 in the music and audio business, they celebrate the indomitable spirit of women who are carving their path in the dynamic realm of the industry. With the team has that unstoppable women. We honour the strength, creativity and resilience of female professionals shaping the landscape of the industry. Join us as we celebrate the powerhouses, the fair blazers and the women who are not just making strides for setting the stage for a more inclusive and diverse industry. Let's strengthen their soul, amplify their voices and pave the way for generations of women to come. Together, let's make every day a celebration of the incredible contribution of women in the industry. I welcome my skill speakers for today. Mamdha Dhingra, founder, watchers, supercasters, unbounded mamdha, we welcome you here today, ma'am. Rampa Banerjee, head marketing, communication and member relations and at IPRS, we welcome you ma'am. Nani Singh's team here of showcase events, we welcome you Nani ma'am. Thank you. Pratikshash Srivastav, singer, songwriter, we welcome you here today. So hello to everybody and I'm very happy when you stayed to everyone. So lovely to see you all here right now. So I would like to know first that tell me what led, tell me your empowered story, what led to you here right now? What is your success story? Hi, thank you, Jisfi. Thanks for the lovely picture. Yeah, I've given myself for the democratic right to speak for it. But thank you so much. So I think many, many factors and many things like how we popularly say it takes a village to raise a child, I think it takes a world to raise a woman. And for her to actually get to a point where she's unabashed, where she is totally unapologetic about dreaming, desiring or achieving. We are here to do great things and obviously those are not easy. And what has led to wherever in my journey today that I am, what has led to that is a lot of faith, a lot of trust, a lot of support of loved ones, of people, professionals, communities who have entrusted me with my caliber talent skill, a lot of pull sometimes from my own story. So popularly, I'm sure each one of us can go back and think through this that at some point or the other, someone must have said or seen something in you, which even you didn't know. So I think for me, those anecdotes have left a mark where a teacher would say that, oh, you're gonna make this fantastic at this or a colleague will say, oh, you've got it in you or a brother will say that, oh, you'll go places. So these are the sounds of like the resonances that have kind of pulled me through in my journey. Because each time I would give up on myself, either I look back on those incidents or I would have someone say it from my environment that, no, you are cut out to do more or why are you taking it easy or why are you being complacent. So like I said, that it is a world of people, loved ones, communities, professionals, associates who really families who really are behind the success of a woman. Yeah, definitely, definitely. Money man on to you. I thought we were going in the order and now it was room pasta on that. So I was happy sitting on mute. So happy Women's Day to you too, or just we and thank you for this initiative. It's very, very interesting. And I'm glad that we are the selected few who are here. I have no idea what we're going to be talking about. But yes, so talking about our journey, I guess the number of years that we are today and where we stand today, that itself is experienced. It's a lot of experience that's gone into our lives and as a mother, as first as a daughter, then as a wife, and then a daughter in law, then a mother. So we've also grown along the years, you also learned a lot, right? And then also, not just all these roles, also to be us. So that's that I feel, you know, along the journey that something we all tend to forget that we exist. And we just start we stop living, we just keep existing. We move from one role to the other, without even realizing that we've transitioned. And then suddenly we realize that, you know, we are what age we are, and then what have we done? We've, I don't say we brought up, we brought up wonderful kids, is that my only achievement? Am I satisfied with it? Maybe it works, maybe doesn't work. So I think I've just been a very restless soul from the start. And it hit me very hard when I turned, I mean, I've been always doing something or the other way to hit me really hard when I reached 50. And I said all these years, I've had mother, daughter, daughter in law, wife, everything I've done, a good friend, done parties, hosted, went to people, everything is done. So where do I stand? What am I doing? Have I haven't done anything that has any kind of an impact? When I sleep at night, am I happy? And that is what led to the genesis of showcase events. And I said, if I'm so passionate about something that I do, create a platform, respect for the artists in the industry, create a platform where I can do something more with music, do something for charity, like, I don't know, I seriously, I wake up every morning, I just know there's just so much to do. And a sleep at night in my head is ticking that gosh, I have to finish this X amount of things. So like I said, I'm not calculating, I'm not counting. And I, of course, like, very rightly Mamta said that, you know, nothing is possible without support from everyone around you. But yes, if you have to break the glass ceiling, you just got to step on it. You can't wait for people to come and do it for you, you've got to do it yourself. And that's, I think that's my one, very clear mission in my head. And I can go on and on, but I'm going to hand it back to you. Yeah, thank you, Rishi and thanks for loudest and before and for making this happen today. And yeah, and thank you for inviting us to be on the panel. So where it started and how I'm where I am today. It doesn't be interesting. So I will say that's like everything starts from your family, the family you belong, the city you belong through. So for me, it has been kind of wonderful because I come from West Bengal, Kolkata. And since my childhood, I have seen that in my family, my parents, I so I have never been kind of told that you are like a girl or you need to do this, this is your role. So I have always been pushed to make myself in terms of study in terms of my extracurricular activities. And they have based me as a very confident woman. I have two brothers also. And I have seen in my family that there was no discrimination between my brothers and me as a girl. Those are the formative stages of your life. Those are the foundation of your life. And what we need very much today is the society and your family and your relatives, the city, the Mahalla you belong to, where you will not be judged. Because I have seen lots of women, they have a lot of capabilities, but they lack confidence because they always feel being judged. So I think that is the reason where I could do like little whatever, like I could do, because I was always pushed to be self sufficient and be good at what I'm doing, whether I'm successful or not successful, that my job or my work or the people I'm working with will decide. But I have been always told to be honest, to be hardworking and be good at, give your best to whatever you do. And never doubt yourself. So I think that is very important. And I'm thankful to everyone who has been with me, supported me unconditionally. And yes, yeah, that and the rest was my experience, my journey. And not to give up. Yeah, why? Always asking those questions, not being afraid that why I am doing what I am doing. Why are you telling me to do this? And not being stereotyped? Yes, just go out, express yourself, be confident and yes, and the world will be yours. That's the perfect example you all have said for the unhashtag unstoppable Uh, just, I think your voice is cracking a little bit. Can you repeat please? Yeah, happy women's day to all of you. Thank you so much for having me. Uh, success story. Okay. First of all, I apologize for all the construction noises. I really can't help it. But yes, talking about just my story, which is a journey, a very beautiful journey. It has been I am a singer, songwriter, and I belong to a family deeply rooted in Indian classical music. My grandparents and parents have a music school back in Lucknow. I'm based out of Mumbai, but I am from Lucknow, North Pradesh. So I started there. I started learning Indian classical and then later I became a very studious person and I like was very much into studies. And then I did this reality show called Little Champs in 2009 when I was 10 years old. After that, I realized that, okay, this is the other part of music. One part which I have been, uh, uh, you know, brought in terms with two terms with is this learning part Indian classical music. This other part is this show business part, which I saw at a very young age. I saw films of it. But then again, I was back to studies, but in 2018 I shifted to Mumbai and I decided that I want to do, uh, play back singing. That's how I started. I was 19 years old and it was a very tough call for my family because in Lucknow, it's like, it's not a very common practice to send people forget girl or boy to send people so far away at a very young age of 18 or 19 into this industry where you have no contacts, no links. But my mother did and then my father believed. So my mother had to really push, but then everybody was very supportive. And I started my journey here as a playback singer, but then later, I don't know, somehow it was a very transitional transitional period of switching to independent music. So somehow I would say that things didn't go well because I had, I didn't get many opportunities or however it was, but later I realized that I can make my own music and I should do that. And once I started doing that, I think it's had been, it has been a very, very beautiful journey and now I write my own songs and make my own music. So yeah, that's it. Wow, that's great, that's great. That was amazing. So I would like to ask you all that, how can, you know, female musicians and industry professionals advocate for themselves in a male-dominated which was fair representation and opportunities. Do you guys face any challenges regarding that in your journey? Yeah, once I could just see your voice was cutting. So a bit choppy. So I missed out your whole question. Our voice is not audible right now. It is. Yeah, now it's better. It was a bit choppy. So I missed out on certain words that you said. Yeah, I'll just repeat my question then. So my question now is that how can female musicians and the industry professional advocate for themselves in a male-dominated field to ensure fair representation and opportunities? What challenges you all faced in your journey till now? Do you face any pressure and the kind of things happened in the industry? What are the challenges to you face? Nani ma'am, on to you first. Okay, so yes, I have to admit that it is a male-dominated industry. I'm talking now from the events perspective, right? It's definitely a male-dominated industry and you know, the difference comes in in the fact that just this morning I was having this conversation with somebody and we said, you know, as women we think differently. We are more creators and they have a bigger business sense. It's I think just our DNA. It's not that women don't have a business sense. They do, but we have a more creative business sense and they have a more commercial business sense. And when you're doing a professional, you're doing running a business, you definitely need a commercial business