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2016 Bollywood Music Review and Top 20 Songs

2016-collage

As in the past, critics were not happy with the state of Hindi film music in 2016. The charge – yet again – was that it Hindi films were using an “assembly line” approach to create songs using multiple composers and re-packaging hit songs from the past. One thing is certain – music is no longer crucial to the film’s storytelling. This is not an entirely new phenomenon. A spurt of action films in 1970s/1980s had also rendered film music insignificant for a period. Increasingly, music is being seen as a means to promote the film. To the surprise of film audiences, songs that top the charts, end up being abridged in the film or part of the film’s background score. Some don’t even make it to the film.

That said, 2016 did have some bright spots. Towering above the rest was Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy’s “Mirzya”. Given a free rein by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, S-E-L packed the album with uninhibited experimentation. “Mirzya” pushed the boundaries of film music and then some. The other highlight of the year was Amit Trivedi’s comeback after the brilliant, but commercially disastrous, “Bombay Velvet” (2015). He had three superb albums ins 2016 – “Udta Punjab”, “Fitoor” and “Dear Zindagi”. Pritam also did quite well in 2016 with “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” and “Dangal” after a relatively lukewarm 2015. At the end of this post, we list the year’s 20 top-rated songs. Here is a longer list of 2016’s best Hindi film and non-film songs.

Some brilliant artists bode us farewell in 2016 – lyricist Nida Fazli, composers Ajit Varman and Omi (of Sonik – Omi), singer Mubarak Begum and Carnatic musician and vocalist M. Balamuralikrishna.

Some notable debuts in 2016 were:

Bollywood made 150 films with 872 songs between them in 2016.

The most prolific composers of the year were:

  1. Vishal – Shekhar – 5 films, 34 songs
  2. Amit Trivedi – 3 films, 24 songs
  3. Clinton Cerejo – 3 films, 20 songs

Vishal – Shekhar compensated for their dry spell in 2015 (they didn’t score any film that year) by being the most prolific composers in 2016. Unfortunately, the quality of their output didn’t match the quantity. Amit Trivedi won 2016 with his consistency, creating 3 albums that won the hearts of music lovers. After staying in the sidelines for years, Clinton Cerejo finally had the spotlight shining on him with 3 films as solo music director (although “Jugni” did have one song by A.R. Rahman, I think it’s fair to slot it as a solo Clinton album). It’s interesting to note that Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari, who followed closely with 18 songs each, had more films to their credit in 2016 than the top 3 most prolific composers. It turns out that they happen to be part of multi-composer albums quite a lot.

The most prolific lyricists of 2016 were:

  1. Kumaar – 27 films, 74 songs
  2. Manoj Muntashir – 16 films, 55 songs
  3. Amitabh Bhattacharya – 5 films, 21 songs
  4. Javed Akhtar – 5 films, 21 songs

Kumaar has been on the most prolific list for some years now. It’s amazing how little we know about a lyricist who’s been as prolific as him. Manoj Mutashir’s presence on the list was a surprise as well, with big name lyricists like Amitabh Bhattacharya and Javed Akhtar relegated to the third spot.

The most prolific male singers of 2016 were:

  1. Arijit Singh – 48 songs
  2. Vishal Dadlani – 23 songs
  3. Armaan Malik – 18 songs

Unsurprisingly, and in my opinion, deservedly, Arijit Singh dominated the male singers list with more than double the number of songs sung by the next most prolific singer.

The most prolific female singers of 2016 were:

  1. Sunidhi Chauhan – 22 songs
  2. Palak Muchhal – 19 songs
  3. Neha Kakkar – 18 songs

For some reason, two of my most favourite singers were conspicuously low key in 2016 – Shreya Ghoshal and Neeti Mohan. I hope they come back with a bang in 2017.

