MUMBAI: Popular music from the 1990s is being revived on music TV channels today. Sony Mix, 9X Jalwa, B4U Music and Mastiii are among channels reintroducing the music on television while keeping the focus sharply on Bollywood numbers.
Film songs of 90s vintage have charisma of their own. In the romanticism of the previous era, a girl’s blush or flickering of eyelashes, were signs of sparks flying. Recently launched channel MTV Beats has also intends to come up with a new show with music from that decade.
Once upon a time, Doordarshan, with its exclusive black-and-white recordings and private TV played old songs but have since then been sidelined to just radio stations. Retro songs are the anchor by which the older generations recall their younger times, friends, company and even long-forgotten incidences of first love.
Well, nostalgia is good business. According to reports, Bollywood accounts for more than 90 per cent of the revenue of India’s Rs 10.6 billion pop music industry.
In an earlier interview with Indiantelevision.com, Viacom18 head-youth, music and English entertainment Ferzad Palia said that their target audience for the channel are youngsters. He said that the channel’s viewership grew tremendously as what others have done in 10-12 years, they have managed to accomplish in a few months. “Music genre is so commoditised that everyone is playing the same music. Since the number of releases is the same, creating differentiation is very important. People loved us because we were different and we don’t want to lose that and that’s across the whole MTV universe.”
A good music channel is one where everyone finds their favourites at their own suitable time. So, while some channels play old classics at night, some play latest hits, and others play evergreen numbers throughout the day.
SAB & MAX cluster EVP and head Neeraj Vyas told us earlier that the channel will always have the quotient of playing older songs since it gains audience attraction. The music in the late last century is what Vyas calls as ‘ageless music’ that is prominent in reality shows, parties and singing contests. Sony Mix’s day kicks off with slow music followed by the 90s era. Later in the day, it telecasts mellow and soft songs followed by new tracks up till 9 pm. The last three hours of the night are dedicated to retro music.
MTV Beats will soon launch its new show Flashback from Monday to Friday 9 pm to 12 am while B4U plays Awaaz de Kahaan during the same time slot. Mastiii channel airs Evergreen Hits between 1 pm and 3 pm and at the 9 pm time slot, the network plays The Golden Era with Annu Kapoor and Raat k Humsafar.
Old melodies on music channels bring nostalgia. A walk down memory lane does a world of good every now and then for ardent music lovers.
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