[Urbanstudy] ''Production and consumption of Bhojpuri songs in Bihar: In the eyes of production company''

[swati das]

Hi all,
   
  Its long time since I last wrote and was actually enjoying collecting my data for my research. I tried to understand the shift of oral performance to electronic media where I have collected the experiences of women in oral performance and performance to public world especially in electronic media.
  How they understand their life? Are there any politics and a set of ideologies working behind performing these songs and also in circulation and consumption of these songs? To answer this I collected life narratives of different categories of women singers and interviewed production companies.
   
  This posting is about a production company situated in Patna known as ‘SurSangam’ which is now the largest Bhojpuri songs production company in Bihar. The manager of this company used to record for T-Series in his studio for around twenty-five years. His experience with T-Series led him to start his own production company (SurSangam), which exists for the past four to five years and records for T-Series as well. This company was started keeping in mind the booming Bhojpuri market and the profitability in this area.
   
  This company released around one-fifty audio and thirty-five videos. It takes the master copy to Delhi for further copying. Most of them are seasonal folk songs of Bhojpuri and not general. It produces songs according to the season like sawan songs, bolbum songs, marriage songs and so forth. The manager shares that nobody buys general Bhojpuri songs but seasonal folksongs has a big market. This company does not produce ‘Holi’ cassettes as it is only for two days and for this popular singer is required which costs more and this company is up growing and cannot afford them. 
   
  The manager is of view that within these three to four years the market of Bhojpuri songs has increased by manifold. Bhojpuri is popular in Bihar, Delhi, Panjab, Jharkhand, UP. In Bihar there is a need to make songs in regional language. Seventy percent of the cassettes released in Bhojpuri, twenty percent in Maithili and rest of are in Hindi and other languages.
   
  His is of view that clean songs are required these days, as the whole family wants to listen together. Vulgar songs are very less in demand. That’s why they make clean songs more in number. He further shares that he releases vulgar songs cassette with clean songs because cassettes with only vulgar songs can be banned and has a less market. When asked what will be his future course of action if the demand will grow heavily for the vulgar songs, he replied, “As the market will demand”. It seems that he is driven by the politics of market.
   
  He also makes master copy of those singers whose cassette has never been recorded depend upon the singers demand. The company charges them twenty-five thousand for audio and sixty thousand for video as minimum and rest depends on singer’s demand and choice. Singers then take the master copy to Delhi for further copies. 
   
  The company employs singers by giving royalty not capital. He further explains that he made many singers as popular singers and now they cheat him. According to him, artists are greedy, selfish and blackmailers. He continues that he is so hurt by their behaviors and he doesn’t want to help any upcoming artist, as he feels insecure.

 			
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