sense also. So I feel at the end of the day, the way I have seen the industry or the way it has worked for me, I can give you my personal example. I think it's been exceptionally complimenting in the sense that I have learned a lot. I have to say that my male colleagues have taught me a lot. They have stood by me and they have, they have explained how things can work differently. If I just modify a few things, you know, I don't have to get emotional, like as women are innate qualities, getting emotional drop of a hat, we'll get very centi, we'll get emotional. And then we start getting involved in, you know, like, and then always trying to be like, play the good cop, because that's how we've all grown up, right? At home, we don't want an issue. We don't want any tussles. So just like, let things be. So don't push things under the carpet. Face them as they are and move on. Because unless you do that, you will not be able to make progress. So then now, again, taking that next step, support and complimenting each other is very important. And vice versa. There are many times I've had my male event colleagues calling up and saying, Hey, listen, give it. Can you just help me? I just think up of a nice idea that I can propose to them because it's not coming to them naturally. You know, so it works both ways or just we, but also when it comes to getting the events and, you know, kind of operating, I think it's your skill set. It is your skill set. If you're good at it and you have confidence in yourself and your team, I don't think that it takes it takes anything to break that glass ceiling as I always call it. It really takes nothing. So unless until you have confidence in yourself and you have the passion to drive that confidence, you know, you can always, you can blame the whole world for whatever is going right or wrong in your life. And I don't think the world really matters. It's about you. It's about who you are. So of course, there are situations, there are times I mean, some of us have been fortunate enough to be us. Some of us don't have the opportunity to be us all the time, right? But make an effort. At least take a chance. You got to get there somewhere. Definitely, definitely. On to you. This has to be complimenting support. It's not that we are fighting. This is not a male bashing session, so we are not fighting. But yes, I mean, as women, we got to make our own place. You don't want to be run over. Run over. Yeah. Mum down to you. I think the only thing that perhaps is lacking is the precedence. In popularly, if you look at Bollywood or indie pop music or, you know, audio industry, I mean, I would not say there is any dearth of talent. There certainly isn't. We have seen equal number of vocalists. Lata and Asha Bosleji has obviously led the domain. When you talk about playback singing, they are the foremost names that come to your mind. Forget the gender. So the only thing is that there are very far and few examples of any precedence that has been said by women because they have not done it. So it's kind of a conditioning that has rooted very deeply that maybe we can't do it. However, I don't think that narrative is correct. This generation and the generations before also, I mean, if we go back as back as the times of Usha Khanna or Jaddan Bhai or Saraswati Devi, they all have made it. But and there could be some reality to the fact that perhaps skilling, you know, so technical knowledge, maybe the lack of passing on of that technical knowledge from the male domination in the sector to women. So I think it's a good question that you ask that why. But the thing is that it doesn't limit to that. I think if there is any right time to do it, the time is now. And this generation, I mean, coming specifically from the understanding of content creation, because I'm a podcaster, we are seeing equally popular creators on the block, you know, Pushak Pillai Pillai or the likes, you know, they all are making a mark. So perhaps what has not happened is just passing down of that skill, which is kind of, you know, so the narrative internally that women have built is because nobody has done it. So maybe we are not either supposed to meant to or can't do it. But with the right kind of skill, technical knowledge, you know, a belief in their competence and talent, I don't think it is any further, any longer a limiting should be a limiting belief. Definitely, definitely. Rump on to you now. Yeah, what I have observed that I like I feel is that as women, we think too much. Because for a man, if you see, I don't think yeah, he might feel sad if you like telling that you're not a good husband or you're if you don't have too much time for your wife or your kids or your family. But he will kind of tell you that see, I'm providing for the family and giving you such a wonderful comfortable life. That is my role that I am playing. And hence, we have to kind of adjust a bit. So he will not go and feel sad about it. But I think as women, we try to balance every part, every role, every corner, and try to be best in everything we are doing. And and like in my life, I have seen that suppose, like I have been working since the time I am out of college and I have been working and working. And what I have done is that I have always tried to give my family my my son quality time when over the weekend or wherever I could contribute in a much more meaningful way. And I think that has also helped them to grow as a more kind of a like a person or some individual. So a woman has to find out that how do I play my role in my life and in my career, instead of thinking too much that am I being judged, am I not a good wife, am I not a good mother, or am I not a good daughter-in-law? Because your family will always feel proud if you are doing well in your career also. Have that open chat with your family that what you want to do. Because it's very unhealthy for the family also to have a person or a kind of a person who is managing the family. But she's utterly upset and sad because she is not being able to do or fulfill her career dreams. So it is very important. And because we have not and if you see always women till now has been choosing roles where she could manage her personal life and her professional life. There's a lot of time women restrict them to roles where she can balance both family and work. And this has been the trend. Women have not gone all out into roles where she might have to spend a lot of time outside or she might have to work hours. And that is the reason in the music industry also you will see women are mostly confined to roles as performers or you will see a lot of lyricists now coming up. But when it comes to music composition you will not see too many people or sound engineers because those demand odd hours and not work hours. So and because we have always kind of restricted ourselves to those roles where we can manage our family and our career. The society also has built it in their mindset for the society also. But if you are a lady there was a time in like in like 70s 80s or even like early 2000 when women is to choose like a need a profession of teaching school teacher because if you are a school teacher you can manage to vote the roles. So the society also thinks like it might not be convenient to have a woman in a role that like it demands long working hours. So we have also not got those opportunities because we have only defined what we can do and what we want to do. But today I don't think that is like the society is changing, the family mindset is changing. So we should always have an open conversation and like an early man said if you're good at something as Mamta also said that if you're good at something, if it's your skill set, your talent, nobody can stop you. So just don't hold yourself, just go all out and things will fall in. Yeah I think that is what is very important. Yeah that was amazing. Pratik Shah, do you know? I think I am very fortunate that I am in this age and period where I can really do a lot of things. Even I started as a singer and I didn't think that honestly that it was a woman's job also to compose and write songs, forget music production that's a difficult thing. And I'll tell you my thing I can easily do all of this today because I have any and every platform to learn and to publish. But I have just started doing music production, not that I was scared of doing it or I didn't have means, but it was just a notion in my head. I am doing singing, songwriting, production. I have seen this word called curiosity. I don't want to generalize it but there's this curiosity of my male counterparts to just make a song completely on their own and try and test things even if they are not good at it. They will just sit and they'll just sit like a geek and they will sit there for hours and hours and hours. They don't care if the water has fallen there. You know I'm just saying an example, they won't get up and run away or if my sister-in-law tells me that they haven't eaten anything, they'll just sit and they'll focus and they'll try and test things out and they're not afraid to do that. They're not afraid to test their skills and be a fool. They don't care about anything else in this room. It's just one thing that's there in front of them and I lack that. I am everywhere and it's not just me. I've seen with most of my female counterparts, it's not just me. So I didn't realize that again this curiosity that I had to build in myself, how would I do that? Because I have been born and brought up and seen my mother like this. She's a working woman and she's everywhere. She feels guilty about any and everything. I don't know why but that's a very deep conditioning as all the ladies here said. So how do I develop this curiosity? Then I realize that I'm not aware. I have YouTube. I have internet access. I can learn anything. I have to be aware what is going behind the song. If I'm on the stage and performing, how is that sound reaching me? There is this person on FOH. Even if I don't have to learn how to do live mixing, I can at least understand those terms so that I can communicate with him that I need this. I need that. You tell me how can we make this relationship of me on stage and you on the console better? That awareness, that knowledge on my music producer. I need this. I need this kick. I need this baseline. I want this type of a sound, this type of a genre, these type of instrumentations. At least that awareness. If I start from there, then definitely people in the room are going to listen to me. When my music producer knows that she doesn't know anything about music production, he made this song and now it's over. Now I will do my work. Because he knows that I don't know that. But if he sees me talking about those things, then he is definitely saying, come here and sit. Tell me what do you want? And from there, we start. I think so. That's how I started. So this awareness and then that leading to curiosity is very, very important for females musicians. Yeah, definitely, definitely. It was just amazing to see how far women have come in the industry and doing so well for themselves. So my next question would be regarding mentorship. I think how can mentorship and support networks be utilized to empower women in the, you know, in the industry and have them navigate the complexities of visibility and representation? What do you think about that? I'll go with Rampa first. Yeah, this is extremely important because like as Mamta had mentioned initially, that the lack of precedence. So as an industry, we need to come together to help each other. So like where we are lacking today is everybody