Based on the ratings of their 2016 songs, here are the best-rated artists of the year:

  1. Composers: Amit Trivedi, Vishal – Shekhar, Clinton Cerejo
  2. Lyricists: Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Shellee
  3. Male Singers: Arijit Singh, Vishal Dadlani, Amit Trivedi

And the top 20 songs of 2016:

  1. Channa Mereya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)
  2. Aave Re Hichki (Mirzya)
  3. Dugg Duggi Dugg (Jugni)
  4. Hass Nach Le (Udta Punjab)
  5. Taareefon Se (Dear Zindagi)
  6. Haminastu (Fitoor)
  7. Pashmina (Fitoor)
  8. Hota Hai (Mirzya)
  9. Chitta Ve (Udta Punjab)
  10. Da Da Dasse (Udta Punjab)
  11. Ikk Kudi (Udta Punjab)
  12. Ud-Daa Punjab (Udta Punjab)
  13. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil)
  14. Titli (Bollywood Diaries)
  15. Love You Zindagi (Dear Zindagi)
  16. Kaaga (Mirzya)
  17. Bulleya (Sultan)
  18. Rootha (Te3n)
  19. Tu Hi Hai (Dear Zindagi)
  20. Hone Do Batiyan (Fitoor)

The Top 100 Hindi Film Songs Of 2015

As 2015 draws to a close, it is time to revisit the best songs of the year. This is the first draft of the year’s top 100 songs based on rankings on MySwar. We will finalize the rankings in a few weeks. This list excludes singles released recently for which the album will likely not be released in 2015. It also excludes multiple versions of songs (only the top rated version is considered). Please login on MySwar and rate your favorite songs to make your opinion count. For the complete list of film albums released in 2015, head here.

The top 100 Hindi film songs of 2015:

  1. Aaj Ibaadat (Bajirao Mastani)
  2. Dhadkanen Goonjti Dhadaam Dhadaam (Bombay Velvet)
  3. Ho Gaya Hai Pyar Tumse (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  4. Bas Darwaze Pe Ek Darbaan Hai (Bombay Velvet)
  5. Agar Tum Saath Ho (Tamasha)
  6. Gulaabo (Shaandaar)
  7. Judaai / Chadariya Jheeni Re Jheeni (Badlapur)
  8. Albela Sajan (Bajirao Mastani)
  9. Mohe Rang Do Laal (Bajirao Mastani)
  10. Sapna Jahan (Brothers)
  11. Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
  12. Shaam Shaandaar (Shaandaar)
  13. Matargashti (Tamasha)
  14. Jee Karda (Badlapur)
  15. Aayat (Bajirao Mastani)
  16. Pinga (Bajirao Mastani)
  17. Aam Hindustani (Bombay Velvet)
  18. Mohabbat Buri Bimari (Bombay Velvet)
  19. Sylvia (Bombay Velvet)
  20. Saanware (Phantom)
  21. Bezuban (Piku)
  22. Deewani Mastani (Bajirao Mastani)
  23. Le Chal Mujhe (Reprise) (NH 10)
  24. Piku (Piku)
  25. Banno (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  26. Jeena Jeena (Badlapur)
  27. Meri Zid (Bangistan)
  28. Tu Koi Aur Hai (Tamasha)
  29. O Sathi Mere (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  30. Maula (Bangistan)
  31. Dum Ghutta Hai (Drishyam)
  32. Khoya Khoya (Hero)
  33. Main Jo (NH 10)
  34. Sooraj Dooba Hai Yaaron (Roy)
  35. Main Ghani Bawri (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  36. Main Tujhse Pyar Nahin Karta (Baby)
  37. Tu Jo Mila (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)
  38. Zindagi (Reprise) (Bajrangi Bhaijaan)
  39. Behroopia (Bombay Velvet)
  40. Naak Pe Gussa (Bombay Velvet)
  41. Janam Janam (Dilwale)
  42. O Tan Mein Sooiyan Sooiyan Si (Guddu Rangeela)
  43. Hamari Adhuri Kahani (Hamari Adhuri Kahani)
  44. Dekhe Meri Aankhon Mein Jo (Main Aur Charles)
  45. Journey Song (Piku)
  46. Raita Phail Gaya (Shaandaar)
  47. Chali Kahani (Tamasha)
  48. Old School Girl (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  49. Ab Tohe Jane Na Doongi (Bajirao Mastani)
  50. Jaata Kahan Hai Deewane (Bombay Velvet)
  51. The Bombay Velvet Theme (Bombay Velvet)
  52. Gerua (Dilwale)
  53. Carbon Copy (Drishyam)
  54. Prem’s Theme (Dum Laga Ke Haisha)
  55. Turram Khan (Hawaizaada)
  56. Chori Chori (Hunterrr)
  57. Ove Janiya (Katti Batti)
  58. Woh Toh Yahin Hai Lekin (Main Aur Charles)
  59. Dusokute (Margarita With A Straw)
  60. Tu Kisi Rail Si Guzarti Hai (Masaan)
  61. Naina Tose Laage (Male) (Meeruthiya Gangsters)
  62. Chhil Gaye Naina (NH 10)
  63. Khoney De (NH 10)
  64. Teri Meri Baatein (Piku)
  65. Life’s A Bitch (Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!)
  66. Bachpan (Hunterrr)
  67. Ye Naa Gade (Hunterrr)
  68. Mat Ja Re (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
  69. Tere Bin (Wazir)
  70. Subah Ka Aaghaaz (Once Upon A Time In Bihar)
  71. Sun Saathiya (ABCD: Any Body Can Dance 2)
  72. Hawaizaada Dil (Hawaizaada)
  73. Jab We Met (Hero)
  74. Sau Aasoon (Katti Batti)
  75. Piddly Si Baatein (Shamitabh)
  76. Khulne Lagi Zindagi (The Perfect Girl)
  77. Oh Jaaniya (Wedding Pullav)
  78. Lazfe Bayaan (Barkhaa)
  79. Tu Itni Khoobsurat Hai (Barkhaa)
  80. Baat Ek Hai (Guru Dakshina)
  81. Bezubaan Phir Se (ABCD: Any Body Can Love 2)
  82. Chunar (ABCD: Any Body Can Love 2)
  83. If You Hold My Hand (ABCD: Any Body Can Love 2)
  84. Hogi Kranti (Bangistan)
  85. Conspiracy (Bombay Velvet)
  86. Ka Kha Ga (Bombay Velvet)
  87. Tommy Gun (Bombay Velvet)
  88. Byomkesh In Love (Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!)
  89. Chase In Chinatown (Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!)
  90. Jaanam (Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!)
  91. Premika (Dilwale)
  92. Tukur Tukur (Dilwale)
  93. Hansi (Male) (Hamari Adhuri Kahani)
  94. Dil-E-Naadan (Hawaizaada)
  95. Maazaa My Lord (Hawaizaada)
  96. Hunterrr 303 (Hunterrr)
  97. Naina (Hunterrr)
  98. Lip To Lip (Katti Batti)
  99. Mar Jaayein (Lovesshuda)
  100. I Need A Man (Margarita With A Straw)

