This paper was presented Pandit Arvind Parikh, at a seminar on this subject hosted by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi.

We are considering the changing socio–economic and technological environment of classical music –Vidvatbhogi Sangeet [music for the elite] — in contrast to popular music — Janatabhogi Sangeet [music for the masses]. Obviously, these classifications represent the extremities of popularity and aesthetic maturity, with many shades in between.

For some years now, informed opinion has been concerned that if Vidvatbhogi Sangeet is exposed to the cruelty of modern mass-production technologies and the contemporary marketplace, it can survive only by diluting its Vidvatbhogi character. From this fear arises the belief that Vidvatbhogi art forms should receive systematic and organised support — we call it patronage — from the controllers of wealth and power.

 

In essence we are looking at the relationship between money, power, and art. This relationship has shaped civilisation from times immemorial, and will continue to do so. Our main concern today is whether in the contemporary context, the character of Indian classical music stands threatened by this relationship.

I propose to present my understanding of this issue by considering the essential character of Indian classical music, and looking at the economics of the classical music industry.

The character of Hindustani music 

Indian Classical Music is not entertainment. It is a form of meditative contemplation. The musician uses patterns of structured sound to explore one or more facets of the human mind and, therefore also, of the universal mind. This is why Indian classical music is accurately described as “archetypal”.

The vehicle for the exploration of the chosen facet of the mind is the melodic structure. Over millennia of evolution, the melodic structures of the different Ragas have come to be identified as being consistent with a specific range of human emotional states — Rasas.

The act of contemplative meditation, using structured sound, therefore is an act of “auto-suggestion”. The melodic structure — the Raga — is used as a means of expressing as well as enhancing the emotional state – the chosen Rasa.

Being auto-suggestive in character. Indian classical music is not “performed” except in the sense that it is audible to others. In reality, the “performer” and the intended “audience” are the same person.

 

Indian classical music is sufficient unto itself, and does not pre-suppose the existence of an audience. The presence of an audience, at its best, inspires the musician to greater heights of creative endeavour,and at its worst, is a destructive influence on it.

Thus, although the aesthetics of Indian classical music concern themselves primarily with the musician’s own emotional states, our music is classified as a “performing art” because of the audible nature of the Rasa-stimulation process, and the possibility that others can — as intended or unintended audiences — partake of the Rasa being stimulated and share a “vision” of the conjured archetype.

The ideal of attainment in Indian classical music is a state of “Bhavanupravesh” — transcending the grammar of music and entering the realm of literature — by the musician, and “Rasaswadana” — savouring of its essence/ fragrance — by the musician and all present. The achievement of this ideal assumes a musician capable of “Bhavanupravesh” and an audience capable of “Rasaswadana”.

An act of meditation becomes an act of communication only in a “concert” situation where the individual minds of the gathering have collectively established a contact with the universal mind in response to the patterns of structured sound being created by a musician. This view is consistent with the modern view in Western critical writing on the performing arts which emphasises the “performance as a happening” — an event that defies verbal description because of its all-embracing aesthetic ambience.

In any society, the ability to establish contact with the universal mind is the good fortune of a few rather than of the many. Of Indian classical music, it is rightly said that, enjoying it [Rasaswadana] requires tens of years of training of the ear, of the mind, and indeed, of the soul.

Indian classical music is, therefore, essentially “elitist” in its character. But. “elitism” is an imperfect description in this context. The “elitism” of Indian classical music is totally compatible with a democratic society because it assumes a stratification of society on the basis of aesthetic maturity rather than economic status.

Its social value lies in the fact that it sets before society a standard of civilized, tranquil, and sublimated indulgence of the senses. By presenting a contrast to the relatively vulgar pleasures of the less cultivated masses, it invites them to rise to a higher level of aesthetic maturity.

Our music can expand its “market” only by elevating more members of society to the desired level of aesthetic and philosophical maturity. In order to “market” itself to an inferior audience profile, it could well loose its own character.

The basic assumptions of Indian classical music are the exact opposite of “marketing”. Indian classical music does not seek audiences; it is sought by relevant audiences.

 

The making of a musician 

Converting a musically sensitive individual into a musician requires him accelerate the pace of his own spiritual evolution, and achieve in one life time what others would take several rebirths to achieve.

Such a process cannot brook any distraction or interference from any human need – least of all the need to make a living. Indian classical music, therefore, cannot be a profession, and certainly not a hobby. It can only be the sole purpose of life.

