With over 10000 music tracks in its repertoire, a well spread out multi-genre catalogue burnished by an experimental approach, Sagarika music is a top label in the Marathi music industry. Khanak in a stimulating confab with Sagarika Das, its trendsetting and visionary driving force, reveals the secrets of its continuous growth
Q. You have an image of a true-blue musical legacy, especially in Marathi music. How have you gone about building it?
A Well, if you call it a musical legacy, then I guess it started when my father, Mr. Hirak Das, entered the music industry in 1970. He ran the record plant of the vinyl dressing plant of the label Polydor, which is Universal Music today. And I guess that’s where the Das family journey in the music industry began.
He went on to start one of the largest manufacturing units in the country. About four and a half lakh cassettes a day and about two and a half lakh CDs a day for all the music labels in the country. And so, started my initiation into the music industry thanks to my father.
In 1997, I approached my father with a desire to start off as a music content creator. He gave me a sum and said I’m on my own after that.
I had was limited resources was absolutely new to the industry from the content side. Non-film hindi music was my only option, because buying movies needed huge funds. I started dabbling in Marathi music a little bit, though I didn’t know the language. I heard Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshkarji’s compositions and was enchanted. I got to know other players, music genres etc. Having learnt classical music from Srimati Aarti Ankilikar, I’d some knowledge of music.
It began by me starting to learn Marathi and explore Marathi music. The basic diversity of the music in Marathi is just amazing. Different kinds and different dialects and genres. And that’s where it started.
Q. You were saying something about building the Sagarika legacy?
A Working and trying to create a musical catalogue is a completely different ballgame. That, I guess, came from, jo hum bolte hain achhe sanskaar in music, because I had very wonderful gurus. My parents and my brother were fantastic listeners. The first thing to create good music is being a good listener. We relished international music, rock, pop, jazz, to Indian classical music, Bollywood, film songs. And after I started the business, Marathi folk music, Bengali, we just savored a lot of different kinds of music. If you can differentiate between, something that is made with love and creativity, I guess the catalogue becomes your legacy.
We probably produced more than 10,000 songs in our career. Each and every song was made with, complete involvement and love. I know every song from my catalogue, and would recognize it. So, that is how we probably built the legacy. And now my son Vikram, a graduate from Berklee College of Music, has joined the business. We are upbeat about expanding our musical boundaries.
He also has been initiated in Bengali music, in Marathi folk, in obviously Bollywood music, because he’s born and brought up in Mumbai. So, basically, incorporating all this in your creation, will probably give rise to a musical legacy.
Q. What according to you are the milestone moments in the labels history’?
A Milestone moments, obviously, are our initial hits. We have Aika Daaji Baa, Radha Hi Bawri, songs like these, Gala Varkari, artists that we work with, created our milestones. And these are songs that made Sagarika popular amongst listeners.
But according to me every album was looked at as a milestone like the audience would tomorrow. For example, Vaishali Samant’s Mera Dadla, came immediately after Aai Ka Daaji Ba. The song received a lukewarm response then, but 15 years later it was rediscovered by music lovers and became a chartbuster. I don’t know whether Aaika Daajiba or Radha Bawri was my milestone. They’re all put together in our little bouquet and we consider all of them our milestones.
Q. You have given many independent artists an early platform. How does Sagarika Music approach discovering and supporting new talent?
A So, a good listening taste and regime for anyone who creates music content, and likewise a good watching regime for visual content helps discern between the special from the ordinary.
There’s no formula for talent scouting but listening to their music in a complete way. I look at artists from a long-term point of view. So, when young artists approach us, I look for a spark. Artists literally grow through every phase of their lives, age no bar. What they’re going through in their life at that point in time, affects their art and they evolve through that.
Spark, creativity apart, I search if the artists has different ideas and if the artist is ready to dig deep and explore them.
It may not be perfect, but it is a step, in a different direction or in the right direction. So, we find artists like that. We initiate them in the craft of commercially, literally, showcasing themselves, hone their skills, in producing and sounding better as the association grows. When you work sincerely towards something welcome results follow.
