a cartoon among others. Users can sort these creations by recentness or popularity or filter these creations on the basis of genre, emotions, and location. One can also filter the creations to view content only from any specific expert. There is a keyword based search box to allow users to search for their preferred creations.

Reactions: Users can click on any specific creation to view the entire content and express their opinion through comments. What’s interesting here is that the site also offers various reaction buttons like Love, Hope, Joy, Sorrow, Pride, Anger, and Boredom among others below each content, to allow users express their opinion. Each creation also offers something called EmoGraf which is essentially an average score of emotional responses received from the Qyuki community.

Curation: We noticed that there is a significant effort towards curating the content on the platform and highlighting noteworthy content. For instance, there is Qyuki’s Handpicks which offers content curated by an in-house Qyuki team, Community Loved which features popular content on the portal and Expert’s Handpicks which we assume will offer content curated by the experts.

Registration: We also noticed that while users can view creations and ideas, they will need to sign up to submit their creations, post comments, follow other users and send messages. The site currently allows users to sign up either through their Facebook credentials or by a filling up a form with requisite details like Name, Gender, Location, and Email Address.

After signing up, the site offers a Tumblr-like dashboard for users to upload their creation. One can choose their content type (text, picture, audio, and video), add a title and description, choose relevant categories for the creation and preview it before publishing it. Interestingly, users can also tag the creation with any specific emotion like Love, Joy, Boredom, Pride, Fear, Hope and Sorrow among others.

Community: As the name suggests, Community section lists all the members registered on the portal. Users can sort these members by recentness or popularity or filter them on the basis of genre, location and noteworthiness. Following this, one can click on any member to browse through their creations, learn additional information about them and follow them to receive their future updates.

Inspirations: Inspirations are essentially ideas or challenges put out by experts in a bid to encourage users upload more content to the platform. For instance, some of the challenges listed the site include Chetan Bhagat’s challenge to write a 300 word article about an incident that touched the user or Suresh Natarajan’s challenge to capture a mother and child relationship in a photo among others.

Qyuki Premiere: On the homepage, there is also a dedicated section called Qyuki Premiere, which showcases creations developed by the Qyuki team. At the time of  writing this article, the site offered short video previews of two Shekhar Kapur creations called ‘War Lord’ and ‘Moments In Motion’ and an AR Rehman creation ‘Melange’. The company noted that content in Qyuki Premiere is currently free to view but it intends to provide access through subscription in the future. It also noted that the content created will be exclusive and will be owned by Qyuki. We believe this will be the destination where the company will be showcasing all its finished creations to regular users.

Update

During the launch event, Qyuki previewed its Android app and stated that the app will available on Google Play Store later today. The company also plans to launch an iOS app, Windows Phone app and a mobile site m.qyuki.com in the future.

Vernacular Language Support : Machaiah also stated that Qyuki is currently available in English language but they plan to add support for regional languages in the future.

Monetization Strategy: Elaborating on Qyuki’s business model, Machaiah stated that the company is looking to earn revenue from three different channels:

– Brand Engagement solutions wherein brands will sponsor premium content on Qyuki Premiere or will put up sponsored inspirations on the Qyuki platform. At launch, Qyuki has tied up with Dell Alienware to sponsor Shekhar Kapur’s War Lord movie.

– Subscription model for Qyuki users to access premium content, as stated earlier. Machaiah didn’t disclose any specific details on the subscription period or its pricing.

– Site Advertising when Qyuki is able to reach a critical mass.

Qyuki Marketplace in March 2013: In March 2013, they plan to launch a creative marketplace to sell and license the content uploaded on the portal on a revenue sharing basis with the uploader, although he didn’t disclose any specific revenue share ratio.

Partnerships: Machaiah stated that Qyuki has also inked partnerships with Rajshri Productions and Siddhartha Basu’s Big Synergy to develop content for distribution across various platforms. The details of this partnership is yet undisclosed and Basu noted that the content strategy talks with Qyuki are currently in preliminary stages, however he mentioned of a possible television show in the future.

