Over the last few days, there has been a spate of news reports (like this and this) bemoaning the decline of classical music in India. The concern is understandable. Two things have changed over the years – a) Classical music faces a lot more competition from other music forms, b) Music itself faces more competition from other forms of entertainment.

That said, I am not sure if there is a need for the government to get involved as some musicians have requested. We have seen what government involvement in sports has resulted in (CWG, never-retiring committee chiefs, BCCI/IPL scandals). As someone who enjoys classical music occasionally, without “understanding” it (raga, taala, etc), here is my take on what might help:

• Focus on the tribe – Classical music has never been for the masses. In fact, it has traditionally been elitist (played in kings’ courts). Instead of focusing on people who don’t appreciate classical music, musicians should focus on people who do – the tribe – and figure out ways of building stronger relationships with them.
• Improvise to grow market – Coax new audiences into trying classical music. Here are some examples of what might work:
  • Fusion – Anyone who went to college in the 90s has to have heard of L Subramanian’s Conversations, a fusion music album in which L Subramaniam collaborated with jazz violinist, Stephen Grapelli. For a college kid, this kind of fusion music is a lot less intimidating and lot more cool than full-blown classical music. My guess is that Conversations made many of these college kids open to attending L Subramaniam’s classical concerts.
  • Crossover – Nobody had ever heard the kind of music an unknown duo called Shiv-Hari created for the movie Silsila. Turns out these guys were really two ace classical musicians, Shiv Kumar Sharma (santoor) and Hari Prasad Chaurasia (flute). Their work in Silsila and few other movies helped them win over a new set of followers who then crossed over to the duo’s classical work. Vishal Dadlani and his tribe does that crossover today when he juggles Bollywood, as part of Vishal-Shekhar, with what I suspect is his true passion – punk/hip hop/rock, as the frontman for Pentagram.
  • Classical music for dummies – This might be blasphemy to the purists but how about creating shorter, less complex, livelier classical compositions to at least get the new audience in the door? As a dummy myself, I can vouch that this approach would work with me.
• Music education – The proposal made by musicians to strengthen music education in schools makes a lot of sense, as long as the focus of this education is not to produce musicians (that would be a nice by-product) but to help kids develop an appreciation for music.