FM Radio impacts on Bangla Music and Music Media rights

In the office of Radio Foorti the last chords of a hit song by a popular band wail into the speaker. A disembodied Radio Jockey’s (RJ) voice pierces the air as she identifies the band and reads out an sms sent to her by one of her many listeners. As she announces the end of the show one of the now familiar tunes of Radio Foorti signals the segue into a commercial break. After about four to five different ad jingles another RJ comes on air and gives his audience a much-needed traffic update.

In the span of just fifteen minutes this radio station, along with its counterparts, Radio Aamar and Radio Today, manages to disseminate various different types of information and entertainment every day — a feat which is deceptive in its apparent effortlessness. Those who are listening have no idea what kind of planning and organising take place behind the scenes — or in this case, behind the microphone.

This form of ‘infotainment,’ according to Rafiqul Haque, Managing Director of Radio Today, is “both interactive and informative, providing our audiences with various different degrees of entertainment.”

Haque is proud to be a part of the pioneer FM radio station in Bangladesh. “Establishing an FM radio station has always been my dream,” he says. “I started from scratch by getting a license, which was difficult because before Today came along there were no policies pertaining to radio, but now we can see that the radio has become an acceptable form of media in Bangladesh.”

Radio Today, which launched its first commercial broadcast on October 15, 2006, now has stations in both Chittagong as well as Dhaka, transmitting outside the Chittagong area at a radius of 20 km and outside the Dhaka area at a radius of 100 km. It targets listeners between the ages of 20 and 50, as it has many different segments aside from music such as news, traffic updates, market news and also, palm reading. The primary element of entertainment, however, is definitely music. Haque prides himself on being a part of an industry that has “brought Bangla music into the front line. Before the radio, it was a lost industry, but radio has made it popular again.”

He stresses this point even more by claiming that the radio station does not play English and Hindi songs — something that many radio stations get criticism for — unless it is during their world music shows (on Fridays and Saturdays).

“Even if we get requests for foreign songs and they are not during those particular shows we do not play them,” says Haque. “We even have a slogan, ki jadoo Bangla gaan e.”

While other radio stations such as Radio Foorti agree that it is important to primarily promote Bangla music, they are a little more lax about the rules and regulations. Sayyied Kabir, CEO of Radio Foorti says that for every ten Bangla songs the station plays one Hindi or English song. There is also an English programme called ‘Rewind’ on Thursday nights. Although the station avoids playing too many foreign songs they have to balance it out.

“The reason for this is sheer programming need,” says Kabir. “Unfortunately the industry doesn’t churn out quality Bangla music throughout the year. Most album releases are clustered around the two Eids and Pahela Baishakh and so we are left with a lack of new songs for the rest of the year. Although we have great Bangla music from the 70s and 80s which we would love to play, in many cases the sound quality and the recording quality is pretty bad and so we are very limited in that sense. Rather than repeat songs over and over again, we try to mix it up a bit.”

Radio Foorti launched its first commercial broadcast on January 1, 2007 and now has stations in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Theoretically the station should reach about a million households in Dhaka and less than half a million in both Chittagong and Sylhet.

Like Radio Today, Foorti is an interactive station in which listeners can sms responses, converse with RJ’s, request dedications and also sometimes even choose topics of discussion. According to Kabir, Foorti gets anywhere between 6,000-10,000 sms’ per day and it is often difficult for RJ’s to keep track, thus leading to the primary complaint of listeners — that the station is not reading out their sms’. In addition, because the sms culture is restricted to a certain age group (most of the people who sms frequently are between the ages of 18-35, which is the radio’s primary target group), Kabir says that it is also important to keep in mind that they may have many listeners who are not sending their feedback through sms’ or phone calls.

“There are a fair number of listeners on either side of our target age range,” he says. “So we try to take that under consideration.”

Although FM radio stations get mostly positive feedback from their listeners, perhaps the industry that has been the most skeptical about the radio is the music industry itself.