AR Rahman explores music beyond boundaries

 

MUMBAI: Oscar-winning composer  AR Rahman is now aiming to attain an international name for his music institution KM Music Conservatory (KMMC). A group of students from Rahman’s KMMC have become the first musicians from the institute to travel to UK as part of a new educational partnership with Middlesex University.

The University has worked with KM Music Conservatory to build a course which allows Rahman’s students to bring together the western and Hindustani music styles. These musicians will get an opportunity to gain a full honours degree in London, after the completion of their diploma in Chennai. The first batch of KMMC students commenced their studies at the university from October 2012.

As part of the partnership, students from the institute will get a chance to go to London every year for the honours degree.

Excited about the collaboration, Rahman said, “When a vision becomes a reality, you are inspired to do more. This is a great start for Indian kids to have this multicultural exposure, because they are the leaders of tomorrow.”

Middlesex University BA music programme leader Dr François Evans said, “In the short time that the students have been in London, we have learned much from each others’ cultures and the way we perform. Apart from experimenting with fusions of Indian and Western music techniques, it will be wonderful to contrast different educational styles, mixing instruction in India where it’s common to learn under a single highly regarded musician,  and with the UK, where we teach under a shared curriculum.”

The renowned composer founded the conservatory to expand the horizons of musicians in India through his students who echo the same ideology today. Abinav Sridharan, student from Chennai now studying in Middlesex University, said, “India, as we all know has a myriad of cultures and arts, with a majority of it originating from different parts of the country itself. I find the same here in London, just that there are more opportunities for people from all over the world to showcase their talent. This scene is just in its starting stages in India and studying here will certainly give us a chance to experience all that London has to offer.”

Another student from Sikkim Tshering Leizum Bhutia said, “Western music was totally new to me and studying in the comfort of my own country gave me confidence and the courage to take the big step

towards studying in London. There are definitely more opportunities here in London where Western classical music in concerned. We now have access to live performances such as operas, concerts and musicals which are not available in India but are very important in our line of study.”

 

 

Fox Music Robert Kraft: “I am very fond of AR Rahman”

 

Encompassing the music publishing and licensing business and dealing primarily with Fox Entertainment Group television and film soundtracks, Fox Music has produced several record-breaking soundtracks of films like Titanic, Moulin Rouge, Walk the Line, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire and Black Swan amongst others.

The division has also supervised the music for Twentieth Century Fox television hits such as ‘Ally McBeal’, ‘X-Files’, ‘24’, ‘The Simpsons’ and more. Under the willful guidance of its president Robert Kraft, the company sold over 60 million albums garnering several honours including Academy Awards, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy wins.

As the veteran composer culminates his journey in the division by December to develop musical films and television shows, he converses withRadioandmusic.com’s Chandni Mathur on the music scenario today, his radio show Screentracks and his fondness for Indian composer AR Rahman.

Excerpts:

Tell us about Fox Music and its current projects?

Being the president of Fox Music for 18 years, I was responsible for all music under the Twentieth Century Fox Motion Pictures. We make around 20-24 movies a year and the music that I was responsible for included scores from movies like Avatar, Titanic, Ice Age and more. I was accountable for the underscore, song and on-screen music in the films.

Currently we are recording an orchestra for the movie ‘Life of Pi’ which is about an Indian family and is directed by Ang Lee. That is one of our big Christmas release and I am also working on ‘Die Hard 4’ with Bruce Willis which will be out in early 2013, ‘X Men’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’ are some of our other new films lined up.

Considering that each of these films is very different, how does the music vary in each of them?

Every single movie has different music needs. Some films have electronic music, orchestral music or just all songs. I try to design the music differently for each film. It mostly depends on what the director likes and which artiste he can afford to sign and the music is thus accordingly designed by me. Sometimes directors want big artistes like Jay Z to sing for them, but like every business, movie music too has a budget. So I listen to their demands and if I can’t get them Jay Z as per their budget, I get them a cool hip-hop track which is less expensive.

