What are people listening to in 2008?

A survey of Pakistani pop through the words of music shop owners

2008 has been a very happening year for the Pakistani music industry - and as we enter the last quarter of the year, there is still much to look forward to! Currently, there are a number of Pakistani albums that have been doing the rounds for a while. Looking at the releases, it's been years since one has seen such an exciting year in music: Zeb and Haniya's Chup, Jal's Boondh, Fuzon's Journey, Strings' Koi Aanay Wala Hai, Shehzad Roy's Qismat Apne Haat Mein, Ahmed Jahanzeb's Laut Aao and last but not least Ali Azmat's Klashinfolk. Zeb and Haniya, in their debut album, came out with a different and jazzy sound, while Jal and Ahmed Jahanzeb failed to impress music lovers. Shehzad Roy's album did quite well because of the satirical video for 'Laga Reh', Strings are consistently doing well and Ali Azmat� well, its only been two weeks since he released Klashinfolk.

Instep went around to different music shops across the city to find out, from the source - music shop owners - about the business generated by these music albums.

�Koi Aanay Wala Hai is one album that is consistently selling. We get 10 to 15 albums daily and they are all gone by the end of the day,� says Ali at CD 2000, Park Towers. �Same goes for Shehzad Roy. It's doing pretty well too leaving Najam and Ahmed Jahanzeb far behind. Azal has been running well while Zeb and Haniya with their Chup and Najam with his Najam didn't impress the charts. Whereas, for Ali Azmat� it's surprising that the album isn't doing well in the market.�

Looking at what he's saying one can analyse which albums are doing well and why. Koi Aanay Wala Hai was released in May with a formal press conference followed by a launch at Park Towers that was brimming with fans who cheered the comeback of Strings after four years. They made news headlines, there were posters everywhere and the promos of their title track created much hype mainly because of the presence of Bollywood hunk John Abraham. The video continues to run on music channels and a couple of weeks later, Strings followed it up with another video 'Humsafar' shot in Russia. Another fantastic ballad, it ensured that music lovers were enticed to buy the album.

Ditto with Shehzad Roy's Qismat Apne Haat Mein, because of the 'Laga Reh' video compelled the people to buy his album. It was obviously very relevant keeping in mind the unstable political situation of the country. The song was not only catchy but captured the mood of the nation at the time. 'Laga Reh' ensured brilliant album sales for Shehzad Roy's album but now that the video has been running for sometime and the political scenario of the country is changing, Shehzad needs another video to boost album sales. However, Ali Azmat's Klashinfolk is still striving to get noticed maybe because it didn't have a formal press conference for its release, nor are posters for it plastered everywhere, there isn't a bombardment of promos on TV or a slate of requests on radio stations. Even the 'Gallan' video is not being aired repetitively on music channels. Perhaps this is because Ali Azmat is not in the country and can't ensure that his product is being marketed properly.

�Every album now depends upon the way you market it. The more you are promoted, the more people will get interested in you,� said Muhammad Asif, Shalimar Music House, Saddar. �I don't think a lot of people even know about Ali Azmat's album, it's just his die hard fans who are asking for it right now. Even when 'Laga Reh' was constantly on TV, we sold more albums of Shehzad Roy as compared to the selling rate now. It has gradually decreased with time. But, I guess if Ali will come out with more videos or will appear on TV and radio for the promotion of his album then the sales might get high.�

Of course, with so many channels on television and so many albums out in the market you need proper exposure to sell yourself. And videos are ultimately ads for music albums.

Asghar Ali Sheikh of Royal Music, Sindhi Muslim Co-operative Society agrees and said, �Until and unless you are constantly on TV or radio, you are alive and rocking the music lovers. And when you start keeping a low profile you are soon forgotten. Koi Aanay Wala Hai is so far the best album of the year because they (Strings) came out with their second video within two months of their album release. Azal did pretty well with Road to Infinity because of their song 'Aisi Taisi'. Ali Azmat, on the other hand, is nowhere� no interviews, no news items so obviously the sale is very low.�

Surprisingly, Atif Aslam is believed to have generated maximum revenue despite the fact that his last album, Meri Kahani, was released last year. Nearly every music store Instep visited had Atif Aslam playing in the background. The songs we heard playing at the stores were 'Pehli Nazar' and 'Meri Kahani'. Muhammad Asif further added that Atif's Bollywood tracks sell more than his album and that their customers don't ask for Meri Kahani but want to have 'Pehli Nazar' from Race or 'Bakhuda' from Kismet Konnection.

Asghar Ali Sheikh seconds this point of view. �Doorie did record breaking business ever since I have established my shop and that is some five years ago. Though, it's not a long time still Doorie's response was phenomenal. We used to sell 80 to even 100 albums in a day,� informed Asghar Ali. �We can't compare any of the current albums with Doorie but Strings and Shehzad Roy have saved the market by far. Where we are selling 15 to 20 albums of Strings and Shehzad Roy daily, we managed to sell one or two of Ali Azmat's Klashinfolk.�

Some of the shopkeepers also termed Ali's sound as 'too loud' for Pakistan's music listeners, and said that the success of Social Circus was due of the breakup of Junoon, and people wanted to know what will be Ali's sound without Salman Ahmed. �It was just the Junoon breakup controversy that kept Social Circus running in the markets otherwise Ali Azmat is not what our people want. It's Atif Aslam!� shared Ahmed Hanif who has a music counter in Park Towers.

Here we can disagree with the man, as Ali Azmat's debut attempt was far more than just a test of how he sounded individually. After all, he won several awards for his album and has a huge fan following nationwide. However, Galaxy Music in Hyderi was another eye-opener. �You don't have to put up big banners and irritatingly continuous promos for Ali Azmat's album to shove it in people's face and make them realize� Ali's album is out!� said Arsalan Habib of Galaxy Music. �The name Ali Azmat is enough to sell. It's already doing well and I have to call in for more stock nearly everyday. I am sure with more videos and even little bit of promotion Ali can sell a record.�

It seems that Ali Azmat has a massive fan base in Hyderi. It is a revelation that Klashinfolk is doing better at Hyderi than at Park Towers! Rock singers should take note.

Chup, Laut Aao and Journey have been slow but have not vanished from the markets. Qismat Apne Haat Mein and Koi Aanay Wala Hai and Road to Infinity proved out to be good for the industry while Ali Azmat's Klasinfolk is still trying to reach the top of the charts. And after surveying different parts of the city to know how this year has been for the music industry, we found out that with so many different sounds, there is a market for everyone out there. These albums must have done diversified business but it's a positive sign for the flourishing music industry. With this we also commend the shopkeepers who have now become more concerned about the stars and their proper promotion.

Now if only someone would collect all the information from music shop owners across Pakistan� then we could have our own certified Billboard charts, but then again, that is another story.

link: The News International - No. 1 English Newspaper from Pakistan - Saturday, December 30, 1899