The pursuit of a way of life which neither seeks nor addresses itself to a “market” is possible either if making a living is unnecessary or if any level of self-denial is acceptable to the seeker.

This is why the history of Indian classical music has been shaped by musicians whose livelihood was either supported by the aristocracy, or of ascetics who did not care where their next meal would come from. The Indian classical musician, in the traditional mould, is therefore a “Fakir” at heart, even if he is able to live like an “Nawab”.

While the pre-independence generation of performing musicians conforms to this personality profile, the socio economic changes in post-independence era have substantially diluted this pattern. While the demands of classical music cannot change, a majority of the performing musicians are no longer willing to live like Fakirs, even if they are not capable of becoming “Nawabs”.

Music has, today, become a profession, although the best in the profession can, and will, rise above “professionalism” in response to the spiritual urge within them.

 

The “market” for classical music 

The basic principle of any market is that the price for the product is paid by those who enjoy its use. It is the process of customer satisfaction that permits the provider of a product to survive and thrive. The music “market” is no different.

The heart of the “market” for classical music is the relationship between the musician — “Gunijan” — and those who are capable of responding to his music — “Rasikas”. It is a personalised and sacred relationship between “Bhavanaupravesh” and “Rasaswadana”, between the Seeker and the Sought.

Over the centuries the musical product and its market have both changed; and, a brief survey of the significant phases and facets would be in order.

 

Music and the feudal aristocracy

The feudal aristocracy of the 19th century was a market appropriate to that era in which customers were few, and marketers were many.

The Maharajas who gave a comfortable life to many great musicians were “Rasikas” first, and patrons thereafter. The merchant-princes of Bombay and Calcutta who have supported the careers of musicians were also Seekers first.

I therefore submit that those who “patronised” music and musicians in the feudal era did so for the value they obtained from the expenditure — primarily their personal pleasure as Rasikas, and also for the pride of being able to share the Rasaswadan with other Rasikas, and the prestige that their “ownership” of the music of their retainer musicians gave them in their society.

Much of this value cannot be quantified. But “value”, in any case, is subjective and not quantifiable except through the price that is paid. It is therefore wrong to believe that Indian classical music has been sustained, in the feudal era, by any form of philanthropy unrelated to “market forces”.

What is important about this phase in the evolution of the music market is that it is the personalised customer-supplier relationship between the Gunijan and the Rasika which was at the heart of “market”.

The obvious advantage of this phase was that great musicians could pursue their art totally free from worldly cares and concerns, and perform a very deeply satisfying quality of music for selected audiences of highly cultivated aesthetic sensibilities.

The downside of this market was that the number of patrons was small, and therefore only a very small number of musicians could qualify for it. Those who couldn’t qualify, had to remain Fakirs, because a mass-market did not exist. It was therefore an intensely competitive market, and gave rise to outstanding quality because the few customers were most discerning.

Music and the democratic state

The reasons for which the feudal state succeeded as a patron of classical music, are the very reasons for which the democratic state can only fail.

The feudal patron had a personal relationship with the patronised musicians — first as a Rasika, and then as an employer. The democratic state is, by definition, impersonal. In contrast to the subjective judgment of the feudal patron, the democratic state must respond only to objective, and procedural, decision making processes.

While individual bureaucrats in a democratic state can become Rasikas, the state itself can never become a Rasika because the state is an impersonal entity. And, without the establishment of a Rasika-Gunijan relationship with classical musicians, any form of patronage is unlikely to produce a great cultural flowering.

In addition, the democratic state represents the rule of the majority. An art form meant for the intellectual elite cannot, therefore, find effective patronage on any significant scale.

While saying this, we must also recognise that the modem democratic state — especially of the Indian variety — has a variety of indirect devices at its command to promote the interests of culture, no matter how elitist the art form.

 

Music and the electronic media

In the early part of the 20th century, the gramophone record and the radio made their appearance. Until then, classical music was available primarily to selected “invited” audiences — those who had access to the Mehfils of the patrons.

 

Radio and gramophone records made this music accessible to the general public. Thus commenced the democratisation process in classical music. This enlarged access began to convert a large number of musically sensitive individuals into mature Rasikas.