You can find the Top 100 Bollywood songs of the last few years here – 2012, 2013, 2014. For a journey back in time, here’s our list of popular songs by year or by decade.

[Updated Jan 4: Rankings updated to reflect additional user ratings.]

Thoughts On Amit Trivedi’s “Bombay Velvet”

This is not a review of Amit Trivedi’s Bombay Velvet. I loved the album to bits and wanted to share a few things that stood out for me as I was listening to it:

  1. It struck me as a rare album in that it is so thematically consistent. We hear Neeti Mohan’s voice in six of the fourteen songs and other than two songs, the album is based on jazz music with a few modern embellishments in places. We have had this kind of consistency in Hindi film albums before, of course, but such albums have been few and far between. Also, this is the first time a Hindi film album has dedicated itself to jazz-based genres. We must commend Anurag Kashyap for his vision and guts to stick to his vision and Amit Trivedi for delivering to the vision in style. Guts? Yes, guts because when was the last time you heard an album that did not mix up an assortment of pop, Sufi, a variety of folk and light classical sounds with a base of “filmi” music? Heck, if a music director doesn’t deliver all those sounds in an album, he/she runs the risk of being seen as using “templatized” music. Bombay Velvet runs the same risk. Also, guts because jazz-based music is far from mainstream and may not be an average Indian listener’s cup of tea.
  1. I think it’s time to officially declare Neeti Mohan a diva. What a voice! Smoking hot texture, incredible range and although it ought to be a given for singers at this level – boy can she hold a tune! I am surprised that people continue to look at her as an up-and-coming singer. For example, when we reported that she was the most prolific female singer of 2014 with 42 songs, a common reaction was “Really?!”. It’s high time we acknowledge her as a premier singer in the Hindi film industry. I’ve heard parallels drawn between Mohit Chauhan/Rockstar and Bombay Velvet/Neeti Mohan but in my opinion, that comparison is unfair to Neeti. Neeti makes Bombay Velvet her own in a way that Mohit Chauhan could not with Rockstar, which was an A.R. Rahman album all the way. (Highly subjective opinion. I would understand and accept vehement disagreement.)
  1. There have been rumblings of the sameness of Amit Trivedi’s music in the past few albums. I countered those criticisms here. His out-of-tune singing has also been criticized. This is a fair criticism, although his signing, at least on recorded songs, has not annoyed me as much as it has others. Perhaps he’s heard criticism of his singing and other than a couple of harmonies (I think it’s him), he’s not sung in the album! With this tour de force of an album, my guess is that complaints about the sameness of his music will ease. For some time.

