MUMBAI: An online site, Blogswara, with 103 audio bloggers registered on it, is all set to roll out its fifth online album by December 2008. Blogswara, www.blogswara.in  is an online group of amateur singers who showcase their work and share it with other bloggers online.

The initiative was started in 2005 by Joseph Thomas and the first online album was launched in May 2006. “I uploaded my track years back which received good response and I thought I could make available a platform for amateur singers who can showcase their work to other musicians and develop a fan following,” says Thomas.

Talking about the fifth album, Joseph says, “There are 20 entries already. It is a multilingual album with 18 songs in languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada in it.”

There were 20 entries to be a part of the fifth series and the Blogswara panel shortlisted 18 tracks. “All the songs contributed to the online album are originals which have not been played anywhere before.” The tracks at Blogswara are freely available to listen and download original music created by amateur as well as professional musicians. The website boasts of 16,98,842 hits since October 2006 and the audio bloggers familiarise their blog by posting links.

Joseph also manages a blog called Audio India, http://audioindia.blogspot.com, where musicians around the globe upload their latest work, covers on the originals on the blog. Among the notable names registered with the site are playback singer Chinmayee (of Tere Bina from Guru fame) who blogs at http://chinaudioblog.blogspot.com/ and Pradip Somasundaran (of Tv talent hunt Meri Awaz Suno fame) who blogs at http://pradipsomasundaran.com/musicblog.htm.

Music has no boundaries and Blogswara validates the thought. “Although a majority of bloggers are Indians, there are some musicians from the UK and US who are contributing their music for the album. There is an American sitar player who is rendering a fusion on a Kannada track,” says Thomas. 

These singers haven’t ever met each other and the music is composed virtually from different corners of the globe. As Joseph explains, “A lyricist from the UK contributes his original work to the blog and a composer in the US works on the track and sends the Karaoke track wherein the Indian singer renders his vocals. The only communication between those working on the track is through the Internet and then the singer sends the karaoke and the vocals to a mixer who mixes and masters the track.”

Apart from working on the audio blog, Joseph also claims to have initiated the first Malayalam podcast, M-Pod in 2005. “It is my inclination towards Kerala politics, art and culture that prompted me to start a podcast. On the podcast, I upload interviews of personalities, opinions on news and social awareness issues which is uploaded once every month.” These podcasts are available for free downloads and 1000 episodes have already been downloaded by the bloggers, he claims.

Jo has composed several songs and his most recent work includes a theme song for a yet-to-be-released Malayalam telefilm. He is also working on a solo album, which will comprise six tracks and is planning to approach music labels.

MUMBAI: An online site, Blogswara, with 103 audio bloggers registered on it, is all set to roll out its fifth online album by December 2008. Blogswara, www.blogswara.in  is an online group of amateur singers who showcase their work and share it with other bloggers online.

The initiative was started in 2005 by Joseph Thomas and the first online album was launched in May 2006. “I uploaded my track years back which received good response and I thought I could make available a platform for amateur singers who can showcase their work to other musicians and develop a fan following,” says Thomas.

Talking about the fifth album, Joseph says, “There are 20 entries already. It is a multilingual album with 18 songs in languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada in it.”

There were 20 entries to be a part of the fifth series and the Blogswara panel shortlisted 18 tracks. “All the songs contributed to the online album are originals which have not been played anywhere before.” The tracks at Blogswara are freely available to listen and download original music created by amateur as well as professional musicians. The website boasts of 16,98,842 hits since October 2006 and the audio bloggers familiarise their blog by posting links.

Joseph also manages a blog called Audio India, http://audioindia.blogspot.com, where musicians around the globe upload their latest work, covers on the originals on the blog. Among the notable names registered with the site are playback singer Chinmayee (of Tere Bina from Guru fame) who blogs at http://chinaudioblog.blogspot.com/ and Pradip Somasundaran (of Tv talent hunt Meri Awaz Suno fame) who blogs at http://pradipsomasundaran.com/musicblog.htm.

Music has no boundaries and Blogswara validates the thought. “Although a majority of bloggers are Indians, there are some musicians from the UK and US who are contributing their music for the album. There is an American sitar player who is rendering a fusion on a Kannada track,” says Thomas. 

These singers haven’t ever met each other and the music is composed virtually from different corners of the globe. As Joseph explains, “A lyricist from the UK contributes his original work to the blog and a composer in the US works on the track and sends the Karaoke track wherein the Indian singer renders his vocals. The only communication between those working on the track is through

Apart from working on the audio blog, Joseph also claims to have initiated the first Malayalam podcast, M-Pod in 2005. “It is my inclination towards Kerala politics, art and culture that prompted me to start a podcast. On the podcast, I upload interviews of personalities, opinions on news and social awareness issues which is uploaded once every month.” These podcasts are available for free downloads and 1000 episodes have already been downloaded by the bloggers, he claims.

Jo has composed several songs and his most recent work includes a theme song for a yet-to-be-released Malayalam telefilm. He is also working on a solo album, which will comprise six tracks and is planning to approach music labels.