There has been an Indian connection with some of your film music in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Life of Pi’. So what are Fox Music’s plans to tap into the Indian markets?

I am very fond of AR Rahman. I am certainly trying to work with him. I know that a lot of composers use Indian sounds now in modern film scores but Fox Music unfortunately still focuses on a domestic American audience primarily and then the music translates across the world. But in the last few years, ‘Life of Pi’, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ are the films that take place in Mumbai so Indian instruments have been used in the soundtrack. I don’t think we are specifically targeting Indian music or Indian instruments, but I am very interested in it and knowing what will happen if Hollywood and Bollywood get closer and closer.

What would you like to say about Rahman’s music?

It’s fantastic what he does. Infact I had to do the remix of the song ‘Jai Ho’, so I had to get into the nuances of the track and a lot of it was electronic while I thought it was all real instruments. So he is a true genius. It just shows that music is never over, it’s just different tools.

Since Fox does not have a record label, how is the music of the film released?

For every single film, record labels come to me and make an offer and usually it goes to the highest bidder. In the 90s, after we did Titanic, where I sold 30 million cds on the strength of that one Celine Dion song, every single movie had a soundtrack where people would pay around a million dollars to the company to release it. But soundtracks don’t sell anymore. People go to iTunes, they steal the songs. You will always find labels to release a record but soundtracks are now limited to a collector’s edition and not many of them get popular now.

Recent reports have stated that because of digital, the physical sale of albums have gone down drastically. What is your view on that?

Digital is completely affecting the sales of physical albums now. Let me give you an example. Titanic – directed by James Cameron, music by James Horner, one song by Celine Dion and it sold 30 million cds when there were no digital platforms. On the other hand another film,

Avatar directed by James Cameron, music by James Horner, one song by Leona Lewis and it sold a 117,000 cds with around 150,00 digital downloads.People don’t buy the music; it’s just not that interesting to them anymore. There used to be a big link between what people heard on the radio and a film. You heard songs from a film on the radio and bought the soundtrack. That link is broken now; it doesn’t work because if you hear a nice song in a movie, people just go to iTunes and buy that song.

The increase in digital sales also affects piracy because pirated content is being distributed on digital platforms. So how does it affect you?

Piracy is taking money out of everyone’s pockets. There is very little that we can do and the music aspect of it is really getting affected. Piracy is really crushing a company like Fox where people are stealing the actual movie. You can hardly release a movie without it being available for free online that day. Piracy is increasing every hour as bandwith and the capability to download movies easily increases. We released Avatar in December 2010, and I flew to Cambodia that weekend. I was walking with my family on the street and a young man came up to me with a DVD of the film for sales. 48 hours after the movie had just released someone downloaded it from the internet, printed a cd and was selling it on the streets for 50 cents. And I bought it.

The movie still did a billion dollars in business so people still go to the movies but this summer the US had the worst box office business in the last 20 years, while in September it had the worst weekends in movie history per screen. So it is affecting the movie business with people staying at home and watching downloads of movies. People still love movies but it’s harder to make a movie that people in mass quantity in the US will consistently see. Internationally there is still a big business but the movie business is going through a lot of revolution that the music business did 10 years ago dealing with piracy and analogue situations where people can stay at home and watch stuff on their computer.

With the Universal-EMI merger set to become the largest label, where will that leave the other labels?

I think it symbolizes an enormous battle that’s playing out in the 21st century in terms of culture and art. On one hand you have this enormous aggregation of the huge companies making mass product, and the assumption is that there will be just one record company and one movie company in 10 years because they are all just going to buy each other, collaborate and join in and the content will become homogenized like a mass product.

On the other hand, we have content being generated by users which is the exact opposite. And user generated content becoming more interesting and accessible is going to be sucked into the huge drain of the big companies. I think the Universal and EMI deal is just a symptom of trying to economize by putting all the artistes together in the same space, but the artistes are incredibly unhappy and there are only certain kinds who will benefit from it.

Being an award winning composer, where do you see the music scenario today?