is left in their own silos. So if I'm a creator, I am in my city, I'm making music, but I'm not sure whom to reach out to. And as a woman from our childhood, we are taught that the place outside the house, like home is really unsafe. So for a woman, she also doesn't know whom to reach out to whom to collaborate with you. Like for her career or for her music. And if somebody is helping her, I have seen it in my, like for myself also, if somebody is genuinely helping me, I start doubting that why is this person helping me so much? Does he have something else in mind and really come back asking for that once the thing is done? So it is really important for the industry and like people in the industry who are already successful. So there are a lot of women who have already done it. So we should have also media playing a very big role in highlighting more of those success stories and how they have done it and give them a platform like today you're doing the discussions and wonderful start and an initiative where there should be more discussions and kind of platforms who are highlighting women's stories or things how they are done in like respective field of work. So that the women's creator or the women in the music business also gains confidence because as I said in our mind, we have stereotype that this role is not for me. Maybe this will not be safe for me. So we need more kind of success stories and highlighting of how things happen in the industry, break a lot of myths because we know film industry, entertainment industry, if you're working in the film industry, if you're working in the entertainment industry, people always think, okay, I don't know what will happen to you, you're in a very unsafe place to work. Breaking those myths is also equally important and consciously pushing for equal representation. So what I mean by that is not just talking about it, that we need more representation from women, we need more representation, specific roles in the industry, but consciously pushing for that. If you see a lot of big brands today are pushing for equal representation in their workforce. And they kind of judge or kind of like judge those like organizing, it's a good organization, it is gender equal organization. Same should happen in the music industry and in the entertainment industry also. Last year, like there was a kind of in the European Union project first wave, it's a body, like a special body formed to promote music, international collaborations and equal representation. So they had introduced the concept of gender balance music. So the conscious effort was that when a song is being made, the song, the role, so the song should not be that only the singer is a female and they say, hey, I am having female representation in my music. No, you should have representation from also the less chartered areas of work in that song, like song being made. Is there a sound engineer? Is there a music producer? Is there a composer or some of the things like a ranger because you don't see much arrangers. So consciously pushing for equal representation and creating a gender balance music and promoting those gender balance music to encourage participation from all the less chartered areas of work in the music industry. So I think these kinds of initiatives will encourage more people and also consciously finding out talent. So now today big music labels, music publishers or bodies who are investing in the music business, they should kind of have initiatives to go into the markets and identify talent. If there is suppose there is like less talent, why there are less sound engineers? Can I have education programs to promote that? That is also important. How do I encourage more females to participate in those roles? So these are very important things which we should now start doing. So now we are having a lot of panel discussions on highlighting what is not happening. But it's time that brands or institutions or people in the industry who are driving the business of music take initiatives to make it happen now. And if you see most of this panel discussion today I was talking to which is a board of women in the kind of entertainment industry is a body formed of women entrepreneurs. So I was talking to them in West Bengal. So I'm part of that body. So they are saying we never have this kind of panels and discussions in West Bengal. We never had this. So I have a friend who is in the animation industry. She thinks I have no two person working in the animation business. Why there is no animation? The female working in the animation business in West Bengal. So a lot of things are happening here in the metro, say in Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, some may be happening in Bangalore. But what about the other cities, other places in India? Because music and entertainment in India is all over. Are efforts being taken to go into those remote corners and bring out the talent from there? Or is it only restricted to specific roles like fingers only? So I think let us all look towards making this change happen. Yeah, definitely, definitely. Nani ma'am, do you want to know? So I think what Rupa has said is the most inspirational, motivational portions of this entire panel. So when you talk about mentorship, I think the maximum learning happens from experience. Yeah. Right. And what she said very rightly, if you pick up success stories of different types of women, which since we're talking about women, you pick up success stories of different types of women from different fields of life, every woman will be able to identify some part of her journey with that woman. And you know, out of like, even all of our sitting over here, I know how many new things I've learned today. So age is just a number. Every day we are picking up more and more how to become stronger from within. And unless until we are strong from within, we will never be able to get our representation. So mentorship starts and happens all the time. It's at every stage. But yes, on a conscientious level, I think mentorship is very, very important because another person's experience always will have a lot of lessons for you. Then there are opportunities in our lives that keep coming, right? And my own standard mindset, it took me a while to build my own mindset. And I teach my team that as well, is that every opportunity is a learning. Don't think if you haven't, suppose you haven't cracked a contract. That's not a lost opportunity. That's a learning opportunity. That's fine. You don't have to win every contract. Right? So at every stage, and I'm happy to share that, well, happy or we can take it many other way. But we are an all women's team at showcase events. Oh, it's not that we it's not that we've made any major conscientious effort. But we did hire guys in between. Maybe we were just not lucky enough to have some of the best guys joining us. Or they were overpowered and they were kind of intimidated by the skill set of the women that their performance was not up to what the girls were producing. You know, the kind of focus, the kind of passion and the multi skill set that the women have. That's not common in every and I'm not saying men don't have it. Like, I mean, you know, Pratik Shah mentioned also that's and that's very true. Pratik Shah, it's not that it's a male centric thing. It's a very straight line. Yeah, you know, you're just thinking of that only. Like I don't know if you've heard this used to be this very, very stupid joke floating around with this guy and girl, you know, sorry, I'm taking away from this, but the boy and boyfriend of the girl from the sitting in the car. And so sorry, the husband was sitting in the car and this guy is like really Sarah that point of time and his head is like he's making faces and he's mumbling under his breath and stuff like that. And she's like, and her mind is saying that, Oh, God, like, you know, I think he has another woman in his life and he doesn't love me anymore. And so her exactly like overthinking, she's thinking in that line, this guy's thinking in his own life. And then they finally open up the bubble and they show what the both of them were thinking. India had lost the match the previous night. This guy was sulking in his head about how badly we had battled better, we could have done better and he's mumbling away, serving away, she's trying to talk to him and he's being rude to her is not answering her. She had almost reached a point when she thought that when we parted, we get out of the car, she'll be divorced. So it is like overthinking to another level. So you know, what I'm trying to say is that this was a very, very, it was an episode that floated around all over, but this was a bit learning for our own cells out of this. So that's what I'm trying to say is that out of everything in life, it's up to you how much you want to take. We can have these mentorship, mentorship sessions, we can have a lot of talks, we can have inspirational, motivational, we can listen to podcasts, we can this, I mean, excellent stuff on podcasts as well, right? Absorb what you can, and make that your strong point. And I think that's really, really important. So I think you start putting these things out through the media. I think, yes, it's good for all of us, not just for the younger lot that's coming in, it's good for all of us as well. Definitely, Pratik Shahan, do you know? Hi, so I believe you were talking about networking and how do we network away. So for me, I'll share what I have seen, observed and experienced that I used to think that there were so many teachings you have to approach like this, you have to talk like this, do like this, things A to Z. But when this independent scene, independent music boomed, I realized that if I am just sharing my work link, or if I am playing my song or singing, whatever it is, then I'm going to catch the year of that person. Because at any social gathering or any such meeting, I've always seen that it's very okay, it's at some level, until I have played a song, they are always just waiting, they're actually waiting to hear your work at any position or level. And now, it's such a beautiful time that they are just really, they are not even asking me who has done this, who has done that, they say, what have you brought? What are you making? There's a change in language also, what have you made? Play that to me, play your music to me, right? And then they listen to you. And after that, it obviously depends on how you approach things, your attitude and your knowledge, which is very important of everything, royalty, everything till the release. But yeah, I've always seen that calm bull that and people at that level are ready to listen to you first, ready to listen to your work. And they really appreciate and respect whatever you are doing. So they're all yours for the work. If you have grabbed your, their attention with your work, then they'll sit down, you can talk, you can work things out. In that also, there are many ups and downs. But again, if I really talk about mentorship and everything, the YouTube, again, I would say is a very, very good place. And there are so many workshops happening. I recently attended about royalties, different kinds of royalties and all these people at any label head or anybody, they are constantly doing these conferences and workshops and everything so much is happening just to propagate and expand and share that knowledge with everybody. So why can't we just absorb that? And why can't we keep that in mind while networking also? We cannot, I have always understood that I cannot present myself like, I have to be