IPMX @ IIM Lucknow

IPMX is not just only studies but also about experiencing the rich life style that NCR offers. So, a bunch of music enthusiasts within our batch were pretty much up for it when we heard that Indian Ocean, possibly India's most original and cherished band, is going to perform at Hard Rock Cafe, New Delhi. 
And boy.. what a show! I could not fail to observe that there was such a wide mix of audience with quite a few foreigners as well; all simply worshiping and applauding the band. It just proves one point. When music is honest and soulful, people will love it, no matter what the language and style is.

Indian Ocean are continuously evolving, their sounds getting more deeper and soulful then ever. So, when they played song 'Des mera rangrej' (they composed it for Peepli Live), it just blowed away the audience. The song "Bande" (which they composed for Black Friday) also received tremendous applause and even the band was impressed by the quality with which audience did sing-along. Rahul Ram on bass guitar, Amit Kilam on Drums and Sushmit Sen on Guitar are truly rocking. The 2 hour long show ended with their biggest hit "Kandisa" and left all of us wanting for more. 
Being management students, we just can't stop being analytical about trends. So, when Rahul Ram announced that songs from their latest album '16/330 Khajoor Road' are going to be available for free download at their website, I just marveled at the speed at which digital marketing is making its inroad and how it is getting so important for even artists to ensure a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to target prospective customers. Especially for music industry, the only way to beat music piracy seems to be stop trying to beat it and think about innovative ways in which you can offer music to the consumers. So, Indian Ocean will release one song every month on their website for free download and at last will release whole album as CD. Indian Ocean definitely are looking at internet as the way to promote music and reach out to their ever growing fan base. They know the numbers and hence they are confidently claiming that it is live shows that gets them going and not the royalty for the music. So, it makes pretty much a business sense to give away the music for free and let it get popular on its own. Way to go!