It’s a hard question to answer because we live in an era where music has had the incredible aspect of a commercial world from the past 100 years. But the most significant aspect of change in music is its creation. Music traditionally has been made with two energy sources – breath and hands. You either blow through something or you strike something and a sound is produced through which you express your deepest feelings. It can be beating a drum, playing a string instrument or blowing through a flute, there is a human to human connection using the limited technology of a musical instrument.

There is a new aspect to making music now. Its electricity and synthesis, so the human aspect is diminished. I can play songs and manipulate things on a screen with beats, samples and digital files. In film music the change is that it used to earlier be played by orchestras. Now, it’s a marriage of acoustic instruments, electronic instruments, sound effects, machines and contemporary sounds. So I have actually seen film music change completely. But I have seen music change completely too, I never want to say better or worse. Also now, we have a laptop between two individuals. When I play music to you, you are not hearing me you are listening to the computer. So that’s different.

Tell us something about your radio show Screentracks.

Screentracks is an idea I have had

for many years, to make a radio show based on all the music you hear on film, television shows, video games and internet because more and more people are actually getting their music from the screen. I am taking all the music that is attached to this visual media and host a two-hour show featuring just songs, scores from movies and interviews of composers. In my first show, I interviewed Hon Zimmer and I also interviewed a man named Neil Davidge, who was a member of the band ‘Massive Attack’ in London and is now scoring the video game ‘Halo 4’. Infact, in my first Screentracks show, I have two AR Rahman songs – one from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and the other from ‘127 Hours’ with Dido. So, I am looking forward to Screentracks finding an audience.Which platform are you presenting it on?

Right now it’s a radio show that I have created online but I am looking for broadcasters. It’s online at Screentracks.com.

How do you aim to use the online platform to increase your reach?

I hope to send radio broadcasters online to listen to it and hopefully they would like to present it on their station. So I am looking out for terrestrial distribution but it’s a very new idea. It took me six weeks to make a two-hour show and that’s all there is right now. I premiered the show at the International Radio Festival and have posted it online also.

 

 

 

Rahman to perform at Madhya Pradesh Foundation Day ceremony

Oscar awardee A R Rahman will perform at the state-level function to mark the 57 ^thMadhya Pradesh Foundation Day at Lal Parade Ground in the state capital, Bhopal on November 1 this year.

Culture minister Laxmikant Sharma reviewed preparations for the function at Swaraj Bhavan on Wednesday. Sharma informed that about 350 artistes from the state and country will perform in a dance drama focusing on the Leelas of Lord Sri Krishna. Fireworks will be carried out by world-famous Noorani brothers.

At the function, Rahman will perform along with world-famous musicians and singers including singer Sukhivindar Singh, R V Prakash, Niti Mohan etc. A state-of-the-art stage will be erected at the Lal Parade Ground with world-level sound system.

Krishnayan will be staged before the performance of Rahman. As many as 370 artistes from the country will participate in Krishnayan, of which 100 will be classical artistes, 80 of classical dances, 170 folk artistes and 15 character actors and actresses including actress and famous Pandvani singer Padmabhushan Teejan Bai with eight artistes of her troupe. Choreography of this event will be done by famous choreographer Mayetri Pahadi.

Bhopal divisional commissioner Praveen Garg, secretary and commissioner public relations Rakesh Shrivastava, collector Nikunj Shrivastava and officers of the public works department, other departments and municipal corporation were present on the occasion.

Source : Times of India

Frog Unlimited shoots ad featuring AR Rahman

 

Frog Unlimited adds another feather in its cap with the recently shoot ad featuring the music maestro A R Rahman, JBL launches itself in India via a big ticket TVC campaign with their International brand ambassador AR Rahman. The India / international TVC is being produced by Frog Unlimited and directed by Kabir Sadanand. The TVC will represent the India Asia market TVC for the worldwide market. The brain child for the campaign is Sameer Shah Marketing Director for Harman Kardon. The TVC was shot extensively across the beautiful terrains of Leh, to the bamboo forests in Thailand and then in the studios of Mumbai.

