Rohit Kaul, the head of HCL Concerts, tells Christy Varghese that the classical music scenario in India is adapting to the changing times and has something for everyone

Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when everyone was shifting to the online medium, is when I first heard of HCL Concerts, through one of their programmes, Baithak. The Baithak sessions are a series of virtual performances by accomplished and forthcoming Indian classical music and dance artistes. Even as the world adapts to Covid-19, it doesn’t seem like the online medium will lose its relevance.

The Baithak series led me to probe into the phenomena that HCL Concerts is, and it appears that conservation and promotion of India’s art and cultural heritage are very close to HCL’s heart. To this end, HCL has been organising HCL Concerts for 23 years, dedicated to nurturing and promoting talent rooted in the glorious heritage of Indian classical performing arts. Over 1500 artists have graced this platform and have contributed towards reinvigorating the Indian classical performing arts.

Over the years, more platforms have been developed to contribute to the growth of the Indian performing arts ecosystem. Most notable of these are HCL Concerts’ Baithak  and Soundscapes series, which showcases the independent and inclusive music from across the Indian landscape including genres like Sufi, Folk and Indie-pop, allowing music lovers across the world a chance to enjoy the most comprehensive collection of classical music from the comforts of their home for free.

To know more about HCL Concerts, the head of the platform was kind enough to share his input. In charge of HCL Concerts since 2015, Rohit Kaul has a lot to do with some of the latest innovations by the platform. Read on for excerpts of the interview:

The internet proclaims you are a behavioural science/ economics expert with over a decade of experience in diverse sectors. How has this experience helped HCL Concerts?

My interest and experience with behaviour science helped us in understanding the fundamental behavioural barriers and motivations of consuming Indian classical music.

This understanding allows us to create brand communication that addresses these barriers and appeal to the on-the-fence audience who are unsure if they will like Indian classical music. My earlier experience also enables me to understand customer journeys better and identify ways to integrate listening to classical music into the daily lives of our audience. We have consistently increased the number of people who are interested in Indian classical music over the years.

During your tenure at HCL concerts, would you say art and artistes changed over the years? If yes, how?

One big change that I have observed is the willingness of artistes to experiment with different genres, styles of presentation and collaborations. Earlier this was something that was seen more in younger artists but now maestros are also experimenting with different ways of presentation of classical music. This has expanded the appeal of Indian classical music to a much wider audience.

Also, the way these experiments/collaborations are done has evolved a lot. It is no longer about just adding a drummer or a guitarist to a classical music ensemble to make the music ‘sound’ like fusion. Artists are re-imagining their music and collaboration from scratch, resulting in more cohesive and integrated contemporary classical music.

It is common knowledge that HCL Concerts seeks to promote Indian classical performing arts, however, in the past couple of years we have seen a shift in perspective. With Soundscapes, even indie-pop artistes are being promoted. What caused this shift in perspective?

At HCL Concerts one of our key objectives is to be a platform that connects the audience with their favourite artistes and Soundscapes is a step that’s aligned with this objective.

During the COVID lockdown, it was not possible for indie artists to perform in live concerts, which is the most crucial way for them to engage with their audience. Thus, we felt that as India’s largest live music platform, it is our responsibility to provide a platform to such artists as well. We have received very encouraging responses from the artists and the audience, which makes us happy with the progress Soundscapes has made in a short span of time.

How has HCL Concerts changed over the years?

Over the years HCL Concerts has expanded its role in the music ecosystem and has gone beyond concerts.

• Concerts: We have significantly expanded our geographic footprint and conduct concerts in nine cities in India and New York and the Bay Area in the US (pre-Covid). We have also significantly expanded our digital footprint with over 80 million people viewing our digital concerts from 62 countries (post-Covid). We have also added more genres to our portfolio.
• Talent identification: We are investing significantly in identifying and nurturing young talent through the Quest programmes in partnership with the Rhapsody Foundation to fuel the next wave of Indian classical music maestros.
• HCL Music app: We have one of India’s highest-rated music app, available free of cost and without any ads, to music listeners on the App store and Play store. Our collection has thousands of hours of classical music from legends as well as promising newcomers that can be enjoyed on-demand by anyone.

What is your long-term vision with respect to HCL Concerts? Like Soundscapes, do you have any other interesting initiatives in the pipeline?

HCL Concerts will continue to play the role of a platform that connects the audience with their favourite artists. We want to continue to expand the audience universe of Indian classical music and the indie artist ecosystem. This means that we will launch new initiatives in the future that align with our objectives.

One such new initiative is the launch of a music album that features the winners of the first Carnatic Quest programme. We plan to do a worldwide launch of the album across all OTT platforms to provide maximum exposure to these young prodigies.

Could you please tell us more about your new initiative, The Carnatic Quest Junior?

The Carnatic Quest Junior is a talent identification programme launched in partnership with the Rhapsody Foundation. It is open to all school children between 12 and 18 years.

The performances of these artistes will be evaluated through a series of stages by some of the most eminent Carnatic music artists. We are inviting entries in five categories: Carnatic vocal, veena, violin, flute and percussions (mridangam, ghatam and kanjeera). The winners will get a chance to perform in HCL Concerts, mentored by eminent teachers and record an album with our support.