very, very aware of what I'm stepping into. Then only I see the other person really being interested in what they are talking. If I don't know what I'm talking about, there is no point of networking. If I don't know what my music is and what it's supposed to happen with that, because that is my forte, right? The rest of the things are his forte or her forte. But if I don't know what my music is saying and doing, and if I immediately change my stance, okay, I don't agree with her, but she also does not agree with her music. She changed. She changed quickly. So that awareness, that confidence and yeah, that thing that I have all my work ready to present to them like a professional. I think that really speaks. Speaks, yeah, definitely, definitely. Mum, don't do now. So, you know, I have a few different point of views here, one because I come from a public industry and a podcast industry. So my pedigree and training is PR, as you know. And for a professional who is trying to make any kind of a dent in a PR industry or communication industry, networking is like the first step into the door. And it is absolutely critical, absolutely pivotal to even have that be done in a right way because that's your first impression into any room that you walk in. Having said that, that's obviously not something that we carry you through and throughout because ultimately, it's your work like how Pratik Chajas said. For me, networking has played a very large part and role in getting where I am today. However, that networking also has an organic way of happening and an inorganic way of happening. So there are actually official and renowned forums where you can go and register yourself and be very purposefully networking because you want to generate work, you want to generate visibility for yourself. This is as far as PR and comms industry I'm talking about. But yes, a lot of things happen by invite, a lot of things happen from network off network as well. And what more can be so beautiful like in today's digital age that we have so many of such forums now available online as well. So music industry as I see in retrospect or even today is a lot still driven by personal bias. Honestly, it is a lot about personal relationship preferences, recommendations, which is not bad because it's still talent driven nonetheless. So it should definitely be on the basis of your merit and then getting a right mentorship or any sort of training or upskilling or kind of guidance. If there are more formalized roots to that, that's what we'll actually see inclusion from many diverse subsets, saying women in music is not the end of it. Now if I were to talk about tribals or tribal music or tribal folk art or folk clothes and all, they have not made to mainstream for some reason. This morning the news says that Carol G. She's the first Latina who's been named as the woman of the year at Bilboat ceremony. We still have a lot of underrepresentation not only bases on the bias of the gender, but that inequality or inclusion that we are talking about at the boardroom level. I think it's high time that music also sees that kind of a corporatization if not in the setup but in the mindset of people that like how Rump also very well said that this has to be a very intentional way of including that okay, are we leaving any talent behind? And if so, then why are we doing that? Is it on our personal bias? Is it on our own preferences? Is it because I know someone? Why are we only seeing more of why are we hearing more of the same voices? Then where is that bias limiting us? But networking, definitely I think it's a very, it can be if done well and appropriately can be a very formal and a very appropriate way of positioning yourself too. And could be a good start, but what will take you through of course is your own merit, is your own talent, is your own skill. Definitely, definitely. As I just listened to Ramba ma'am and Nani ma'am as you were saying that media today in today's time plays a very pivotal role in this. So I would like you to ask that what role does media business, business plays in shaping the visibility of women and the industry and how can media outlets be more inclusive and supportive of female voices? The media supports feminism and what all do you think about that, the media business of Pratik Shah? You tell me first. Actually, I have never really thought about the media business. I just think that I just have this thing constantly in my head every time that whenever we are talking about top songs, whether independent or Bollywood or Tollywood, if I see a list top 10, top 15, I just have somehow I see they are all male songs every time. And if there is a female presence over there, it's like a feature in a song, some two lines maybe. I'm just saying, in dependency, there is nothing really of that sort. I don't know, somehow, like if we talk about the hip hop culture, especially today, because hip hop culture is booming right now and there's a lot of craze and buzz for hip hop in the media. And there is a lot of articles that I see each and every day about hip hop and everybody booming and this and that. But yeah, again, I mean, time and again, I realize that from instrumentalists to rappers to singers. If you see and even the rock music, if you see women are one of the pioneers, but we don't know that, we don't realize that. And it's now it's like, it's like that. How did it come to that point? How did it reach that point? Women had one of the initial people to play a lot of instruments, to sing a lot of genres, even in Indian classical music. If we talk about the Tavaevs and all everybody, there was so much happening culturally also in music and in Western music, rock, jazz, violin, everything. But somehow there is no sort of visual, whatever I would say presentation that, okay, women are doing this. I don't know, how did it reach that point that even the facts? I think she's frozen. I can add to that narrative actually. You add to it. Yeah. So see again, coming from and this kind of takes me back to my roots, which is well-instated in PR. I think media does have a huge responsibility to share in shoulder here because the more that you are creating that hoopla around a specific gender, around a specific subset and set of people or talent, the more it will keep getting promoted and the lesser, the less of what you'll keep repeating, the chances are even, it'll keep getting down and eventually might even fade away those stories. So as to what Pratikshas was very well articulating around the Tavaev cultures or the Mujras and all, which are all led by women and the base of it was always music, good music, classical music, aesthetics, etc. So if that storytelling or narrative has never been built, I think this is just the right time because media is so much democratized now. There are so many self-publishing platform which goes so much in favor of artists and talent. There are so many self-promotion platform, be it Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Insta. I think this is the time and that's what the age of digital has done to us, that it has kind of given all of us a right to be the creators and the publishers and the promoters of our own story. When you do believe in your own skill and you do push it out to that level and that's exactly what I have even done with Unbound because they will never be takers who are always ready. Sometimes you have to create a market for yourself because they've never known that something like this has existed so they will never know till the time you will push out those stories and media definitely has to work in sync. It has to work very conscientiously like how Nanny has also been mentioning it again and again to make that orchestrated effort that if this is a storyline and I am running something on women's special or as a music piece then does this story get equally balanced with the women voice in it or not. So I think that representation one we have to call out for as creators ourselves as people who are talented in the industry and media also has to work in support conjunction as a collaborator that any story, any tutorial with any feature that they are doing on the industry on the sector has an equal share of voice coming from the other gender too. Yeah definitely Rapa what you will add to that. You're unmute you're not audible. I'm sorry I'm sorry. Yeah so today we are doing a very wonderful space because in the last few years the entire media business PR your promotion publicity has changed drastically. So on like one end you have your traditional PR the size of traditional PR and your mainstream articles blogs that all those things and on the other end you have the social media. Today social media is also playing a big role in building a brand and doing the PR. So when we are working on these two different kind of mediums there has to be a conscious effort to work on these two very differently. So coming to the traditional and the mainstream journalistic PR and the media business the music is very fascinating but unfortunately for a common man or for anyone music is always seen as a performance has been seen as a performance so the person who is singing it or the person who is performing it that is how music is perceived. But I think today is a high time now to also highlight what goes behind the making of music and where women is playing a role in that part of the music business and where she is not why she is not that needs to be highlighted very kind of consciously through media stories. Suppose if in a particular area there is no representation of women then media should start doing those stories. For example I'll give you a very fascinating fact which has come out from our database. Today there is a tricky report which has come out which is highlighting on the media and entertainment which Ernst Jan has done it and it was released two days back which says that in India one of the most popular music languages is Punjabi. Punjabi is trending not only in India and the faculty are all aware of globally also but you will be stunned to hear that out of like 900 plus almost 1000 female creators in IPLS database we have just 16 female creators from Punjab. Isn't it shocking? Yeah shocking really shocking. Music Punjabi music is kind of ruining the world and we just have 16 creators enrolled from Punjab. Last year last to last year December we had done a workshop with all our members in Punjab we had a room of nearly like 200 members joining from Punjab for that workshop we didn't have one single female creator in the room. So these are some glaring facts so the media mainstream national media the regional media they should start taking interest talking to the relevant stakeholders in the industry that why my market is lagging behind and the encouraging number comes which is a term which people are not like we don't but there's two kind of such numbers come from one more regional market West Bengal we have 120 creators from West Bengal out of the 900 plus members enrolled so few markets uh the visibility of women are growing and they are and the major market is obviously the the kind of the the market we are sitting here in the and the West market but Bengal is so advanced in terms of women representation so I think media should now take interest in doing stories like this where they are highlighting the very pertinent issues and the things happening behind just thinking on the song as like already said showcasing the success stories of people who have done it how they have done it so that more female in the industry are gaining confidence also not only music creation in the music