It’s been quite a while since independent bands in the country graduated from being just cool boyfriend material to serious investment. From queuing up at the nearest pub for the latest gig and creating Facebook fan clubs to voting for songs that go into their album and pouring over cover spreads of international magazines, the band business in the country has a generation in its thrall. However, one has to agree that but for a few exceptions, patrons of a band are mostly limited to the cities they come from. While gigs happen all the time across cities, a combination of reasons comes in the way of a strong fan-base spread uniformly across the country. “Since buying music of non-Bollywood bands in the country is yet to catch up, people are most likely to forget about even a very good band, unless it keeps coming back to the city at regular intervals,” says Debashis Dey, CEO and founder of www.MyBand.co.in. This is where Dey’s portal intervenes. “When we started My Band, there was no fixed destination for the new generation of Indian artists, musicians and bands where one can come and listen to music, check the artists’ profile, download and buy digital music, check out events, interact with artists and other music lovers,” he says.

The site allows individual artists and bands to register. Following the registration process, they can customize their own profile and get their own URL. They also get to upload videos, graphics, publish lyrics, and communicate with fans through the site. And all this for free. “You can upload, publish, share, sell music and digital goods, announce events and sell tickets also,” says Dey.

... contd.