Within a span of a year Frog Unlimited has made a name for itself in the ad world by shooting big tickets ads with Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Brendon McCullum, Yusuf Pathan, Brett Lee, Jacques Kallis, Shakib and also made ads for Bangalesh and Thailand.

 

Thanks to : http://bollyspice.com

 

AR Rahman: Two decades and counting

 

The Mumbai rains refused to dampen the spirits of spirited attendees at the 6th Annual Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA) held at Yash Raj Studios on Monday night.

The ceremony, hosted by Saif Ali Khan and Parineeti Chopra, featured stellar performances by celebrated musicians and Bollywood stars.

There was a special act dedicated to the musical maestro A.R. Rahman for completing 20 years in the industry.

The Mozart of Madras was was felicitated by none other than veteran Yash Chopra. Renowned singers like Alka Yagnik, Hariharan, Udit Narayan, Naresh Iyer, Mohit Chauhan, Chitra, Sonu Niigaam came together to honour the music legend with a heartwarming performance to some of his popular chartbuster hits like Dil Hai Chota Sa, Tu Hi Re, Chanda Re Chande Re, Mitwa, Mehndi Hai Rachne Wali, Ru Ba Ru, Saathiya, Sadda Haq and Jai Ho.

On the special tribute given to him, A.R. Rahman says, “I had a hint about the tribute but I did not realize that it will create such huge nostalgia. I have learnt a lot from all these singers who have touched my heart today. I still remember the day of my first concert in 1996 when most of the singers who sang today came to watch me. I really thank GiMA for this. I am truly touched.”

The fragrance of success

Music maestro A.R. Rahman’s other half loves perfumes, we hear. And sources close to her reveal that her collection can rival some of the most ardent perfume collectors in the world.

It seems she’s so well acquainted with scents and fragrances that she can easily tell a person what he or she is wearing.

But the lady who is spiritual and has a strict no-alcohol policy, shops only for oil based perfumes which contain no alcohol.

The friend who was fortunate enough to receive the fragrances revealed that Saira is generous and loves having people experience the power of perfumes.

“She believes in the healing qualities of a good perfumed oil. The ones she buys are very soothing and long lasting too.”

Career now complete with Yash Chopra’s film: AR Rahman

Music maestro AR Rahman, who has for the first time teamed up with filmmaker Yash Chopra for his upcoming film ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, says his filmi career is now complete as he has given music for Chopra’s movie.

“Yashji saw one of my concerts in London, we invited him. He felt that I should give music in his film. It was kind enough of him to call me. It is a great honour for me. I had not worked with him and now my whole thing…meaning career wise is complete,” Rahman told reporters here yesterday at an event.

The film, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead, releases on November 13.

“I am very happy to have worked with him. We had great time, it was a great experience. And he (Yash Chopra) seemed happy. I hope people feel the same,” he said.

After enthralling national and international audience with his compositions, Rahman is all set to feature on the TV show ‘MTV Unplugged’ with his acoustic score.

Rahman said he took quite some time to give his nod for it as he was always running away from such a performance.

The Grammy award winner has been roped-in for the second season of ‘MTV Unplugged’, scheduled to go on air in November. Rahman would feature in one of the episodes.

“It took me quite a lot of time to feel convinced that I should do one and do it in style. I have been dodging this kind of performance since ages,” Rahman said.

On what could the audience expect from him on the show, Rahman said, “I would be doing the classic song ‘Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo’ (popular ghazal). I strangely felt like doing it. This is first time I am singing someone else’s composition. As far as my songs go, I would be doing ‘Rehna Tu’, with a new intro.”

‘Rehna Tu’ was composed by Rahman and penned by Prasoon Joshi for the 2009 film ‘Delhi 6’.

‘MTV Unplugged’ showcases bands performing only on acoustic instruments that are not electronically amplified.

The second season will present singers Lucky Ali, Kailash Kher and Sunidhi Chauhan.