Best Of Bollywood 2014 – Call For Your Rating

As 2014 draws to an end, we are getting into the list season. The Best Of Bollywood lists we drew up for 2012 and 2013 are immensely popular and understandably so. Many of us don’t have as much time as we would like to immerse ourselves in music and a crowd-sourced “best of” list is a big time-saver.

You can view the current ratings for 2014 on MySwar. Our own rating is embedded in this list to ensure that lesser-known but good songs are also in contention. As in the past, we will create a draft Top 100 list in the last week of December and freeze it by the 2nd week of Jan 2015. Of course, the ratings on MySwar constantly change as people keep updating their ratings and the evolving list of popular songs by year is always available on MySwar.

Please rate so other music lovers can benefit and the songs and artists you love get their due.

PS: You need to register to be able to rate.

2013 Bollywood Music Review

Another eventful year had come to an end and it’s time to take stock of year that was for Hindi film music. We did a similar review last year, if you’re interested.

2013 saw the release of 154 films with 999 songs between them.

We lost a number of artists in 2013. Some were young and their end was unexpected – Ajay Jhingran, Rituparno Ghosh and Sandeep Acharya. Others left behind a substantial musical legacy – Lakshmi ShankarMadhubala Zaveri, P.B. Sreenivas, Pran, Reshma, Shamshad Begum, VaaliVitthalbhai Patel and the last of the male singers from the classic era of Hindi films – Manna Dey.

But the show went on and a number of new artists made their debuts. While some of them were indie artists making what might just be a brief foray into Bollywood, others are probably going to be Bollywood staple in years to come. Some of the notable debuts of 2013 were:

  1. Composer: Advait Nemlekar,  Akshay Hariharan, Atif Afzal, Bramfatura, Harpreet Singh, Indraneel HariharanKaran Kulkarni, The Lightyears ExplodeMaatibaani, Mangesh DhakdeModern Mafia
  2. Lyricists: Ali Hayat RizviGurpreet SainiPunam HariharanRam Ramesh SharmaSiddharth – GarimaUbaid Azam Azmi
  3. Male Singers: Atif AfzalGeet SagarGopi SunderIndraneel HariharanMunawar MasoomNajim ArshadNitesh KadamOsman MirPadmanabh GaikwadSanam PuriVikas Ambhore
  4. Female Singers: Chaitra AmbadipudiJonita GandhiMili Nair, Nirali KartikSaba AzadZebunnissa Bangash

The most prolific composers in 2013 were:

  1. Pritam – 8 films, 51 songs
  2. Sachin – Jigar – 7 films, 37 songs
  3. Sajid – Wajid – 5 films, 23 songs

While Pritam’s appearance at the top of this list is no surprise, 2013 will be seen as the year Sachin – Jigar established themselves as bankable composers and entrenched themselves in Bollywood. Surprisingly, Sajid – Wajid continue to be on this list despite their lackluster scores.

The most prolific lyricists in 2013 were:

  1. Kumaar – 16 films, 72 songs
  2. Amitabh Bhattacharya – 11 films, 42 songs
  3. Irshad Kamil – 5 films, 37 songs

Kumaar has been perhaps the most low profile of the current lot of lyricists so his name at this top of this list and the margin between him and the Amitabh Bhattacharya comes as a surprise.

The most prolific male singers of 2013 were:

  1. Mika Singh – 49 songs
  2. Sonu Nigam – 31 songs
  3. Arijit Singh – 28 songs

Mika Singh appears to be the industry’s favorite singer right now. It’s pity though that he is stuck in a rut in terms of the kinds of songs he sings. 2013 was Arijit Singh’s breakout year in terms of both the number of songs he sang as well as the mass appeal he was able to generate, thanks primarily to Ashiqui 2.