business how many like leadership roles in the music industry in the music business there are not many women in leadership roles in the industry that is also a thing to ponder upon we are still stuck to some like some specific roles in the industry now coming to social media social media has to be more responsible I was talking to one of my very very popular female creator from the northeast I will I don't want to take the names but her song has gone viral so there are comments on the force saying that the song is viral because they look beautiful they are saying that the song is viral because they look beautiful so I think we should come out seeing the women only by the skin she her talent people should dive deep into consider her talent today also when women get a promotion people always think oh she used to get promotion she she comes with a lot of yeah she in the office she's so that she and good looking I think as a society as a like everything of her like a woman should be judged by her talent and not so so like when on social media we see such things as conscious citizens and all you should go and kind of talk against it see the talent see her singing see her performance see her music don't judge her how to look or how she's on stage yeah that is always it happens a man is never judged I was reading an article but they were saying that if a man just stands with a guitar on stage nobody judges him yeah a woman has to look go down stage why is this comparison for a woman so much of burden on her to look good why even when a woman is coming for an interview or anywhere please hold judge by your look that that should stop a woman should now be judged by her talent I think that is important and the media will definitely so I'm going to add to that as well and I think this is very interesting both Mamta and Roomba brought up some very important points which is typically amplification of the content yeah and that is where media plays a major role collaborations everything else comes under that so if you can amplify the messages out I think that it's healthy what is the role of media media can make a person can break a person we've seen that in the best of situations and Mamta is here from the PR industry and she is the best person to even respond to something like this right I have seen how media has helped positively and built a person and I've also seen how media for a normal human being has worked negatively and has brought them down so I mean it is ruthless right but on the other hand it is also such a powerful tool so it totally depends on how it's being utilized and how it's being used when it comes to women amplify the stories of successful women like we spoke about I think that's like really really an important point and it's you know okay now this is we've been talking about the music industry I will tell you from the events in entertainment industry one of my events in Singapore what super impressed me about that entire my entire team in Singapore I had women on the team that were climbing up on the trusses and fixing the lights I have not seen that in India even today why is it that in India we cannot do it you think people over here can't do it they don't have the skill set they can't climb up a trust if me at 58 can climb up a trust anybody can climb up a trust right why is it that we are not doing it because we are not changing our mindset we are not we are not changing our mindset so we are we're expecting the society around us to change their mindset how will the society change their mindset yeah if we ourselves are not going to change ourselves why can't I climb the trust today and fix the lights why can't I be tuning that sound system in the sound console and making sure that my artist on stage is comfortable why do I have to rely only on one person it could be a man a moment I mean that's not even important why should I have to rely on anybody else why can't I do it so you know I feel a lot is on us and we make our own change we sort our head out I think the society around us will definitely start changing of course like Mamta said in Rumpa said precedence is very very significant we have precedence Pratik Shah pointed out the names we have precedence we have people we have women talent that have stood out like Rumpa said why do we have a poor representation of women in our industry music industry we still have a grand representation what about events in entertainment industry yeah in the events industry it's such a poor representation over every like 1000 over like probably 10,000 men we have one woman in leadership roles right so why what is it that's stopping women from getting into the industry what are we scared of am I scared of dealing with my service providers is a service provider going to take me for a ride why should it take me for a ride I may have to work a little harder than a man because they feel that men can get away and I know in the industry men can get away with a lot more than they feel women are naive that that's a huge thing in the event industry women are naive why can't they negotiate the same way with a man because the man will sort them out we're just polite we respect them we don't use harsh words but being in the event industry I've learned a lot of harsh words and honestly speaking I've actually I mean a lot of people who meet me now they say gosh you're not the same person anymore it hardens you up it teaches you and I think these things are important for us to bring out and it's not it's not that these are negative learnings if I have to be in my industry and I want to make a go of it I have to learn these things but I have to learn them my way and I have to learn them in a with a positive impact on myself and on the people around me learning things doesn't mean I have to start yelling at people and you know creating a ruckus and fighting with the whole world that's not called learning I have to learn them to work within my what works best for and then what what am I doing I'm learning these things I'm absorbing them I'm then imparting them further you become like an example if you are yourself not confident about being an example how can you expect people around you to change things how can I tomorrow sit back and say hey I'm talking you know just these on her phone I can't because I've been doing exactly the same I'm just kidding with you or just me I'm kidding with you no no all I'm trying to say is that just be a voice and have confidence in yourself so if the girls in Singapore could climb the trust in one hour flat we had to turn around from a ballroom setup to a concert setup we had a huge stage we had a huge LED we had light sound trusses within one hour of course I have to say I had like some 20 girls working in one space and we had some 50 boys working in the other space lot of manpower but that's not the point the point is that the girls were equally efficient they were equally adept at doing things why don't we have that in India why are girls in India even scared to get into music engineering why they're scared to learn trussing so I will share with you I'm also on the panel of an institute called AFD okay it's a Noida based institute and they have a program on event management so they have an online and offline program and they got a few of us to do some diploma some papers reading for their online sessions some lessons and so I had done it on event security trussing and a couple of subjects I had done about seven eight modules for them other than the modules which I was teaching it was a lot of learning for me itself but I didn't know so much about trussing which I learned when I was teaching them about trussing going through those modules researching on that stuff and you know picking up more information and I know that now you'd be happy to hear this in Roomba you're going to witness this at Kasoli music festival which we're coming up on 29th and 30th of March in Kasoli at Santa Rosa I have out of my volunteers list of 20 volunteers there are 14 women and six boys and this is not intentional it's not intentional it is not that I picked and chose I have to have more women no I had the women who wanted to be part of production they want to be part of the setup they want to learn backstage management they want to learn how the sound system is set up and how the festival sound is festival sound is very different from tuning a single artist sound you could be doing the sound engineering for the biggest artist but it's very difficult different from Pratik Shah understands this right it's very different from a festival sound a festival engineer has to be adapted during multiple bands at one point of time and then you have 15 minutes of turnaround time and you have to have the band up on stage so they're interested so that's the reason why I don't care I'm going to put them over there in the sound console so they learn tomorrow this is our new generation that's going to be the generation that's leading that industry why not so that's that's it is by example so we want the media to pick up these kind of things amplify them create more inspirational situations where people want to learn more create that curiosity and examples okay so I would come to that only that you know digitization and social media are playing a very major role in this time in the audio business also and in the you know music business too and in the audio business podcast is really booming I would say that Kareena Kapoor also did the podcast what women want it was a big hit back then and in today's time also many of you know young budding generational Gen Z are starting their own podcast and streaming on Spotify and they're doing so well well on that on YouTube also and on Spotify also so what all you think that how does you know social media and digital platforms increase their visibility and influence in the music business and the audio business both are booming and radio businesses also you know have come back so what you all think about that mum that on to you first related to podcasts and audio I'll start with you although I have a few things to add on the previous question also if if you allow me I think media also has a very big responsibility to educate it's not only about just creating stories and you know making PR successes and making careers for people who are doing their PR well I think a moral or a social responsibility that lies in the hand of media is also about educating and at the time we will not put out stories of what is like how you know as Nenny is speaking about the events industry and there's so many things that I am learning today I think this is these are exactly the kind of stories that have to be pushed through from media platforms because you know at the end of the day even for those girls to step out of their homes and be pursuing their dreams in something called a sound engineering music composing how me as a parent now let's just get into the shoes of the decision makers who are putting in that money to fund the education of their child how me as a parent would even know that that as a sector or as a choice or an option of a profession even exists so even so we are like kind of backtracking the whole story you know and gone are those days I mean of course even for me when I was kind of the black sheep of the family when I took PR you know so for first 10 years my parents keep quizzing that okay what is the job that you do we don't understand because no one in the family had ever gotten into media entertainment advertising or public relation until I actually you know so there's a lot of enrollment of the society and people who is your