Initially, the 78 RPM record of 3 minute duration remained an uninspiring vehicle for Rasaswadan. Things changed dramatically in the late 50’s and early 60’s with the growing duration of concerts which could be presented on discs and later audio-cassettes. The steady fall in the price of recording and reproduction equipment made it possible for Rasikas to record radio concerts of reasonable duration.

This process — stimulated basically by electro-magnetic recording, mass-production and mass-distribution technologies — allowed classical music to progressively reduce its dependence on feudal support even before it actually faded away. A mass-market of national and sub-continental dimensions was created for classical music.

In every respect, this was a most significant stage in the evolution of the music market because it allowed the cultivation and elevation of public tastes to a higher level of aesthetic appreciation through wide-ranging and low-cost exposure.

There exists a view that Radio’s insatiable appetite for programmes, and the commercial orientation of the recording companies have sacrificed quality for quantity. Thus, the public yardstick for the assessment of good music has been progressively diluted. Some critics even charge that these media are allowing bad music to drive good music out of circulation, and are hastening the destruction of the meditative-contemplative character of Indian classical music.

It is a moot point whether the widespread availability of Marutis can drive Rolls Royces off the world’s roads. It is also debatable whether the manufacturer and customer of Marutis is, in any way, less respectable than the producer and customer of Rolls Royces.

However, one should beware of a situation — if indeed such a situation arises — in which customers are unable to tell the difference between a Maruti and a Rolls Royce. If this happens, people could be willing to buy a Maruti believing that it is a Rolls Royce, or happily start buying a Rolls Royce body fitted with a Maruti engine.

When a market expands very fast, these possibilities do surface. Since it must be very profitable to sell a Maruti for the price of a Rolls Royce, or selling a Rolls Royce body fitted with a Maruti engine, the potential manufacturer of Rolls Royces may be tempted to turn manufacturer of Marutis. The world could then loose the Rolls Royce as a classic product of human imagination and craftsmanship.

In the world of music, these dangers are more real because the “class” and “mass” distinction in this market is not a monetary or economic distinction; it is a classification based on aesthetic maturity.

Music and the concert mass-market

Over the last 20 years, the inflation-adjusted cost of recorded music has come down steadily. On the other hand. the cost of concert admissions, in real terms, has either remained stable, or risen.

This reality finds its reflection in the income-sources of the leading musicians. If royalties on recorded music constituted 70/75% of a musician’s income in the 1970’s, today the same proportion could be coming from concert appearances.

Thus, it appears that as the potential market for classical music has grown, audiences have been initiated into its mysteries by the mass-media. This initiation has whetted the appetite for direct encounter and exposure — Rasaswadana.

By implication, therefore, the reach of radio and low cost electronic technology have acted like advertisements for many musicians. These advertisements have created a demand for their concerts; and that’s where the real income comes from. And, since there is a large demand for “advertisements” also, recording companies find it profitable to introduce as many new products — musicians — as possible on the market.

The nett result of this has been the ability of the growing music market to accept, sustain, and promote a steady stream of new musicians.

Since the concert platform has emerged as the “real thing” in the music market, the focus of competition amongst performing musicians has shifted to the concert market. As a result, the intermediaries of the concert market — the organisers — have taken over the function of selectivity and of bringing the musician and the audiences together.

The unselective character of mass-media, their growing role as advertisements for musicians, the dominance of the concert platform as the music market, and the growing power of intermediaries in the concert market — these trends are universal, and can be expected to crystallise in India too.

1. Music and the intermediaries of the concert market Concert/ festival organisers belong to four broad categories:
2. Music circles with substantial memberships of music lovers, which are run primarily as no-profit organisations, most of them being registered as charitable institutions.
3. Corporate bodies which sponsor concerts/festivals as a part of their public service/ public relations and often even brand promotion activities, as in the case of tobacco and liquor companies.
4. Government departments/ academies which sponsor concerts and festivals to promote culture.
5. Festival organisers, who obtain corporate or other sponsorships, do not necessarily have a stable membership, but organise one/two major festivals every year.

 

A fifth category of organiser – the impresario, who organises cultural events as a business – is yet to surface on the Indian horizon to any significant extent. There are however signs that such an intermediary system is likely to evolve in the near future.

 

The aesthetic and commercial perspectives of different categories of organisations are different.

