Music made easy

Lyricist Madhan Karky’s brainchild, Doopaadoo, an online music portal has been instrumental in bringing budding musicians to the limelight. Many independent composers, singers and bands have collaborated and have churned out several songs, which are available on their official website for listening.

In a bid to create and unite musicians from across the country, Karky and team have come up with a new initiative called Music for Movies.

The new idea has been in the works for over two years now. The Doopaadoo team has created a song bank with over 1000 songs (for now), from which directors and producers can choose and buy one or several numbers for their movie according to the situation.

Speaking about this initiative, Madhan Karky says, “We will be functioning as a company and have signed projects with over hundreds of composers as of now. Any director or producer would approach me or our coordinator and narrate their film’s story. The coordinator, who is technically and musically sound, will gather all the details and would be conveying it to the composer. He will be the point of contact and this would also make sure that composers can work in their own creative space without any pressure from the director or lyricist at the spot.”

There are two models in the Music for Movies initiative. “The first model is called Made to Order. Once we hear the narration, we send the brief to a set of ten or more composers, who in turn, would send their works to us. We pick the best from the lot and present it to our client. After listening to the song, they can customise it accordingly. Once they make the final changes, we will produce it in our studio and deliver it to the makers. This process usually gets completed in a week.

The second model is called Fast Food. We have 500 songs that are ready to be used in films and another 500 songs that are partially ready. The makers can listen to them and choose the appropriate song. This process would be completed in just a day,” he elaborates.

Stating about the benefits of this song bank, the 2.0 lyricist exclaims, “You can save ample time and you need not sit for composing sessions with the music director. This initiative will also promote a minimal transfer of communication.  Secondly, there are monetary benefits if the makers choose to opt for this initiative. For a low budget movie, you can finish the album with approximately Rs 20 lakhs. As the budget increases, we can customise it accordingly.”

Raghava Lawrence’s Kanchana 3 is the first film to make use of this platform. “Out of six songs, he has finalised five of them from our song bank. I had gone to meet him for another film and that’s when we got talking about Music for Movies. He was genuinely interested and dropped into my studio to listen to the songs.

The interesting part is that he hasn’t met any of the composers till now. It took a month to complete the album.”

Madhan Karky firmly believes that they wouldn’t compromise on the quality of songs. “We have roped in Mr. Ram Prasad, who has worked with Hans Zimmer and in Game of Thrones as well. He has now moved to Chennai and would handle the operation. We have also signed on several re-recording artistes, who would be chosen based on the genre of the movie. We strive hard to give the best with each song. Also, for one particular number, there would be 10 entries, which imply that the composers are competing with each other. So, naturally, they have to give their best to be the chosen one of the lot,” he asserts.

The ace lyricist also thanks Lawrence for believing in the initiative. “We are glad that he (Lawrence) relied on us because this is a concept that is difficult to understand. In fact, he gave us several inputs, which helped us in shaping the models in a better way. His support will definitely give us the much-needed boost.”

The collective has musicians from all across the globe. Madhan adds, “Apart from India, musicians from Canada, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and several other countries are part of Doopaadoo’s initiative. We also have established musicians like Anil Srinivasan, Rajesh Vaidhya, Karthik, Raghunanthan, Justin Prabakaran, Vishal Chandrasekar and Simon K King contributing to our bank. As a lyricist, we all get to work on a restricted situation. A musician definitely needs a platform to explore various things. There are several writers with no film background struggling to make a mark. They might get an opportunity to work with Lawrence or any other artiste through this. Music for Movies aims at providing an equal platform for talented musicians.”

On a concluding note, Madhan Karky quips, “In future, we would also want composers like AR Rahman and Anirudh Ravichander to contribute as well. I see this as an initiative to bring musicians from across the globe under one roof.”