“music is your only friend until the end”, Jim Morrison.
In this insane rat race that life on earth has become, music is the balm that soothes our souls and lifts our spirits and helps us to get on with our lives. So you could certainly say that music is your only friend, and no matter what time. June 21 is celebrated globally as World Music Day. On this day the world celebrates music, in the streets and public spaces of cities round the globe, with free gigs and concerts featuring both amateur and professional musicians. World Music Day or ‘Fête de la Musique’ as it was initially known, was first celebrated in France in 1982. Since then it has spread to most countries in the world, because music is a universal medium.
It was American musician Joel Cohen who first thought up the idea of an all night music concert to celebrate music at the turn of the summer solstice in 1976. He was at that time working for the French radio station France Musique and the idea was picked up by French Music and Dance Director, Maurice Fleuret and at the behest of the French Minister of Culture, Jack Mathieu Émile Lang and together with Christian Dupavillon, an events consultant, the first Fête de la Musique was organised. The idea was to bring people together to celebrate freedom and diversity, through music of all types and without class or cultural boundaries. It called upon musicians of all hues to take to the streets, promoting the event with the slogan - Faites de la Musique (Make Music) and the only two conditions laid down were that concerts should be open to the public and musicians would perform free of cost.
This year was the 30th edition of World Music Day and France which has traditionally led the global celebrations went into it with an enthusiasm second only to Bastille's Day. For this year's event a massive concert titled Musique des Trois Océans was held in Paris at the Palais Royal garden, besides other concerts at venues around the country including Place Denfert-Rochereau, Quebec, etc. where both local and international artistes performed. But it wasn't just France, more than a hundred countries celebrated the occasion with no less enthusiasm, including New York's 'Make Music' event, Istanbul's 'Music Stops', the annual Palo Alto festival in San Francisco, besides events in Armenia, Canada, Brazil, Vietnam, Lebanon, Namibia, India, Australia and many more. It wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that officially or unofficially World Music Day would have been celebrated in every corner of this earth for the sheer love of music.
The local Alliance Francais in many countries have all along played an active role in organising musical performances along with local event organisers. In India concerts were held in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Ahmedabad and not least of all Bimapur in Nagaland. The Indian Chapter of Alliance Francais collaborated with Bombay live music venue Blue Frog to bring in French band Betty Argo and was actively involved in many of the events that happened across the country.
World Music day is a celebration of the joy of music and what better occasion than this to pay tribute to the creators of that glorious music - Beethoven and Bach; Ravi Shankar and M S Subalakshmi; The Beatles and Pink Floyd; B B King and Elvis; Miles Davis and John McLaughlin; Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel; Amir Khusro and Swami Haridas; Baiju Bawara and Tansen; Ustad Allah Rahka and Pt Bismillah Khan; Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar; Laxmikant- Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji and thousands of other greater and lesser musicians from around the globe, who through their works have brought so much pleasure and enjoyment in our lives. The beauty of it is that musical tastes are totally irrelevant because there is an audience for every kind of music. Whatever be the type of music, if you enjoy it, that’s the only thing that matters. So this day let the whole world join together and proclaim in one voice - thank you for the music.
Unfortunately even as we enjoy the music, the people who bring the music to you, the Music Companies have been bleeding from huge revenue losses every year due to the scourge of piracy. Speaking on the occasion of World Music Day Mr. Sowmya Chowdhury, Country Head-Events, Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) said, “Music has always played an integral part of our lives. We can’t imagine our special occasions without music. Organizers charge a significant component of the sum from us for music which is an integral element of entertainment. Yet, when it comes to paying for the commercial use of music, they chose to evade the licence fee. The Music industry loses several crores every year due to the non-payment of license fee by hotels/pubs/event organizers etc. in India. On the occasion of World Music Day, we would like to urge the people to join forces with us in our fight against the pirates of the Indian Music Industry”.
His sentiments were also echoed by Savio D'Souza, Secretary General, IMI who said - “World Music Day is the perfect day for one and all to enjoy free flowing music and celebrate the significance of music in our lives. More importantly, it is also an occasion to realize that in order to continue commemorating World Music Day, we need to save music from its biggest threat - piracy. If piracy persists, we would no longer be able to observe special days for music. IMI therefore requests one and all to join in its crusade against piracy. We all in our own little ways can play a significant role in saving the music industry from the immeasurable losses faced by it year on year”.
These are genuine concerns because it should be viable to be musicians and create the music that brings joy to people, and music companies need to earn so that they in turn can pay musicians to create music. And if a viable solution is not visible will it mean the end of music? Govts. all over the world have taken cognisance of the fact and have already initiated various measures to protect intellectual property including music. But its effectiveness is marginal at best and the Music Companies’ continue to be in a tailspin with revenues dropping each year.
However one area where things are looking up is the live music scene. Bands are making megabucks touring and according to reports U2’s ‘360 degrees’ tour is estimated to gross in excess of $ 700 million US breaking the Rolling Stones ‘A Bigger Bang’ tour record of $ 558 million US. While listening to recorded music is fine and often exalting, nothing can beat a live performance and the feeling of being there – it is the ultimate musical experience. Its no wonder that a lot of people will travel to the other end of the world and spend a good chunk of money just to witness a live performance of their favourite musician or band. And a live performance is where it all begins too, because every band/musician starts off playing live, before they become known and a few of them go on to become mega stars. You can debate, but in this writer’s opinion, live music is truly the celebration of music for both performers and audiences.
And World Music Day is about live music where the music is brought to the streets for one and all to revel in, because music is glorious, uplifting and inspiring and the only language the whole world understands. We hope that it gets bigger and bigger each year and brings love peace and harmony in the precious world we live in. Even if its raining, like in India, because music is for all seasons and occasions and emotions and situations and…...whatever else you can think up.
~ Stanley Paul