“One of the fears that the music industry had was that if the songs were already available for listening on the radio, no one would buy the albums,” says Kabir, “but I think that it has helped more than harmed. People hear the songs and eventually I think the radio just prompts people to go out and buy the albums. Also the music industry has to realise that this is one of the only ways that the artist is getting real publicity as there is no structured retail industry.”

Another issue of debate is the question of royalty. This becomes difficult for radio stations because, as there is no centralised authority or a collection agency for lyricists and musicians and there is no mediator who deals with the radio. In most cases the musicians deal with such issues on their own. As a result there is often confusion on the matter of who will get the royalty — the label or the artist?

“Our position is clear, we want this to be a fair and winning system for all the people involved,” says Kabir. “We want this situation to be beneficial for all parties. It is important for everyone involved to know the size of the pie before wanting a piece of it.”

Rajib Sarkar, Producer of Radio Aamar, has a similar point of view. “Since there are no documents and no laws to protect artists and labels alike, it is safer not to go into airtime royalty as yet. There have to be copyright and royalty laws protecting these people before we go ahead and discuss any exchange of money.”

Radio Aamar, the newest FM station, launched its first commercial broadcast on December 11, 2007 and is planning on opening a station in Chittagong in the future. Although they do not have any proof of statistics on paper, Sarkar says that they get a lot of support via word of mouth and sms’.

“We have something for everyone,” says Sarkar. “We like to say that in the span of fifteen minutes, every person in a household — be it a corporate man, a housewife, a college student or a domestic worker– will get to hear their type of music.”

Like both the other FM radio stations, Aamar avoids playing Hindi music unless it is during their international programmes. Per day on average they play between three and four Hindi songs, if at all.

But Radio Aamar’s strength lies in its interactive programmes such as ‘Amar Bhalobasha,’ a programme where listeners talk live about their love lives. The station is also popular for its unique drama serials, many of which are written by Sarkar. In addition there are cooking shows, news and even a programme for underground bands.

“We are trying to highlight people’s needs,” says Sarkar. “Interactive programmes are good for us because we also get feedback. People want us to be interactive with them. It is important to give our listeners a voice, give them a chance to speak.”

Sarkar also believes that since FM radio came out after TV, more and more of the public will turn towards the radio rather than TV. Whereas in the west the popularity of radio culture went down after the introduction of television, Sarkar believes that it will have the opposite effect in Bangladesh.

“The radio is a free source of entertainment which is also mobile,” says Sarkar. “You can take it with you wherever you go.”

Sayyied Kabir also feels that because FM radio is a more convenient form of entertainment (mobile phones making it easy to listen at anytime and anywhere) its popularity is not in danger. “It’s probably a blessing in disguise that FM radio came after TV because the novelty of satellite TV wore off and people knew what to expect,” says Kabir. “And even in the west although the popularity of radio has decreased it is still there, which tells us that at the end of the day it’s all about content.”

Rafiqul Haque, on the other hand, believes that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. “There are four different types of media: TV, radio, print and the internet. Each of these forms of media have different characteristics. I don’t think it is fair to compare one or the other because I think all these types of media contribute to and complement each other.”

Regardless of whether TV is more or less popular, it is a fact that the birth of FM radio in Bangladesh has created a significant impact on the face of media in Bangladesh. It has introduced a brand new face of pop culture, while at the same time educating and informing people. It has brought the Bangla music industry into the homes of the people and generated in its listeners an awareness of what is happening around them and how to move ahead in this media savvy world, while remaining true to who they are.

Srabonti Narmeen Ali

More Related:

Radio Manei Foorti - Radio Foorti turns four

Bangla FM Radio Revolution in Bangladesh

ABC Radio (Bangla FM Radio) turns one

Mazharul Islam - The booming voice on radio

Eid celebrations on Bangla Radio Channel

Soul Searching in Bangla Music

RJ Neerob - the most sought after RJs in Dhaka

Interview with RJ Nawsheen Nahreen Mou

70 Years of Dhaka Radio Drama

Kabir Bakul interview - A successful bangla lyricists