The most prolific female singers of 2013 were:

  1. Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan – 38 songs each
  2. Monali Thakur, Palak Muchhal – 14 songs each
  3. Mamta Sharma, Shalmali Kholgade – 13 songs each

While the divas – Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan – continue to dominate the scene, there seems to be a lot of competition amongst female singers. It’s good to see a newbie – Shalmali Kholgade (2012 was her debut year) on this list as it is to see Monali Thakur, who as been around for a few years now, finally get her due.

Finally, based on  a combination of ratings and number of well-rated songs in 2013, the most popular artists of 2013 were:

  1. Most popular composers: Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Sachin – Jigar
  2. Most popular lyricists: Irshad Kamil, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kumaar
  3. Most popular male singers: Arijit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Amit Trivedi
  4. Most popular female singers: Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Palak Muchhal

Why Lootera Is A Better Music Album Than Raanjhanaa

Before I delve into the post, let me state two things:

  • I’d rather not make comparisons but I saw the albums being compared on social media and was disappointed at how dismissive some people were about Lootera – as if it did not even deserve to be compared with Raanjhanaa! I thought it was important that someone present an alternate view.
  • This is not a comparison between A.R. Rahman and Amit Trivedi. I have the deepest respect for both and love their music. I completely agree with Amit Trivedi when he says “there can’t be another Rahman”. Based on the music he has made so far, I also believe there can’t be another Amit Trivedi.

Now, on to why I believe Lootera is a better album. The answer to that lies partly in why I like Raanjhanaa less. Many have used words like textured and layered to describe Raanjhanaa’s music and they are right, except that I found Raanjhanaa’s music to be too textured. There is a LOT going on and many of those individual elements are brilliant (like the sitar in Banarasiya and how he’s used the KMMC Sufi Ensemble in Piya Milenge), but put together the music feels cluttered. The whole is less than the sum of parts. For example, Ay Sakhi uses the following percussion instruments – tabla, ghatam/matka, drum sticks, dafli, dhol and maybe others that my ears did not catch. It’s overwhelming and not in a pleasant way. The second issue, I have with Raanjhanaa is a very basic one – except for two or three of songs (my favorite being Tu Mun Shudi), I found the songs “unhummable”. A lot has been said about Rahman defying norms (like not using traditional song structures with mukhda/antara) but it isn’t this that makes his music work. It makes his music interesting and it gives his music that unique ARR character. But, what makes his music really work – for me – is the underlying melody. I found Raanjhanaa’s music lacking in this regard.

On the other hand, I love Lootera because it is a collection of simple and beautiful songs. After Barfi, it’s the first album that I liked after a single listen (although it took a few listens for me to get over Sawar Loon’s percussions). Every song is extremely melodic, the singers do a superb job (Monali Thakur, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Amit Trivedi, K. Mohan, Swanand Kirkire and Shilpa Rao will all count Lootera amongst their best work as singers) and I can easily see myself listening to and humming these songs for years to come. A key strength of the album is it’s no fuss, no frill approach. I am not sure if all great things are simple but Lootera’s music certainly supports the adage.

That said, I encourage everyone to buy both these albums – for both albums deserve to be heard – and form their own opinion. I don’t agree with people who wring their hands and claim that the music today ’s music isn’t as good as it used to be. Every generation says that and that’s nostalgic bullshit. I think we’re lucky to be living in the times of composers like A.R. Rahman and Amit Trivedi. It is a privilege to have both of them release albums within days of each other and it is as good a time as any to be a music lover.

Pancham Unmixed – DVD Review

Pancham Unmixed is a homage to R.D. Burman by film-maker, Brahmanand Singh, the key word being “homage”. It is not a documentary or biography but an unabashed tribute offered by the filmmaker to his hero.

The 2-hour film is a compilation of interviews with people who knew and/or worked with Pancham and also with a few people who didn’t. The former works, the latter works only partially. The latter set of people consists of present day musicians like Shantanu Moitra, Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy and Vishal Bhardwaj, who look up to Pancham and have been influenced by his work. The views of these musicians add great value to the film. The latter set of people also consists of die-hard Pancham fans and in my opinion, the filmmaker wastes about 5 minutes of the viewers’ time talking to them. Compared to the other heavy-hitters in the DVD, the sections with the fans are banal and add no new perspective.