Q. How has the Marathi music industry changed since Sagarika took its initial steps?
A Marathi music industry, since we started, has changed in music style, popular taste, audience demographics with the base root remaining the same. Today, there are a multitude of artists and independent creators putting out their music on YouTube, Instagram and other platforms. The overflowing content is probably a problem for everyone, not just labels, for independent artists too. Over-congestion in the content industry, is a problem. Independent artists and mid-sized labels like us, should stop thinking numbers and start thinking quality.
The music industry dishes out, landmark songs every once in a while. So, that comes from a lot of hard work, thought and creativity. Churning is important. I think Marathi film music can reach the number of other Indian languages. Sairaat and some other films have done that. Even non-film has reached numbers comparable with other film songs. We’ve film songs and non-film songs which have reached those kinds of numbers.
Q. What about the difference between the numbers in film and non-film music?
A Whether film or non-film, if a song is good, it is presented, produced, and sung well, listeners forget whether it is from a film or not. We hardly know the names of the films of Lata Mangeshkarji, of Kishore Kumar songs. We don’t differentiate between film music and non-film music or language in music.
You’ll have a Bengali song hitting the national and international charts. Hanuman Kind hits international charts. Komdi Padhali, Sairat, prove that music is language fluid. I focus on the creation of the basic product.
Q. You have also done your bit in reviving Marathi music like Natya sangeet in the voice of Suresh Wadkar. How did the experiment go?
A I think Sureshji’s Natya Suresh, was a milestone in terms of production in the Marathi industry; I just got lucky. At that point I was exploring a lot of different genres of Marathi music and learning. Uttara Kerkar, had recorded this album with Sureshji called Natya Suresh and another very beautiful album called Bhaina Bainchi Gani, which she had sung and soft-launched as a double cassette album. Music arranger Appa Vadavkar, helped me learn the ropes about Marathi music and industry. He recommended me these two albums from Uttaraji. I loved the music and had to have it. Frankly, I will not take credit for that. I promoted and knew that if the music is that good, there will be an audience for it. As far as reviving Natya Sangeet in Marathi is concerned, I would give that credit to Rahul Deshpande, who went and did all that he has done. So, I don’t take that credit. I just got lucky with Sureshji’s Natya Suresh.
Q. While most music videos feature only the singer, your videos often feature the composer and the lyrics writer. This is a unique approach. What is the thought process behind it?
A For music videos we are very conscious that our product is the song. The music video though is important and helps attract more eyeballs. It is the vehicle to sell the song.
We never lose sight of the fact that we are trying to sell the song. And the creators of the song including the composers, the writers, the singers, the producers, the musicians are important to us featuring them in our music videos and in behind-the-scenes videos is something that is a no-brainer, actually.
Q. Aika Daajeeba could be credited with catapulting Marathi music to its glory. It was the first Marathi song aired by MTV. How do you think it changed the perception of Marathi music?
A With Aika Daajeeba, I think it was just three people trying to explore. In fact, when the album started and Vaishali was signed on, we had to have a complete album. The craze for singles was yet to hit the market. The composer of Mukhi, brought Aika Daajeeba and I took to it and produced it for a long time. It took almost a year to create that one song, which was really unheard of in those days. We changed the track, Vaishali redubbed the song. And once the song was ready, I remember telling Vaishali that Aika Daajeeba will either top all charts or completely die. We had that feeling but it could go either way. And the song was in Hindi with a Marathi punchline, which was never done before. That was also a big gamble. I’m very grateful that both my artists stood by the decisions I took. Jagdish Mali did the video and after rejecting many actors we settled for Ishita, Milind Gunaji, with Bosco Caesar doing the choreography. It was a talented core group investing talent, diligence and chutzpah. We just wanted the best for the song. Aika Daajeeba did change the perception of Marathi music because the production was so different. We had invested much time and money on production at par with Bollywood which was rare in Marathi. Today, of course, we have composers like Ajay-Atul who have elevated the production in Marathi songs and all other composers also. Music production is something that’s taken for granted in Marathi industry today. Jatin Sharma, produced what was a milestone track in Marathi industry. Airing it on MTV was a huge challenge. They refused to play Marathi music initially but relented to play it for a day. And then it just took off. It never came down. The rest is history.
