Free the Desi Vibe
Created | Updated Jun 22, 2003
In Bhangra no-one knows what is selling because there are so many pirates. Sometimes record companies even pirate their own stuff.
Shin is not a happy bunny. Lead vocalist in one of Britain's most respected Bhangra groups, since 1983, his band, DCS, are one of the pioneers of the modern sound. His problem is that he lusts for a recognition that is denied to his peers but granted to the likes of Atomic Kitten and Hearsay. He wants to make the charts, and not just the Bhangra charts.
'Every record company has a Bhangra chart and their own artists are guaranteed the top spots.'
Expanding on his dissolution he puts the problem into a nutshell:
'The market is messed up in regards to getting true figures from record companies showing how many units the artists are shifting.'
Every day, across the UK, thousands of units are shifting through Asian record shops. Millions of Bhangra records are recorded, distributed and sold in Britain. Men like Malkit Singh break the Guinness Book of Records, but they cannot break the top forty. Legitimately or illegitimately, sales reflect the popularity of any music. If records sell they should be in the charts. How much up to date Asian music is on sale in big time, chart registered stores? How many Asian specialist stores register their sales as part of the Chart Information Network(CINUK)'s panel of retailers? The answer to the first question is simple. Go down to your local HMV or Virgin and you will find British made Bhangra filed away in their world music sections. The records you find will be compilations of old tunes. The second question takes a little time to answer.
The man in the know is Omar Maskatiya, Chart Director for CINUK. He explains the situation;
'... our market research agency has worked closely with the Asian music community to try and increase representation. A mailshot to 700 retailers whom Millward Brown (market researchers) were informed actually met the criteria for joining (must sell over 100 units per week) was met with a 10% response. Of the 10% who asked for more details, only two actually agreed to join the panel. Free equipment was provided to these retailers, but only one actually reported sales data.'
This means that only one Asian specialist shop makes up the charts in this country, but thats not the whole picture.
The Chart Director's response pointed towards another area of reasonable doubt.
'It is more a case of retailers being concerned about the confidentiality of their sales data.'
A reason for not joining the panel that he goes on to dismiss:
'... our market research company are bound by the market research code of conduct. This means that no-one apart from the retailer can see their own market share.'
Simply put, there is no real reason to avoid supplying CINUK with your sales figures. No real reason why one shop has to represent an industry that dictates its vibe to the world.
From the margins, Apna music is revered by many. It evolves a lot faster and takes a lot more risks than today's chart music. Garage, drum and bass and hip-hop have been the language of Bhangra for years. Panjabi MC is one man who has been at the cutting edge of this scene for years. Money is a factor that creates barriers for artists like himself.
'Bhangra started in 1979, at the same time as hip-hop. Hip-hop is now a multi million pound industry and bhangra is... a £25,000 industry. You can make a living out of it, but it hasn't been promoted properly.'
Exposure is something that real chart figures would grant to Asian music. Mush, MC for Fun^Da^Mental, expresses the strength of the Desi music scene:
'The Asian market is massive. Malkit Singh, for example, has sold millions. If a major label knew that an artist had sold a million copies, be they pirated or whatever, they would jump on that artist knowing that some of his sales would translate into real ones.'
The problem is, no-one knows how much an artist actually sells because one little shop is making a molehill out of the mountain that is this industry. Mush describes the way out of this marginalised future;
'We need to establish legitimate Asian charts, just like the Black charts in the US.'
An independent chart, which seriously illustrated the record sales of Asian music in the UK, would give real clout to our industry. Is this a viable option? Shin disagrees:
'There is so much politics with Asian record labels. They would never sit around one table, get together and do something. They're just ruining it for everyone. It will never go forward with people like that fronting it.'
There lies the biggest problem of an independent Asian chart. The money men hold in their hands the information that could break every major artist into the mainstream charts. Artists are being held back, for a reason.
Big times sales would be in danger of disappearing and an entire market could collapse. If bigtime record shops began selling up-to-date Asian music, Asian specialist shops would be pushed out of the picture. Mainstream ignorance funds the businesses that imported this music to this country and gave it a platform. This is why an independent chart demands to to be co-ordinated through specialist shops.
Who is going to do it? Should this project not be funded by the record industry themselves. Where can we go from here? We have to free the Desi Vibe, please get in touch.
