MUMBAI: There's a lot happening in the music scene - especially when it comes to rock music in India. North Eastern Rockers (NER), who had organised a rock music festival last year are back in full throttle 

In 2008, NER made a humble beginning with participation by 24 bands hailing from various N.E. regions and Bengal. "Last year,
NER was only open for bands from North East and Bengal, but this year its open for all- we are going national" says Alpine Altitude managing director Amit Gurung. This would be Alpine Altitude's second year as organisers of NER.

The format of the festival has also been changed considerably, he says. "We had considered bands playing covers last year -
this year it's only going to be bands original music - they will only be allowed to play originals right from the start
through the finals," he says.

On the concert's business model, Gurung says, "NER is both ticketed and sponsored event with tickets ranging from 60 to 100 rupees," he adds. "The festival got a good response last year but we are hoping for an even better response this year."

The low ticket pricing module has been working well in this region as more and more young listeners (TG) can participate
without bothering much about the spending. Last year, in a concert sponsored by Reliance Telecom, the tickets for a concert
featuring international headlining acts like Firehouse and White Lion was priced as low as Rs 400. Eventually, it turned out
to be one of the most sucessful concerts.

On the radio front, Radio Misty Sikkim 95 FM has joined hands with NER for promoting the three-day festival. "We will be
giving live updates of events, this will also include interviews of musicians of participating bands," says Misty CEO Nishant Mittal.

"We have been playing music by Indie artistes and we think that partnering with such festival would be a good way to connect
to the audience." he adds. Currently, Radio Misty has been airing programmes by BBC (Top of the pop) and Radio
Netherland (Euro Hits) to appease western music lovers.