‘MTV Unplugged’ returns with season 2

First time on world television, A.R.Rahman to enthrall the audience with a live and unplugged performance

 

With over 41 Million viewers on MTV, 3 lac plus fans on Facebook, 5 Million views on You Tube, 15000 CD’s and live shows across 8 cities in its opening season, we are back!Royal Stag Mega Music ‘MTV UNPLUGGED’ – Season 2 is here to enthrall the audience and give your musical spirits a high.  Tripping on a successful first innings of MTV Unplugged, the magic of pure music returns to take you a few notches higher, and will sweep you off the floor with a new line-up of renowned singers.For the very first time on world television, the God of Music himself, Oscar winner A.R.Rahman will present a live unplugged performance. The musical icon will perform for an episode on the second season of MTV Unplugged to take you on a soulful musical journey like never before.

Other artists who are part of this season are –Kailasa,the beacon of independent music in India,the multi-talented and mellifluous –Sunidhi Chauhan,the silken voice of Shafqat Amanat Ali, the soulful Lucky Ali, Contemporary, western classical singer– Ash King, Fusion band–Agnee and India’s preeminent rock band- Indus Creed. These amazing artistsform a musical line-up of an amazing journey that is about to get unfold. Steering them all in one direction will be the music producer of season 1, the critically acclaimed producer and drummer par excellence RanjitBarot, who dons the role of producer on Royal Stag Mega Music ‘MTV UNPLUGGED’ season 2.

 

Explaining his excitement on being part of the show, A.R.Rahmansaid, “MTV Unplugged is an international platform and is known to have a great following abroad. It’s an incredible effort by MTV India to bring the same opportunity to musicians and fans to be part of a unique musical journey. I am delighted to be part of the second season and honoured to share this opportunity with my fellow musicians of the country.”

 

Speaking about the music property, Aditya Swamy – EVP and Business Head – MTV India said, “The overwhelming response we have received to our music properties only drives us to raise the bar. The theme for this season on Unplugged is Mega Artists, Mega Hits. The support we have received from our principal partner, Royal Stag has been wonderful and we are taking the show beyond MTV into Colors, radio, mobile, mtvindia.com and several music sharing sites in addition to our social platforms. With 14 live shows planned; this is going to be an incredible musical experience.”

 

Bikram Basu, VP- Marketing for Pernod Picard India said, “MTV Unplugged is unique with its acoustics and boasts a fantastic artist line up. It’s a pleasure for Royal Stag, long embedded in the world of music, to come on as partners to a programme that is at the heart of music television.”

 

Royal Stag Mega Music ‘MTV UNPLUGGED’ will feature musicians that are geniuses in their own right and the best of the country. Each episode will have one renowned singer render pure acoustic renditions of their famous songs…

A.R.Rahman:  The name needs no introduction; he has redefined contemporary Indian music and is the pride of the entire nation and an idol for millions over the world. An Oscar winner has a worldwide fan following for the incredible music he produces.

Kailasa: Kailash Kher the face of the band has sung in 18 languages for regional films, and over 300 songs for Bollywood. He is a beacon of soulful Indie music. Kailash, Paresh & Naresh have composed countless hits like ‘Saiyyan’ and ‘Teri Deewani’ in the world of Independent music and Kailash boasts of a huge string of hits in Bollywood.

Sunidhi Chauhan:  Known for her versatility & range, Sunidhi has ruled the Bollywood playback scene for nearly a decade. The talented singer will also display the best of her hits on the second season of MTV Unplugged.

 

Shafqat Amanat Ali:Shafqat, with his silken voice has delivered hits for all the top Bollywood music composers and also has a huge repertoire from his erstwhile band, Fuzon.

Lucky Ali: Singer songwriter and composer. Lucky, the man who dons many hats is best known for his soulful but strikingly simple ballad-style singing and melodious voice. He has always struck a chord with the music lovers with his meaningful & deep lyrics and soulful compositions over the past 2 decades.