The real substance of the film is formed by the interviews with R.D. Burman’s contemporaries. These individuals offer us insights into Pancham’s life and work and through their voices emerges a picture of a creative, musical genius who changed Hindi film music forever. For most Pancham lovers, there are probably no new revelations but it’s still pretty cool to hear giants like Gulzar, Shammi Kapoor and Asha Bhosle talk about R.D. Burman, his creativity, his ability to marry melody and rhythm, his willingness to experiment and his knack of getting the best out of his singers.

The other really impactful set of conversations in the film is with people from Pancham’s team – Manohari Singh, Bhanu Gupta, Kersi Lord, etc. The tenderness with which they speak about R.D. Burman is touching and shows that Pancham was not just a great musician but also a very nice human being.

The film left me with a lump in my throat. I will probably watch sections of it again (Gulzar, Shammi Kapoor, Bhupinder, Asha Bhosle, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Bhanu Gupta being my favorite ones) but that’s probably because I am a Pancham fan to begin with. This DVD is really a fan collectible and people wanting to get to know Pancham and his work better will find more value in the National Award-winning book, R.D. Burman – The Man, The Music.

The product I bought from Flipkart (link below) had two DVDs – one had the film and the other had a collection of 30 R.D. Burman songs. – and a coffee table book. If you have the option of purchasing only the film’s DVD, go for that. I’m not sure who picked them but the choice of songs in the extra DVD is quirky at best. I also found the coffee table book wanting in quality in terms of the content as well as the design.

[Update: Pancham Unmixed is now available on YouTube. You can try before you buy.]

Partners In Crime – Documentary Review

After my posts – Piracy is Mainstream and Why People Don’t Talk About Pirate Consumers – one of the readers of the blog recommended that I watch a documentary called Partners in Crime. I had heard about this documentary on Twitter but never got around to seeing it. I finally saw it last week and I am glad I did.

The documentary directed by Paromitra Vohra does a great job of asking a series of questions related to piracy but allows the viewers to draw their own conclusions. Some insights from the documentary:

  1. Many people don’t realize that piracy is illegal and they don’t believe they’re downloading for free because they pay for the internet connection and for membership to torrent sites (according to one interviewee – $10 for lifetime memberships for unlimited downloads). People also don’t view playing of music in public as illegal, since music is available for free in the first place.
  2. Some people feel that listening to music or watching movies is a social experience and sharing them only enhances the experience.
  3. Rare, concert recordings of masters are available in people’s private collections but cannot be released to public because of copyright issues. Record labels will not pay for these recordings and legal heirs of musicians are not willing to release these recordings for free.
  4. A lot of rare songs, specially non-film songs, are not archived or available easily to public.
  5. The business of pirated CDs and DVDs happens with the approval of the police. Cops need to get paid no matter what – it could be either to stop piracy or to allow it to happen.
  6. There is another way to look at roadside piracy – it provides livelihood to sellers and also gives cheap access to movies/music to a class of people who would not be able to afford them legally.
  7. It’s extremely difficult and/or expensive to legally license copyrighted work. Copyright owners are arrogant and unwilling to negotiate fair deals.
  8. Big companies copy/adapt folk songs to produce copyrighted songs. If they lifted the music in the first place, how can they own it? For example, how can Munni Badnam Hui be a copyrighted song when it is really just an adaptation of a folk song?
  9. Copyright owners are greedy and want supernormal profits. They stiff content creators by getting exclusive rights and paying content creators a pittance. As a result, content creators are either not motivated to produce original content or decide to self-publish.
  10. The anti-piracy crowd has it’s share of not-very-pleasant characters – a) The head of an NGO against piracy who talks about getting funding from CSR budgets of companies and compares piracy with illegal drug/gun trade. b) Companies that became big by flouting copyright rules in the first place, c) Big corporations who are capable of influencing governments to change laws in their favour. d) Bollywood film makers who have copied ideas from Hollywood.
  11. Intellectual Property Rights create barriers to content for people with disabilities. It’s very difficult to reproduce content in a format that can be accessed by people with disabilities.
  12. Copyright owners have no interest in catering to smaller, niche markets. This creates artificial shortage in supply, which in turn results in piracy.

Recommended.

