Mavrix: Music + Data

  • Startup Interview Tips

    I had a very disappointing Saturday. I had four interviews scheduled and only one of the candidates showed up. When I asked the HR firm I was using, they said that it happens a lot because techies get “hundreds of offers”. I get the demand-supply dynamic but not turning up for a scheduled interview is…

  • 9 Beatles Songs Influenced By India

    The Beatles flirted with India for a while and it showed – in their facial hair, their clothes, their fascination for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and spiritualism, and yes, their music. I list here nine songs by The Beatles, that were in some way influenced by India – either the composition itself or the instruments used…

  • 3 Kishore Kumar Stories

    Kishore Kumar was not only a legendary singer, he was a brilliant, colorful and sometimes, eccentric personality. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to make a movie on him. News is that Ranbir Kapoor will be playing him in this movie. I have liked Ranbir in most of the roles he…

  • The Mystery Of The Missing Raghu Dixit Album

    I have been following Raghu Dixit closely over the last few weeks. I found out about him from a tweet by Vishal Dadlani, who, along with Shekhar Ravjiani, ‘discovered’ and promoted him. In fact, Raghu Dixit’s one and only album has been released by their label. My curiosity piqued, I checked out Raghu Dixit’s sound-check…

  • Lean (But Not Mean) Is The Way To Go

    Corporations are not very popular these days: A documentary, The Corporation, is getting a lot of buzz. It’s based on the book “The Corporations: The Pathological Pursuit Of Power” by Joel Bakan, a Canadian law professor. The book/documentary questions the right of individuals granted to corporations in the US. It asks – “If the corporation…

  • Jerk Clones Are Worse Than Jerks

    There was an interesting comment posted in a TechCrunch story about Oracle’s Larry Ellison: “I used to work there and can tell you that there were many ‘mini-me’ versions of Ellison running around talking like him, and even dressing up like him. Rest of us used to laugh at them and make fun of them…

  • Will Music Piracy Die?

    The short answer – No. The long answer follows – Piracy is not unique to the music industry. Every product that can be duplicated and distributed for profit, invites piracy. However, a few things set apart the nature of piracy in the music industry: Huge market – As I said in a previous post, everyone…

  • Music Industry’s Battle Against File Sharing (aka Piracy) Heats Up

    A few key events from the last few months: LimeWire shuts down – LimeWire shutdown its P2P file-sharing service in October due to a court-ordered injunction. Within days, it was resurrected as LimeWire Pirate Edition (LPE) by a ‘secret dev team’. Predictably, LimeWire claimed that it had nothing to do with LPE. PCMag, very thoughtfully,…

  • Mavrix Monthly Update Nov-2010

    Office furnished. Discovered that the best ‘value for money’ furniture (i.e. cheap stuff for startups) in Bangalore can be found in a strip of shops on Infantry Road. Be prepared to shop-hop and haggle like crazy. Office puja performed. Lord Ganesha invoked for an auspicious start and Goddess Lakshmi to help meet our revenue projections…

  • The Importance Of Cover Songs

    In an interview with Rajeev Masand, Asha Bhonsle rips apart Sunidhi Chauhan’s rendition of ‘Duniya Mein’ in a song called ‘Parda‘ in ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai’. And she does it with a beatific smile lighting up her face. She’s a spirited old lady alright and I admire her verve and energy. However, I…

Are you a Hindi film music nerd?