1. Music circles have the advantage of being run by connoisseurs, and therefore exercise a great degree of selectivity in the presentation of musical talent. Their selection is also substantially influenced by the demand from their memberships. Their Mehfils are typically held in the intimate “Baithak” arrangement, which is ideal for classical music. In this sense, this is the ideal organisational forum for hosting musical concerts and festivals.However, music circles suffer from several handicaps. They are managed on a non-commercial basis, and are always strapped for funds. They therefore settle for the talent that is affordable. They have difficulty in meeting the demand for the highly paid super-star musicians on the one hand. and are unable to get gate-collections support in their desire to promote promising young talent.

Corporate sponsorships have the advantage of being “patronage” in the traditional sense. They are relatively unconcerned about matching costs with gate collections, and can afford to be as selective as they want in presenting quality music.

However, unless these corporate sponsorships are managed by astute connoisseurs, or organised in collaboration with music circles, there is a danger that they will present mainly the big names because of their prestige, and ignore worthwhile talent in the early stages of recognition.

And, we must also recognise that an “elitist” art form will tend to attract few corporate sponsors, certainly fewer than the potential market for sponsorship of mass-market entertainment such as Cricket.

 

1. Government sponsorships have the advantage of adding to the total funding available in the music market, and also making music concerts and festivals available in small-towns and moffusil areas which don’t have active music circles, and which corporate sponsorships don’t wish to cover.

The limitations of government sponsorships are the limitations of bureaucratic patronage in the Indian environment. The yardstick for selection is often questionable, and remuneration paid to musicians is meagre.

1. Festival organisers have the advantage of being able to solicit generous funding from sponsors, and of being dedicated enough to quality music to exercise a high degree of selectivity in the music they present.

As a general observation, it may be stated that in the intermediary system of the concert market, the most positive forces are [a] the “patronage” orientation of corporate entities and [b] the selectivity-potential and dedication of the music circles.

 

The central issue for concern

With this discussion, we may focus more sharply on what our main concern should be in today’s environment.

It is not our concern that Indian classical music is changing in response to socio-economic and technological changes in society. In fact, Indian classical music is structured for continuity within change. What should concern us is whether the current environment is forcing upon Indian classical music a change which represents a discontinuity.

The anxiety about discontinuity is legitimate because today’s socio-economic and technological trends do threaten the meditative-contemplative propensities of individuals in our society. If the introspective orientation of the Indian mind decays, the character of our classical music cannot survive.

And, yet, we must recognise that the meditative-contemplative quality has always been, in all societies, the good fortune of the few rather than the many. Their numbers will grow at their natural pace in response to higher levels of education, and changes in the occupational profile of the population.

Music of the meditative-contemplative variety will remain alive as long as those audiences who have this capability have unrestricted access to it, and have the discernment to know the difference between — to use our earlier analogy — the difference between a genuine Rolls Royce and a phoney one.

We recognise the social value of Marutis as well as Rolls Royces. But, our task, as a society, therefore is to strengthen the forces of discernment by ensuring that consumers have as much of an opportunity of test-driving a Rolls Royce as of test-driving a Maruti.

And, here we must make a value judgment – that the Rolls Royce is worth preserving because it represents a yardstick of perfection. Having said this, we must also accept that the Rolls Royce itself has changed, and is capable of changing over the years without ceasing to be a Rolls Royce.

The central task before us therefore is strengthening the forces of discernment. In this context, we may attempt to define a role for the state in the support of classical music.

 

Strengthening the forces of discernment 

Funding support

Direct sponsorship of concerts and festivals, or direct employment of musicians would appear to be beyond the legitimate scope of the state. However, within the limitations imposed by the present economic situation, the state could have some funds to support the interests of culture. In addition, the state has fiscal and monetary devices available to it by which it may indirectly support the classical art forms.

 

Funding support, if any is available, should be given through selected music circles, festival organisers, and non-profit organisations who are performing the function of selectivity and audience-cultivation quite efficiently, but whose resources are always inadequate to support their activities. They can be expected to contribute significantly to the cause because the sacred relationship between the Rasika and the Gunijan is the very basis of their incorporation.

The current policy for allowing 100% tax exemptions to non-profit institutions engaged in cultural promotion is far too restrictive and needs to be made more liberal. It is possible, and indeed desirable, that safeguards should be built into a liberal tax exemption policy to prevent tax evasion.

In other fields, such as rural development and social welfare the Government has already realised the value of supporting non-government organisations [NGOs]. A similar realisation needs to dawn in the field of supporting the classical art forms.

