New research from the British Library suggests that the first South Asians arrived in Britain as early as the 16th century. Asian music, apparently, arrived fashionably late – about 400 years late. Post-war Britain needed labour, and what better call to make than the old empire – which meant, among many other immigrant ethnic groups, people from the Indian and Asian sub-continents.
Throughout and after the Second World War South Asians arrived on British soil, bringing their families, vibrant culture, hardworking ethic and vast array of languages. They also brought their glorious music with them; traditional folk, classical or carnatic, devotional or religious or good old film music – or ‘Bollywood’, as it later became known. Music had always been a part of life and served as more than just an audible pastime.
By the 1950s there were the beginnings of an ‘Asian Community’ in Britain. With it came a skilled workforce and community centres, shops, restaurants and eventually cinemas – all playing Asian music on their tiny trebly cassette players, anything from Bollywood to Bhangra depending on the time of day.
The late 1960s showcased the brand new sound of the sitar, following George Harrison’s new found fascination with the instrument. Ravi Shankar became his guru and thereafter the distinctive drone of plucked Indian strings made its way on to a Beatles album and into peoples’ homes through mainstream radio. Simultaneously, British Asian artists in Asian conurbations were developing the traditional Asian sounds to create a new British Asian sound - unique, fresh and totally accepted by all generations, fusing western synths and drum machines with traditional folk instruments. Groups like Heera and Alaap emerged with a new breed of live bands such as Apna Sangeet, Premi and Golden Star, fronted by the respected Malkit Singh who cleaned up on the then massive Asian wedding circuit.
I felt proud seeing brown faces on Top of the Pops
but they didn’t know about royalties
This new sound was quickly transported to the infamous Bhangra nightclubs and for the under 18s the well-remembered Desi Daytimers. Within a matter of a few years the Bhangra buzz took the British Asian scene by storm – rivalled only by the alternative Asian underground sound founded in East London warehouse clubs such as The Blue Note in Hoxton. The clubs catered mainly to a non-Asian audience, creating stars such as Mercury Music Prize Winner Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney, Asian Dub Foundation and the mighty State of Bengal.
Whilst these underground British Asian youth movements stayed within the confines of secret clubs up and down the UK, the Asian markets and music shops were selling thousands of albums on tapes like Star Crazy and the classic Love 2 Love series. These were classic Bollywood songs reinvented with dirty drum and bass, raw hiphop and reggae beats as well as sexy r&b grooves. Best of both worlds for many, they created the ‘bump in the boot’ factor for anyone with a couple of 12 inch subwoofers in the back of their cruise machine – paired, of course, with the high-pitched female Bollywood crooners for your mum and girlfriend. Ironically, in their original form these Bollywood songs were only ever played on the distinctly uncool Asian radio stations which emerged in the late 80s. The vast majority of these recordings belonged to the legendary HMV-Saregama, India’s longest running record label.
Enter Rishi Rich aged 16 and signed to 2 Kool Records who lays a hip-hop or r&b beat over a classic Bollywood vocal on one of his Love 2 Love albums and voila, a new hybrid is born – Bollywood remix album. This new style was pioneered by the sample master himself Bally Sagoo who at the time was signed to one of Birmingham’s most respected labels, Mohammed Ayub’s Oriental Star Agencies (OSA). It was also home to artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Golden Star, Malkit Singh and many more.
The huge Moviebox label, also from Birmingham, brought massive acts to the fore such as Gurdas Mann and later Sukhshinder Shinda, Jazzy B, DCS and the boy-band phenomenon that was B21. Bally Sagoo entered the mainstream pop charts in 1996 with Dil Cheez and went on to set up his own record label (Ishq records).
Around the same time Apache Indian was achieving chart success and it seemed British Asian music was on the radar. Most of these labels and acts had two things in common - they are from Birmingham and they didn’t rely on income from performance royalties. The bulk of their cash came from hard copy sales and their cut of net revenue and live performance fees.
many Asian businesses and broadcasters
didn’t know they needed a music licence
Whilst I felt proud growing up seeing brown faces on Top of the Pops, many of these artists were unaware and more importantly inexperienced when it came to royalties. Needless to say many of them learnt the hard way.