support group is also required and how will that happen if there is not enough of course today we have the googles of the swords we have so much that is available online but I'm I'm saying the narratives actually have to build right from there where there is a right kind of education also required because that education is not only for someone who is an aspiring sound engineer that education is also required for that support group which is the family which is going to fund for that educate for that you know aspiration of the child so media has a multi-layered role to play so to say you know it's not only about making perceptions and doing careers alone yeah coming to your question on on audio and podcasting I think it's kind of a golden era for creators for podcasters the need why it is stemming from is that you know people people have heard too much of media the nation wants to know that screaming of voices has really happened a lot in our living rooms everybody wants authentic or authenticity so the narrative where it is changing is because so much has been democratised so when Facebook came in why people loved Facebook of course it was a networking platform and you know you could go into your social circles you could track back a friend that you had lost in your school days or in your college days and and have a virtual profile up and you know connect back etc but people really want to now know that that in this virtual world where we are obviously putting out a lot of virtual imagery but people are interested to know the authenticity that is behind that imagery that is that is what is propelling the creation of content on platforms self-publishing platforms like Spotify etc and that is what is you know really giving a personal voice to every individual so I have thoughts I have ideas there are why I started podcast is what I can answer here is that I had so many internal dialogues things that I wanted an answer about things like judgments a fear of judgment was a very big thing for me in my life I have got I have stopped myself a lot bases that that that fear so much so that even pivoting from audio to video was a huge turnaround for me because exactly what you know Rumpa said that I didn't want that people come looking for my podcast looking at my face yeah I wanted to create genuine good content which inspire people so that's the reason why I started my audio journey cut to one year of creating audio and you know then you see there's a lot of demand that is coming from the market and everybody's saying why aren't you putting out videos you should be doing videos I said one I'm camera conscious and second I don't want to do anything this is my face value and then SPAT came the reply that why not if you can carry yourself in front of camera that's also a skill that's also a talent and why would you not what is stopping you to let the world judge you on that let them judge let they will judge you no matter what you do you are good at it you're bad at it they'll judge you right so at least you do what you are meant to or what you are capable of doing to 100% and that kind of changed the whole internal dialogue for me as well so so I think again coming back to the point of content creation on on digital platform radio see these self-publishing platforms are obviously giving you a gateway and social media is doing is giving you a voice to then amplify amplify and like I'm also whatever community of the podcast that I've created has all happened at the back of my LinkedIn profile or my Instagram profile so one is that a democratic right to go and publish what you want to at a domain which is freely or you know reasonably available for you and then it has a huge distribution benefit like my podcast has actually gone to New York Washington I've received queries from Canada Australia in a matter of just six months who would have thought that like I would have never thought that okay six or eight episodes into the show and I would have an audience coming globally so so that's another sort of a layer which which kind of allows so so much of distribution and and a very democratic build up like a very authentic and organic build up of your content so maybe my some of my content might or might not resonate with a specific demograph of an audience but perhaps there is an audience for it somewhere else yeah yeah the picture what will you add to that hi so I really got lost in what ma'am was saying can you repeat the question please so we are talking about the audio business and the social media and how digitization has you know jade's whole scene in today's time like podcast is back radio is back again I think I mean earlier I used to be a little reluctant to admit this that this is the time of social media and if you have to make an impact you really have to be there in today's time but now definitely I am I am all about social media now because it's not just about what people are telling me if someone else comes up to me and says see you are not popular on say reels you have to make an impact there then people are going to get that curiosity and then they're going to check audio music that audience on reels is going to be directed to your say Spotify etc earlier I was like what is this I am making art why is reels have to be this parameter of my all that you know judgment and everything but I think it's great because we see not just not just in music I I follow so many people on social media who are not musicians they are just you know lifestyle creators they are very informative giving out information there's a lot of humor which I love on social media everything is now related to humor and memes everything has a very you know like joke about it which everybody you know relates to and people unite on that even in podcasts people you know tend to remember those lighter moments and then they tend to talk about it even on social media you know that carries forward and I'm really happy that the radio culture is back because I'm a musician so it's a very nice thing that's happened but yeah social media is very very influential for me as an audience for me as a creator and if I understand both these aspects then I am you know always going to consider the social media as a boon I don't want to get into all the other things that happen see there is a lot the people like my nephews they are like 10 11 years old they don't know if the other person is not even singing right sometimes I really see absolutely none you to ask specifically as you were a singer and songwriter you face a lot of trolling also in these times so how do you you know overcome that there's definitely a lot of trolling a lot and it just keeps increasing if you if you focus on that so what I do is I just don't look at the comments now because as long as I'm not doing that's harming the sentiments I think it's okay because the trolling culture what I've seen especially in the past say two years has really increased a lot a lot so I cannot I am I can't fight people earlier used to like reply to the comments known this is not that that is not this but now I'm like just chatting up the comments so yeah what I'm saying is the taste of the Chenzi is very different from the taste of my cousins right so it's I'm 25 so I am like in between the two so I cannot I can no longer ignore the interests of the Chenzi right if they want to talk about real things I it's my duty as a content creator to cater to that and incorporate that in my music I think I come in Genzi because I'm 23 yeah so you know even my nephews and nieces they all talk about this we we like this artist why do they like that artist that artist for me in a musical point of view that artist is not a great singer not a great instrumentalist also but some somewhat something is connecting with his music or his art on social media with his viewers or her viewers why is that happening so it's very influential for me as an audience also I would say that again it's very influential I follow certain people I check out some people's profiles why do I do that it is so influential it inspires me there is n number of things on social media today that we can take inspiration from and we can learn and we can again you know do our own thing also so this is the time of social media and digitalization is if you actually look at it for why it has been created it is a boon for everybody I think so so what will you add to that yeah social media has empowered all of us right and with empowerment comes a lot of responsibility so it is very important for us who are creating that art on the social media or these platforms to be sure that what we are going to do we have we see a boom of creators because of the social media and you can go back upload your own content your songs open your channel because earlier it was that somebody had to select you as a lyricist or a composer or they a label or someone chose you for a project and then you got the network is weak I think she's frozen okay so typically getting back to social media and digital media so I definitely say that it plays a major major role now especially in times of today and from various perspectives of course you have to use it sensibly and you need to I mean like Rumba rightly said it comes with a lot of responsibility and it's up to an individual how you want to take it you can treat it just like a tool and just have fun and make stupid remarks or you can actually absorb a lot more information like Badisha said that she's following people because she wants to get more information and what is going right for them wants to learn from whatever is happening and stuff and also keeps you up to date with what's happening across the world even if there's something interesting that you know you are doing as a person you want to share it out with people and you're not sharing it out with people from the perspective oh wow like oh how nice or how that's not what you're really looking for you want to share it out with people because somewhere along the line there will be people who will probably either get more knowledge out of that or they'll be able to tell you some things more and so it's totally up to you you can treat it responsibly you can use it in many ways I know there are many people who say social media as a waste of time yes depends on how much time you want to spend on it and also depends on how you're using it honestly speaking I feel social media has brought the world together today we don't end up meeting with our friends our family for years but we are totally up to date with what's happening in my lives their children when they come here when they're in India or we go to meet up with them wherever they are in any part of the world the gap has gone so you know it's in many ways I think social media is a big responsibility it can be misused immensely yes but I think that is where all of us need to step in and use it sensibly and yes again social media again has the word media in it and I have seen how it can make you and break you so if you're responsible you use it well it can really work as a very very good tool for you unfortunately Pratik Shah you're absolutely right unfortunately people evaluate talent basis social media followings which I think mindset needs to change and it's really not fair I know how many people from the event industry or from the music industry they hardly on social media they don't even care if they've got like you know four thousand three thousand followers they don't really care but if you've got one one million followers oh wow oh this particular thing of yours is one million likes it's such a big deal that my