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Rohit Barker - 'Artists worldwide have recognised that India is a player in the world music scene and a big one at that'

As we say hello to 2010 and a fresh decade, I wanted to take a look back at music and what it means to us in an age where we need a good tune more than ever to take us away from the urban clutter and a life that moves too quickly to really stop every now and again and smell the sheer elation and freedom it gives you.

From the first time a record was played on the airwaves, through reggae, through disco, house, hip hop, techno, pop, rock and every other genre that has erupted over the years, one thing has remained constant ....music in all its forms has one language. Words bring on thoughts, music brings on feelings and together on a really good song, it gives you a form of auditory ambrosia.

Now let's move onto where the music scene in India is at the moment. I'm happy to report that even though artistic freedoms as well as freedom of true expression are still mostly a joke in this country,  artists, musicians, djs, rjs and more are alive and kicking. Over the last couple of years, I have had bands on my radio show that, from jamming in their friends' garage have cut an album, made a video, put their tunes onto the radio and the idiot box and are signed to major labels. If you told me ten years ago that a bunch of college kids from St Joseph's in Bangalore would have a record deal and would open for bands like the Scorpions and the Stones, I would have thrown you straight into the nearest asylum or at the very least told you to lie down and tell someone about your problems.

Over the last three years, I have seen what radio can do for where music goes and how an audience reacts to new sounds, genres and artistes. From finding a song called Fireflies by Owlcity a whole month before it was released, to making it the most requested track on the radio and then having it hit the charts and the telly a whole 60 days later makes me feel a sense of encouragement and awe for what the airwaves can do for music in India.

I remember a couple of years ago when Aerosmith played in Bangalore, I ran a contest on the radio where the first two people who come to the studio and have the Aerosmith winged logo tattooed onto them would get to meet Steven Tyler. I had a freakin' riot outside the radio station and the police actually had to be called for crowd control. With over a 1000 voices screaming 'Steven Steven Steven' I watched with a smirk on my face as those people reinforced the fact that Bangalore is the rock capital of India. Two tattoos were done right there live in the studio. Two people met Steven Styler. One fainted and one got licked by Steven Tyler... Literally. But that's another story for another day.

I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to some of the biggest names in the music industry. From Bono, Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler and Bryan Adams to Ronan Keating, Akon, Eminem, Armin Van Buuren and many many more. And after years of ticking off from a list of artists and musicians I have always wanted to meet, one thing has become very very evident. Before coming to India or speaking to people from India, most rockstars and artists have a somewhat bent and skewed opinion of the country and its music scene. And then to watch it turn into Planet Rock for them absolute floors me with a sense of pride for where we are as a country with music. They start with apprehension and a sense of adventure for what India could offer and end with an incurable want to come back and see, smell, experience and meet more from India.

From the days when Slash came to India to launch a music video channel to where we are now with the music scene could stun a herd of buffaloes in full charge. And I love that fact. I love that artists are getting a bigger and louder voice as every day goes by. I love that a radio jockey can now make or break a single on air. I love that a group of kids who played air guitar 10 years ago are now playing guitar on the same stage as the big boys of Rock. I love that major labels, major artist management agencies, major radio stations, major video music channels and most importantly, major artists worldwide have now recognised that India is a player in the world music scene and a big one at that.

So that brings us to the year and decade ahead. Here's hoping that we are over run by music and all the wonderful baggage it brings with it. And here's hoping that right after you read this you make a little or a lot of time in your day to swtich off and switch on your favourite song and let it take you to places where the soul lives.

"Let us admit that we have attended parties and concerts where for one brief night a republic of gratified desires was attained. Shall we not confess that the politics of that night have more reality and force for us than those of, say, the entire government ? " Hakim Bey

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Radio Indigo RJ and DJ

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