Q. Do you think Marathi Film music can reach the numbers of other Indian language films? How can Sagarika as a music label alter it through innovative promotion?
A A hundred percent, I think Marathi film music can reach the number of other Indian language films and we have done that with Sairaat and some other films like that. Even non-film has reached numbers that can be comparable with other film songs. I have film songs, non-film songs which have reached those kinds of numbers.
So, according to me, whether film or non-film, a good song if presented, produced and sung well it can work. People just listen to the song irrespective of film or non-film. Even today we listen to Lata Mangeshkarji, Kishore Kumarji songs film or non-film. I don’t differentiate between film music and non-film music and languages in music. You’ll have a Bengali song which has hit the national and international charts. Hanuman kind hits international charts. Komdi Palali, Gulabi Saree, Aika Dhajiba prove that music is language fluid.
Q. What genres is your label currently focusing on to cover both the older and younger generation of music listeners?
A So, currently, as a label, we don’t focus on any particular genre. I try to have as many genres as possible because as a label we have to cater to all audience segments. We always try to have a well-rounded catalogue, with something for everybody. So, you have these small niche audiences. Natya Suresh is a very small audience, yet you have a song to represent that. We are doing a lot of independent pop music now. And again, like I said, it’s language fluid, so I’ll do something in Hindi, then I’ll do something in English.
There are a lot of kids, Indian kids who are singing in English now, writing very well, singing. We’re encouraging that talent. We’ll probably produce something in, Assamese, Bengali.
And as far as genre is concerned if I have a particular artist, I will try to back whatever naturally comes from them any genre or mix genres. Artists, today, sing all genres. Even folk artists are mixing different kinds of styles of music in their music. So, so we’re not really focusing on any genre as per se, but on whatever comes naturally to the artist and back it if we like it
Q. Your YouTube Marathi music channel has shown great growth. How have you achieved this?
A It took us a while to understand YouTube was, but once you study audiences, things fall in place. Artists and creators and the legacy, like you said, of Sagarika Music help. We had sold our Bengali catalog sometime back. And then we started a small little channel, started recreating with a few songs but with the Sagarika name. Overnight we had 25-30,000 subscribers with just a couple of songs. So, the brand name earned through, creating and presenting good artists, who have long career spans like most of our artists helps – they become our brand ambassadors. The best music of an artist comes in their initial years and we’ve got those initial years music of some of the biggest artists in the country today. So, people revisit our channel for that. We’ve carved our reputation purely on our work. Phirki, is an all Indian music from all over the world.
Q. How do you keep the channel brimming with music content?
A You have to arrive constantly at a different bright idea to chase and start creating it bit by bit. Every song, music video begins as a simple thought from either the composer, the singer, or from me sometimes, from the lyricist, anyone. So, like I said, it’s ever changing.
Q. With virtual reality concert, AI generated music, and short form audio becoming big in the digital music era. How do you chart your growth graph?
A Virtual reality in concerts interests me because I have studied concert production. Techniques on exploring sound on live stage has always interested me. So, I look forward to dabble with virtual reality in concerts. VR is something that people have to discover, explore and, get friendly with. It’s a fun time & I like this constantly evolving phase of the music industry
You cannot be complacent even for a while because the industry will have overtaken you. Changing tastes in music influenced by technology are the norm. But that is the challenge and keeps it interesting even after 25 years. We started in the analog era adapted to the digital era. There was absolutely zero business and chaos in the music industry at one point. We overcame that. Newer challenges emerge and that underlines the thrill and the uniqueness of this music industry. But having said that, whatever the growth in technology, AI or virtual reality or whatever, I focus on the basic product. If the song is good, virtual reality, AI, everything starts after that. Your basic composition, your basic lyrics, your basic, what you want to say through the song, your art, your singer.
We focus on the base the quality of the song. And if that works out, then, you know, other things just fall in place. And if the more good songs, the more well-created, more talented artists we back, that is what will chart our growth.
Vibhav Rao.