song got one one million likes of views and when you actually come down to the likes of that song there'll be some 12 so you know exactly where those came from so point is let's not destroy it by misusing it like that because it impacts the entire industry it's not just impacting that one person it impacts the whole space of social media but yes it's a very very powerful tool and Rumpa said that at the start it's like anything that's so powerful comes with a lot of responsibility yeah Rumpa you you froze so we continued on the thing I'm sorry I got kind of disconnected and thank you Nani ma'am for continuing what I started to say yes responsibility I was talking about so what I was trying to like like say over here is that so like earlier you had someone like selecting your talent but now you have the tools and the kind of opportunities to go out and kind of have your talent out to the world but you have to be conscious because see what I see is that when you create something it's your own baby and nobody wants to accept the fact that no my baby is not good enough because you're the creator you cannot accept the fact but then yes obviously the audience will decide so be very conscious about what you are creating how you are utilizing the platforms and it is very easy to get addicted to these platforms so you have to I was part of one one session and conversation earlier like last year but they were saying that the social media is to do a must you cannot as a creator as an entertainment person or in the media industry you cannot avoid social media lot of times in my family also my husband tells me oh I see you always on Facebook and Insta I said I don't do it because I want kind of I just want to be on Insta and Facebook because my my members my artist my community is there so I have to be updated on what is happening there in their lives so it is very easy to get addicted so you have to consciously use that medium for your work only and switch off when it is not needed define few hours in the day that works that this is the time I will be on social media I will come to do this thing and then I will be out of social media don't get addicted and the one more thing I say everybody all of us put the best thing out on social media that everything is so so happy everything is so good happening in my life everything is successful so you start doubting yourself am I the only person who is a loser am I the person who is in misery everyone is having such a influential life and everything is so good for them they are getting all the opportunities don't get carried away with that but have the confidence in yourself like don't doubt your kind of your talent your abilities and use social media for the purpose you want to and it is also important because I see a lot of women putting out a lot of like like what she is wearing where she is going just think is it required what image are you building of yourself on social media that is very important today for any women that this was how people will perceive you or build an impression about you on how you are behaving on that platform today your personal life is out there so be very conscious tomorrow don't come and say that oh people are talking this about me they're talking because you like allow them to talk about you like in that way so be very conscious and carry yourself with a lot of grace as you carry yourself she left I think the network is too weak I would say yeah she just dropped out I think she'll join back again I can add to that just last bit that you know as someone who's also a marketer at heart how we should also be looking at social media is more like a show window it's a great it's a great way to maintain a profile where you are letting people know what you're up to what you're doing what you're competent of you know like how are you conducting and going about your work largely work I would say but this is only a perception building tool at the end of the day this is not who you really become so it should not the results as in whether you get the likes whether you get the following whether you get the shares or not that should be very very immaterial so you have to really use social media with a lot of detachment in that sense you know should not make it a point that validation or all my credibility or everything is coming from here it is just a show window at the end of the day true true true so Rumbavam I would like you to ask and comment on this part of my question is that I I said that social media is playing a very major role and stuff like that for the you know audio and music business but nowadays music royalties and music rights are equally important for an artist because I was talking to an artist I would know I would not name him but he said we register our you know lyrics and stuff with IPRS in these times because it is very important for us you to you know maintain that you know that that music copyright is you know so important in these times so what all you will like to add on this yeah see today like people are like creating content and how so there was a kind of a study which said that going forward like every household in India will have one creator at least yeah so when you're creating so much of content and each piece of content is actually an intellectual property so coming to music like restricting the conversation around your set see we are always so careful about any property that we buy when you buy a house or even a one BHK flat you 10 times go to the registrar you get all the papers sale deed agreement to go through it 10 times even go to a lawyer to go through the clauses then signed and then to like to the registration so that nobody can tomorrow come and like doubt your ownership or counter your ownership of property even a car or whatever you buy but unfortunately creators in our country are not aware that the content created are also properties intellectual properties and can become more kind of you become more valuable than even a flat or a house or an apartment like if it is successful so they're very enough they are very casual because the awareness is not there so so every time you create a content you create a music it is very important that your metadata metadata means your title of the song your role in the song whether you're the composer or whatever role is yours in the song is properly mentioned because that is your credit if the credit is not there today there is no physical evidence of your song everything is on the cloud it is going to all the streaming platforms so if your credit is missing in any of these songs then tomorrow you cannot go and claim your money you cannot claim your royalties because the royalties only come to you if your song is playing so the first thing is that you have to create great content it is not that I release any content and it starts making money it doesn't happen like that it has to be popular people have to listen it multiple times and see it multiple times then only revenue gets generated on these different platforms once the revenue is generated it comes back to the author the lyricist the composers and those who are creating the original creators and the and the music label so it is very important to see the content is right and it is uploaded properly with your metadata and it is registered with a copyright society because a copyright society like IPRS it is responsible for licensing because as an individual how many places will you go with how many kind of me like youtube facebook you go and like crack the deals hey you're playing 10 songs pay me this money it's not possible for each and every individual to go and do that so hence the concept of copyright society who do collective licensing this is called collective licensing where IPRS is going and representing all its members all his author composer publisher members going to each and every business houses platforms live events everywhere to license the music get the money back to its members as royalties so it's so the moment you're releasing your song it is extremely important to come back and get your songs registered with IPRS join a copyright body like IPRS get your songs registered tomorrow if there is any conflict so yesterday I was in Chandigarh so there are a few of the like author composer members like creators who are not yet members of IPRS they're coming and saying that hey I had distributed my music through this distributor but now I see my names are not there on Spotify or any other platform so what do I do I said immediately oh and check your contract what was the contract when you did this work with them and in if in the contract it is you are the lyricist and the composer and your name is not there then go and check with the author like with the distributing platform why it is missing on the on this platforms then then he's saying yes I spoke to them they are telling me you have given the ownership right to us so so much of ignorance so much of lack of awareness is there in the country people are distributing is just you are not giving the ownership you're just giving that person to distribute the the way earlier days people used to sell CDs and so from the factory the CDN cassette used to go to the retail stores distribution is just that you are not giving out your like like giving over your ownership rights you're just telling that person the distributor to distribute the song the ownership is with the creator but here he doesn't know what contract he signed now the distributor is saying I have the ownership right it is my music your name will not come that is how the agreement was there with you so as like like all of us have been discussing we need to attend this as like Pratik Shah said a lot of these sessions are today happening go and attend these sessions talk to IPRs come to IPRs join IPRs and get yourself oppressed with all this knowledge today music and music business the line between those two has blurred if you are a creator you cannot only say that I am a creator I don't know the business side or I don't understand legal matters either have someone whom you can absolutely rely on that is very difficult to get in life today just understand you don't need to do it yourself but have the understanding so that you can ask those white questions when you are meeting a distributor a publisher or any stakeholder in the music industry and if people know that you are well aware well informed they will also be careful when they are doing business with you just be informed and reach out for help there are good people in the industry genuine people in the industry who will help you reach out for help don't think that I am helpless if you reach out for help only then you will get help so be very careful about your music and your very precious intellectual properties yeah you're right and we have our office all across in India don't hesitate to reach out to us yes so my final question to you to everybody is like I just want to sorry I'm just going to add one thing and another teacher also raised her hand to what Roomba just said and this is not just for women perspective I'm just saying as as I also happen to be a part of email artist committee and staff and so there are a lot of artists we are connected with I would definitely say that what Roomba has just spoken is very very important information and we are trying to trying to bring this into the folk artists of India because what's happening is with the folk artists you know they are not aware and how their music is being manipulated in our industry they are their pieces are they are creators they're just simple creators they are asked to play