Ash King: Soon after AR Rahman gave him his first break in India with Delhi 6, Ash has gone on to sing for hit songs like Te Amo’&‘Aunty Ji’. But on MTV Unplugged, he will showcase his Indian as well as global repertoire.

Agnee: The band’s debut album was “Agnee”. Well known for various songs especially the song ‘aahatein’, which they sung for MTV Splitsvilla 2 and which went on to become an anthem love song and a chart topper.

Indus Creed:a band that has defined the Indian rock music scene over the last two decades, an inspiration for rock enthusiasts in the country and again back with a bang with their new album.

 

Apart from the aforementioned 8 maestros, the 9^th episode will feature 4 young and talented singers including MTV’s very own Ayushmann Khurrana, the multi-talented man will sing the acoustic version of the famous song ‘Pani da rang’ from his blockbusting debut movie ‘Vicky Donor’.

 

The stage is set to host the artists of MTV Unplugged season 2 and celebrate music in its purest form and get you hooked to the best music from some of the most remarkable artist in today’s time.  MTV Unplugged is an unrefined and raw musical treat where the vocalists are the key components than the instruments.

7 nominations for A R Rahman !

 

A.R. Rahman has been nominated for a total of 7 awards 3rd Chevrolet Global Indian Music Academy (GIMA) Awards for his exceptionalwork in the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rockstar. 

These include Best Music Arranger and Programmer, Best Background Score, 2 nominations for Best Playback Singer Male along with Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan, BestMusic Director, Best Film Song and Best Film Album.

2012 saw a great year with a lot of successful films featuring great soundtracks. Amongst the major films released in the previous year, those leading the nominations in the film category are Rockstar with a total of 11 nominations followed closely by Ra.One and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara with a total of 8 nominations each, while Agneepath has received 5 nominations. Other notable films that have been nominated for various award categories are Delhi Belly, Don 2 and Desi Boyz.
Newcomer Kamal Khan has also been nominated in the Best Debut category for the song Ishq Sufiana which gained massive popularity on the radio. International artiste Akon and our very own Mika have also been nominated in the Best Playback Singer category for Chammak Challo and Subah Hone Na De.

The jury members for the film music category include Jatin Pandit, Javed Akhtar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Kunal Kohli, Nagesh Kukunoor, Prasoon Joshi, Rajiv Kenkre, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Rajesh Roshan, Ramesh Sippy, Resul Pookutty, Shamir Tandon and Udit Narayan.

AR Rahman does Kannada film for free

The Mozart of Madras, AR Rahman, is known for charging exorbitant amounts for his films. So, it came as a surprise that the Oscar-winning composer charged a very nominal fee — reportedly a crore — for the Kannada film Godfather, a remake of the Tamil hit Varalaaru (for which Rahman had scored the music).

Confirming the news, the producer of the film, K Manju, says, “Rahman did not charge a penny for the film. You can say he did it for free as he didn’t charge anything for himself. He charged, approximately a crore, only for the studio, artists, instruments, recording and re-recording of the film.”

Quiz Manju about why the composer took a pay cut and he replies, “He didn’t compose all the tracks from scratch as they were lifted from the Tamil version. So, the majority of the tracks for the film remain the same. He only composed two new tracks. Also, the length of the Kannada footage is slightly shorter than the Tamil version. The other reason is that this is a goodwill gesture on Rahman’s part for the Kannada audience.”

Some sources in the industry suggest that Rahman slashed his price because he isn’t flooded with offers at present. Manju refutes such conjecture, saying, “Rahman cannot sign projects left, right and centre. He has to keep up his quality work. He spent six months working on the music score forGodfather.”

The composer, who was in Bangalore for the audio launch of the film on Saturday, said, “I owe a lot to my fans in Karnataka. I realize I have many fans in this part of the country. I’m indebted to them and it was time to sing back to them.”

Rahman also reminisced about his days as a music arranger in Bangalore. “I worked with Kannada composers like Hamsalekha and Vijaya Anand as an arranger and visited the Chamundi studios. So there’s lot of history in Bangalore and I’m glad to be back here.”