Composer A.R. Rahman has just fulfilled a long-cherished
dream by launching his own music label, K.M. Music.
"For a long time now I wanted to float my own label K.M. Music.
My label won't market the music. It'll just distribute music recorded
in my studio in Chennai to large music companies like Sony,"
Rahman told IANS.
K.M. are the initials of a Sufi name from the south that Rahman wants
to honour through his music.
"Basically, the creative aspects and vision of the music we
produce will be our lookout, not the marketing. I've no idea of the
non-creative and fiscal side of the music business.
"Digital downloads are easy for me. But to go into the nitty-gritty
of music marketing is difficult for a creative person like me. Better
to restrict myself to what I know. So I'd rather keep out of the marketing."
He clarifies that none oh his film projects will be on his K.M. label.
"My label will be devoted to putting out alternate music - the
kind of sound I don't have the freedom to create in movies. This idea
of a music label was with me for sometime now. But I didn't want to
announce it until I had some of the music ready."
Now Rahman is all set to put out a bunch of albums on his label.
"There's an artiste from Britain, another will feature a mix
of artistes from India and the US, another is a Tamil poetry project
- it's all experimental and eclectic. Let's see how it goes.
"Though I won't be directly involved in the production of all
the music on my label, I'll certainly be involved in all my projects.
In fact, the reason I built this large studio in Chennai was to finally
start this label. No one can use the facilities in this studio as
well as me."
Currently Rahman is basking in the success of his new album "Sivaji"
which stars Tamil superstar Rajnikanth.