The Formula To Rate Music – Some Examples

Here’s a response I got for my post on the music rating formula:

I agree that I should have probably included some examples but the post was already quite long and I was feeling lazy! So let me give it a shot now. The two examples below illustrates how the formula helps bring in a level of objectivity and ensures that I consider all factors that contribute to a good song. The formula is just a guide and certainly not the only way to rate a song. I am not justifying it, just explaining how/why it works for me. I would love to hear from others who have used other techniques. Other than the “pick a number out of thin air” technique that is – that I am very familiar with!

Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye (Jurm, 1990)

Composition = 5, A very, very melodic song. Great instrumentation, love the piano, acoustic guitar, whistling, saxophone. Awesome chorus/harmonies.

Vocals = 4.5, Does not demand a lot from singers. Still a simple song sung well. One of Kumar Sanu’s best sung songs. Doesn’t sound as nasal as he can sometimes. Not Sadhna’s best song but still pretty good.

Lyrics = 4.5, Simple, easy-to-remember lyrics but not simplistic. The mukhda lines are killer.

Originality = 3. Here this song gets dinged because it’s mukhda is a copy of this song. Didn’t give it lower than 3 because it has original bits and the adaptation is done very well.

Popularity = 5. A huge, huge song. Was easily the biggest song on campus during my 4 years of college.

Score = 0.35 * 5 + 0.2 * 4.5 + 0.2 * 4.5 + 0.15 * 3 + 0.1 * 5 = 4.5

 

Hamse Hai Sara Jahan (Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, 1992)

Composition – 4.5. Nice, fresh tune. Well done arrangements. Liked the use of horns.

Vocals – 3, Jatin’s singing sucks away the song’s energy. A bad, bad choice. JJWS happens to have another brilliant song that would have been better off without him – Roothkar Hamse.

Lyrics – 4, This song spoke vividly about the hope, joy and friendships of youth. Was one of our anthems during a college election. And to think it was written by a 71-year old man, the great Majrooh Sultanpuri!

Originality – 4.5, I give it high marks on originality because it sounded really different and really fresh when it first came out (still does). People who lived through the insufferable 80s would appreciate how sweet the music from the early 90s sounded and Jatin – Lalit were one of the composers who led the way in that period.

Popularity – 4.5, The song was popular but not as much as Pehla Nasha or even, Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar.

Score = 0.35 * 4.5 + 0.2 * 3 + 0.2 * 4 + 0.15 * 4.5 + 0.1 * 4.5 = 4.1

The Formula To Rate Music

I have rated a number of songs on this blog over the last year or so through the Freaky Friday Playlist. I started off using a “gut-feel” approach and found myself disagreeing with my own ratings after I published posts! This gut-feel approach started seeming random and I came up with a formula for my ratings – The weighted average of ratings assigned on a set of parameters.

Determining the parameters was easy enough:

  1. Composition – How good does the music sound?
  2. Vocals – How well have the singer(s) sung?
  3. Lyrics – How evocative are the lyrics?
  4. Originality – How original is the music?
  5. Popularity – How popular is/was the song? This is applicable when I rate songs that have been heard by people for some time.

I then attached weights to each parameter. This was based completely on what I value in music:

Composition – 35%, Vocals – 20%, Lyrics – 20%, Originality – 15%, Popularity – 10%

Hence,

Song Rating = 0.35 * Rating on Composition + 0.2 * Rating on Vocals + 0.2 * Rating on Lyrics + 0.15 * Rating on Originality + 0.1 * Rating on Popularity

Here are a few thoughts that went through my mind as I came up with this formula:

  • I could break down the parameters further. For example, I could break down composition to melody, rhythm, arrangement, match with the lyrics and instrument play. Better sense prevailed and I stuck to the simpler system.
  • Should I really add Popularity as a parameter? Although, popular is not always good, I ended up including it because I felt it would neutralize some of my biases. Not by a lot at 10% weight, but enough to make me feel nice and reasonable!
  • I could always override what the formula spat out. And that’s exactly how it panned out. I used the formula only as a guide. I overrode the scores on a few occasions when the relative scores of various songs on the FFP did not make sense.

I used math to introduce a little objectivity and make the ratings consistent but in the end it’s just a number to convey how much I like a song. What do you value in a song? Do you agree with my formula?

PS1: The inspiration for this post was the following thread on Twitter.


PS2: I really wanted to use Twitter’s embed feature. Could you tell?