India's first online electronica radio station is transmitting the right vibes. Here's why you should tune in
India's first online electronica radio station is transmitting the right vibes. Here's why you should tune in
Music enthusiasts in the country have always argued that electronica never really got its due. Finally, they have a reason to rejoice. The once 'strictly underground' genre has taken centrestage in its new online avatar, thanks to a bunch of gutsy, glamorous young Dilliwalahs who've given the country its first full-time electronica radio station on the Internet. Called Radio79, it is dedicated to promote various styles of electronic music and provide a common platform for promoting the best indigenous and international labels and artists. 
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Being propelled by an entertainment group called Audioashram, the project involves some well-known faces in town, like model Joey Matthew and ex-Radio One RJ Ankur Agarwal. And unlike multi-genre transmitters like Worldspace and BBC, the portal is all about synthesisers and sequencers. Nikhel Mahajan, the brain behind the channel and an electronica artist himself, feels that electronic music is the future. "What people get to hear is electronic music alright, but not quality stuff. Here's where we differ," he prides.
"People have been listening to Bollywood music since 60 to 70 years, and so they have a taste for it.
Electronica takes a while to grow on you, but you'll love it. In India, electronic music now accounts for nearly three to four per cent of total music sales, but the figures will skyrocket in the next five years provided interest levels are sustained," he adds. Nikhel is also planning to launch a glossy called Ggrunt in the coming month, which would be the first Indian magazine on electronic music.
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For testimony, the station has seen over two lakh hits within a month of its launch, with approximately 300 listeners a day. What's more, over 250 international labels have already tied up for transmission. The website has three sections Ambient Chillout for relaxed tunes, Psychedelic Progressive for hardcore hunters and Club Dance, which typically comprises tracks played in clubs on weekends. "From groovy progressive, deep techno, dirty electro, phat breakbeat, wobbly dubstep, slamming psytrance to various experimental electronic music styles, we do it all," claims Ankur Agarwal, Business Head. So, if 1000 artists from different countries, top deejays and Deep Pot the biggest electronica store chain sound enough to start on a new frequency, this is the right one.
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