DooPaaDoo set to revolutionise the non-film music scene in India

He is the son of renowned lyricist and author Vairamuthu, but Madhan Karky is also a well-known 'lyric engineer' as he likes to call himself. Karky came into the Tamil film industry as a lyricist and today has expanded his horizons to re-engineer the industry and encourage new talent.

In an exclusive interview with dna, he talks about his latest venture that he started with friends. DooPaaDoo.com is a website that is set to give indie musicians and non-film music, across all languages, a leg up. 

How did you come up with DooPaaDoo.com? 

DooPaaDoo.com is the brainchild of me, my friend Kauntheya and a bunch of our close associates. All of us have a deep sense of passion towards music and a concern towards how the music industry in India is slowly falling apart in the hands of piracy. We wanted music (in all its forms), especially independent music by talented newcomers, to be noticed and recognised. Born from this concern and interest is DooPaaDoo.

What or whom is the site for?

DooPaaDoo is for everybody. The reason I think DooPaaDoo is for everybody is because it caters to all music lovers and aficionados and, let’s be honest, who doesn’t like music? On one hand, Doopaadoo caters to talented musicians who want to showcase their talent. On the other hand, it caters to established and well-known film music composers and singers in experimenting with independent music, beyond the confines of film-music. Last, but most importantly it caters to the listeners who listen to and encourage good music regardless of the name and voice behind it.

Why do you think non-English, non-film music has not done too well here?

We live and breathe cinema. When such is the case, it is difficult for us to listen to, associate ourselves with music that is not picturised on a star. This I think is the main reason. Film music is our primary music option. But the scenario is changing. Bollywood is encouraging a lot of independent music lately. In fact, quite a few Tamil films recently saw debut by singers and composers who were originally from bands and/or YouTube sensations.

What does DooPaaDoo do for a singer /musician?

For beginners, Doopaadoo recognises, encourages and celebrates musicians. This is easier said than done. We have a team of people to oversee our talent hunt process, respond to incoming music entries, getting in touch with them and getting the music out to the listeners. Secondly, all rights of the music lie solely with the producers and composers of the music. This means the producer is not in debt to DooPaaDoo or dependant on us. This, I believe, will give them more freedom and space to create and distribute music. Finally, DooPaaDoo pays the creators lifelong based on the number of views their song gets on our website. This is to create a generation where music becomes a career choice and not merely a part-time hobby for talents.  

Who are the people behind this idea?

Kauntheya is the business mind behind this idea. Saravanan, Raja and Thamiz are the technical wizards. Thirukumaran is the conceptual designer  and I coordinate the content and industry relationship.

Is it just for Tamil non-film music?

No, it’s not. Right now we’re starting with Tamil language songs. But we have plans of expanding to Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam music industries in the next six months and go international over the next couple of years. We merely want to create a platform for independent music. When film music comes our way, we will definitely take it up.

What's the road ahead for DooPaaDoo?

There’s a long and challenging road ahead for DooPaaDoo. We want to target colleges and bands in tapping the best of their talents. We want to shift listenership from being completely oriented to film music to an interest towards independent music. We want to expand nationally, internationally. We want to make DooPaaDoo a household name. It’s going to be challenging. But I’m sure it’ll be worth it!