This was a turning point for Asian artists for two reasons: suddenly there was a crossover vision that could be seen and believed, and secondly there was a brand new possibility for making money from music. Collection of royalties from mainstream radio and TV was perfectly geared up for those who knew how to sign up for royalties collection.
Many more players emerged on the scene in later years. Record label Envy Roma came into its own with its Bhangra repertoire, with huge names such as Swami, Dr Zeus, Sanj and eventually girl group Rouge. The mighty T-Series Empire grew to take a significant market share and gave Saregama enough reason to open a dedicated London office (without which it would not have managed to secure licensing of samples to global acts such as Black Eyed Peas and Dr. Dre’s camp). Saregama went on to work with MCPS-PRS to campaign for new ways to collect and distribute royalties that was more customised and sensitive to the Asian music scene. They even joined in the campaign for Indian restaurant owners to buy PRS licences. A major phone initiative targeted Indian food outlets and restaurants to increase the number of licences issued and by the end of 2006, 1,600 were signed up – not a bad year’s work.
Amarpal Singh Gaind, UK MD of Saregama said: ‘After over three years of campaigning by Saregama, the PRS took significant strides in 2006 in licensing and administration of our content... in particular the licensing of Indian restaurants and the distribution of income thereof. We expect them to carry this momentum forward and look into areas that have been neglected so far.’
It’s hard to believe that many Asian businesses did not realise or understand the importance of buying a licence to play music in their premises. This extended to certain Asian TV channels and Asian radio stations.
The Asian repertoire controlled by PRS is growing. Gone are the days when people could argue that PRS didn’t represent the Asian repertoire and therefore they didn’t need a licence. One important new catalogue now signed direct to MCPS-PRS is aforementioned Moviebox. This 2006 deal enables BBC Asian Network and other MCPS- PRS music licence holders to access their vast range of music. Kamraan Ahmed from Moviebox, said: ‘It’s great to be on board with the PRS through our new publishing arm Empire Music Ltd. We can now benefit from royalties from major Asian music broadcasters being paid full census and we can also participate in PRS’ other income streams that derive from the use of Asian publishers and writers music’.
If licensing wasn’t enough of a problem for the already struggling Asian music scene, then the issue of piracy definitely is. A series of raids conducted by the MCPS and BPI Anti-Piracy Units last year has suggested that film and music piracy nets more than £270 million a year for criminals in the UK. Perhaps this is another factor that can explain why Asian music labels and artists have been signing to work with collection agencies in recent times.
MCPS-PRS and the British Asian music industry
are working together like never before
This shift in thinking is corroborated by an increased British Asian presence in mainstream media: around the turn of the millennium Asian producers Simon and Diamond produced an album for platinum selling artist Shania Twain, Panjabi Hit Squad were given a regular show on BBC 1xtra and Bobby and Nihal were recruited by Radio 1. The British Asian Music Awards were broadcast on ITV1 for the first time in 2003 and Rishi Rich Project secured their radio show on London’s Kiss 100.
These platforms alongside the existing Asian TV channels, B4U Music, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee Network, Star TV and mega radio stations such as Sunrise radio, Sabras, Radio XL, BBC Asian Network and Club Asia have provided important platforms for various British Asian acts to achieve global success. Many artists are taking British Asian and Bollywood beats to new territories. Artists Raghav and Jay Sean achieved chart successes through their mainstream independent label deals. New British Asian artist Ash King has featured on a track with R.Kelly, and Anglo Indian Terry Mardi writes songs and music for James Brown’s Martha High.
Whether its Desi drum n bass from Dagenham, leftfield Asian beats from Birmingham or jump up Bhangra from Edinburgh, British Asian music and Bollywood music is here to stay and it’s spreading as more and more artists appear and more entrepreneurs in the Asian world become record label bosses. Not discouraged by piracy or falling hard copy sales the leaders of the new school Asian music scene are here to take on the British market that is respected in the US, India and pretty much everywhere you might find a group of Desi’s. The MySpace/YouTube generation is brave and ready to take on the music world as ‘Through Struggle come Triumph’.