Music education

In the field of music-education, the state can play a significant role. Producing performing musicians is the task of the Guru-Shishya parampara and the state can support institutions which are engaged in preserving this tradition through direct funding, as well as tax exemptions. But, training Rasikas is an even more promising direction for state support.

Music universities — including non government institutions like Gandharva Mahavidyalaya — or departments of music in the universities are full time course in music. Many music-circles and voluntary organisation are running music appreciation courses for lay listeners with the objective of creating a new generation of Rasikas.

This is a very important contribution to educating public tastes and should receive funding support from the state.

 

Fiscal incentives

Indirect fiscal assistance to classical music can also be given through the recording companies. Of the many recording companies in India, only two have a significant classical repertoire on the shelves of the retail shops. If producing classical music — especially of the archival variety — can be made more

profitable for the recording companies, many more can be persuaded to publish and promote more aggressively. Through such devices, both the musicians and audiences will gain.

 

Welfare support

Direct financial help to professional classical musicians — once objective criteria are drawn up — is possible through tax rebates on their incomes, and interest-subsidies on their borrowings from the financial institutions/banks.

Medical benefits to musicians and their families — again on the basis of objective qualifying criteria — can be made available through the ESIC network.

From such public subsidies, the state has very little to fear in terms of a financial burden. If all the classical art forms are considered together — not just classical music — we are talking about all of 10,000 eligible performing artistes in the country.

 

Through the electronic media

As the owner of All India Radio, the state can play an even greater role in strengthening the forces of discernment.

AIR is the oldest and largest treasure-house of recorded classical music, the entry-level platform for all classical musicians, and the most influential arbiter of public tastes. There is a widespread feeling amongst musicians and music-lovers that AIR has ignored this responsibility in the process of managing its archives, planning its transmissions, and developing contemporary talent.

The AIR archives of classical music are the nation’s property because they were collected at the taxpayer’s cost. A complete index of the AIR archives of classical music should be published for public consumption. The archival repertoire should become more freely available to the public through [a] listening facilities in the major cities, [b] through more frequent transmissions on the AIR network, and [c] through commercialisation by the recording companies.

Public access to AIR archives can be at least self-financing if not positively profitable. In making this suggestion, therefore, no claim is made on the exchequer.

The process of selection, grading, and concert allotment for contemporary musicians needs to be tightened substantially. The functioning of the Music Audition Board needs to be streamlined and an environment needs to be created for a much higher level of selectivity in talent for AIR.

No classical musician — unless employed by AIR — can make a living from AIR concerts. But. the time may have come to consider whether the remunerations paid for AIR broadcasts are keeping pace with inflation, and whether the poor concert fees paid by AIR may be dissuading newer generations of musicians from seeking audition or accepting AIR concerts.

AIR needs to recognise that all over the world, the growth of Television has resulted in Radio becoming the primary medium for music and news. International trends also show that as television acquires a progressively mass-market orientation. Radio becomes progressively more “elitist” or “specialist” in its focus.

If AIR does not redefine its own role in the TV era, it will lose its audiences even for the kind of programming which is its own legitimate territory — classical music being one such kind of programming.

 

The policy perspective

In encouraging industrial development, state policy intervenes actively to widen the choice, and to create a discerning consumer with rights of information and education. In the field of political development, state policy attempts to ensure the growth of a mature and discerning electorate. Likewise, in the development of human potential, state policy needs to encourage the growth of discernment amongst consumers of educational and cultural services.

The issue for state policy in the support of the classical art forms is not an either/or choice between patronage and market forces. It is of finding the best means of strengthening the forces of aesthetic discernment amongst the audiences so that market forces may satisfy the “mass-market” as well as the “class market” equally profitably.

This objective may be served by an appropriate combination of market forces and state patronage.

State patronage of the traditional variety is probably inconsistent with the character of classical music. Other than the purely “welfare” kind of support by the state, the promotional effort of the state should ideally operate through the Rasika-Gunijan relationship which provides the creative as well as economic impetus to the music industry/business.

There is much in the market forces and modern technologies that is conducive to the process of making the widest possible choice available to the audiences for classical music, and enlarging the market of mature Rasikas.

State patronage therefore should work hand-in-hand with and through the forces in the music market — as it does in the management of the economy — to ensure that a mass-market culture does not starve those who seek the higher levels of aesthetic satisfaction.