Non-Bollywood music gets online platform

A new online station, Radio Edge, caters to singers and performers, who have carved a niche for themselves outside the world of Bollywood music.

The initiative, launched here Friday, is by radio station Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM. It is aimed at playing non-film music, ranging from Indie pop to fusion and lots more.

Members of popular Indie pop band Indian Ocean, known for numbers like "Bandeh", "Kandisa" and "Out of the blues", were present at the launch to back the new concept.

"We are very pleased to be associated with Radio Edge. This is a great initiative and I hope that a lot of people send their music and their music gets played. I hope that they play a lot of our music as well," Rahul Ram, the band's bass guitarist, told IANS.

Radio Edge will play non-Bollywood music from every part of the country and targets the young generation. It could give an impetus to independent musicians of the country.

While Bollywood music gets a plethora of listeners on radio stations, the online station does not aim to be a mass product, says Rahul Balyan, head (Digital Initiatives), ENIL.

Other band members of Indian Ocean - Tuheen Chakravorty, Himanshu Joshi and Nikhil Rao were also present at the occasion, and did an impromptu jamming session to everyone's delight.

Ram said he is glad how Bollywood music is undergoing change.

"Bollywood is such a heavyweight that everything else has to struggle to stay alive in the music world (in India). But Bollywood itself is changing because the directors are young now and have grown up listening to different kind of music," said Ram.

While Bollywood music gets plethora of listeners the online station does not aim to be mass product, says Rahul Balyan.