pieces on their instruments they are asked to sing our laps they're absorbed by so many senior music composers these guys just are paid like some 500-1000 whatever not even a thousand I think 500-600 rupees and you know it's like DJ types so that is where IPRS comes in to tell them that listen and it doesn't matter who you are you could be the richest person on this earth you could be nothing at all it doesn't make any difference point is music is music you're a musician you're a creator you are creating something you're making a composition you're creating music you deserve to be paid for it it is yours you deserve to own it and that is why this is like I'm really glad we're having this conversation Roomba's barit up so they've been doing sessions all over the country and we've been pushing people also like telling people about it because I think it's extremely important for a creator to understand that this is your product and you need to save it and especially where women artists are concerned many times you get complacent because we feel that you know I have no rights you know I've sung the song and I okay fine somebody will just tell me somewhere or like I've composed the music somebody will tell me somewhere what to do but just go here yeah just let them tell you how to save your own music save whatever you have created so what will you add on that yeah thanks thanks for giving me the chance so see a lot is not it is in the gray area realm as far as podcasts are concerned I'm sure there will be a point where Ministry of Information Broadcasting will step in there will be rules there will be mandates which issued out till so far it's a self-publishing platform where creators are putting out whatever they're putting out beat instagram youtube Spotify however you know the platforms do allow you for descriptions show descriptions so be it if you are managing your own distribution or even if you're hiring a podcast agency it's absolutely imperative and just adding to what Rupa said even though it's not such an organized sector so far it's absolutely imperative that you do take the credit for the mention wherever the show gets published for the curation of the content which belongs to you also in addition to that you read into your contracts very very in a very astute way so if like I my show gets managed by podcast agencies right so reading into those contracts is an absolute must because this clause of IPR is is where things can change so if they are publishing your content from their own platform so it's because a lot of these podcast agencies have their own platform like their own website their own social media from there also they are pushing the content out to get you a double benefit or more exposure etc don't compromise on those credits it's an absolutely must that a that a creator understands that because a lot of times we just in the passion of creating or creation we are just so overwhelmed with our own passion that we don't look into these finer details and that is what we need to perhaps educate ourselves and in some ways we also have to lead you know because there aren't people who may be doing that they you may not have the right kind of understanding or education also available but because just as how very rightly Rupa said that any property that you're creating then safeguarding owning legality is your own thing so you have to be very robust at least as far as your own mechanism is concerned that okay all the scripts that you're writing all the content you're publishing all the descriptions that you're writing you are keeping that right to yourself and making those due mentions that this belongs to this person and the profile is attached and the link profile is given in the description below etc so there is no forgery and there's no duplication or there's no you know eating into your content or theft of content that is happening yeah yeah pretty sure on to you know um so as I mentioned uh actually I wanted to ask Rupa ma'am about something but I think there's a network issue yeah so I recently attended this workshop on rights and royalties and I it came as a very it came as a surprise to me because even when even after doing contracts and agreements for so many years there were so many aspects of the royalty and licensing system that I wasn't aware of and I always used to think that okay in India it's not that well organized so we can never really be earning a lot earning enough from the royalties even if I have a number of releases but when I actually got down to understand how this works and there is so much so many facilities in this regard for the creators of a piece of art music so then I understood that how important it is and let me tell you even if I said to it like if even if I bring ten musicians in this room who are doing really well in the independent music scene I can bet that eight out of ten don't know about what I have read and understood in that workshop so it is really it's all there for us as they said that it's there in a box kept for us the royalties are kept for us but we are not accessing them we are not there to open that box and take the the money or whatever it is so that it's all about awareness people just since we don't think that it's important right now as I mentioned eight out of ten people in this room won't understand what it is and how much they are how much money they are actually leaving out even after so many releases but it's very important and I think today's in today's agent time again I would say everything is accessible and IPRS let's talk about IPRS for now because it really took an initiative I think last to last year to like literally come in the limelight once again that's when I got to know about a thing called IPRS and a thing called royalties and license I always used to think that this is all the work of label owners and they have the right I never thought that okay this is my right as well I didn't even know that and nobody even told me why would they write so yeah this is again apart from social media this is something that we should really focus on because social media now everybody knows it's happening it's there but about rights licensing royalty the different types of royalties mechanical publishing saying licensing I simply got to know that you you should register yourself as a publisher also and IPRS if you are like doing independent because I wanted to talk about that with Rambabam and understand more of that so yeah all these things I've recently started learning and it's very exciting but I also am able to understand now how much of money that I think I was making I was not it was already there in a plate for me but only because of my lack of knowledge I could not access that but now I can thankfully yeah definitely just one thing before we wrap this discussion see how it is a kind of a personal investment so how we hire an accountant you know we have to as creators or artists we have to given that kind of investment or we will have to make that effort that even for our legal rights we we go to the right council we inquire we be curious we be a learner because it's as much as like an entrepreneurship you you you are your own brand you are your own product so if you are putting your ideas thoughts creation out there in the market you cannot just go with that okay something will happen and then I will do it it has to be a very proactive approach where you are investing in a legal council have a legal you know advisor who who could take you through on all these things all these knowledge and then of course be investing yourself like how Pratik is saying that she's been attending these kind of seminar or workshops we have to constantly as an entrepreneur be doing that for ourselves definitely definitely it was very insightful from everybody out here so my final question to everyone will be that what actionable steps can you know individuals and organizations can take to ensure women's voices are heard and respected in all phases of the industry and what we can expect in 2024 in audio and music business finally so I'll start over with Nani ma'am okay so I can't believe we were been talking for one hour 45 minutes already yeah I have to say that it's been extremely insightful for especially for me to to learn so much from everybody else's industry and now when it comes to any corporate anybody in any person in the industry I think first and foremost is respect the woman for what she's doing I think if we've crossed that barrier rest everything else is much simpler so if like we say we want to earn respect we need to also give respect you cannot come on respect right so we need to do stuff where we can earn respect from people from appears from people around us from other associates whether men or women and you know it's a known fact Bollywood has proved it over and over again our television serial industry has proved it over and over again that a woman is the one who puts another woman down okay so I think that itself needs to change that itself needs to change we need to respect each other for the talent that anybody has we have to need to respect each other for you know I think the moment that has happened the moment that happens everything else around you becomes simpler that is one sorry I've lost the connection with your I think senior moment I lost your question but typically basically making a better place for women to stay women to be in and yes I think first is respect to is giving creating more opportunities instead of taking them away many times it's just automatically assume that this is a woman and she won't be able to do it there are many mindsets that we have why not yeah why can't they go why can't as a responsible event person I create a safe place so that my women can work over there so that is where my responsibility comes in and I make sure whether I have security whether I have whatever I make sure that my girls are able to work at night so that they take over with responsibility if a guy can sit up till 4 a.m during a setup a girl can definitely set up before a and they have done that so the point is that first of all trust second is confidence third is your skill set I think if you can do all that automatically people around you will start respecting that and that is the mindset change that I feel be very strongly need to bring around in the society it is already happening it's not that it's happening and honestly over the last few years that I've seen every year has only become better women in the industry that were there five years ago six years ago when I remember when I started to showcase events 2018 we were still not that many women that were in the events industry and how many more and when I say how many more that have come up they're not just random it's actually genuinely good talent in the industry so it's a pretty it's it's like I marvel at the kind of work that they are producing because they're creators they're all creators only that we can't be IPRist creators unfortunately I work doesn't get IPRist but yes I mean point is that you know I have confidence in yourself and you will get opportunities so those opportunities have started coming I see a great future already in 2024 and I think it's only going to get better with time it's only to get better with women have got a voice media has given them a voice you guys have the voice and I think that needs that effort needs to continue if that happens I don't think I think this gap gender gap will also reduce over the period of time in the future generations to come I think they're already very conscientious about it hmm what will you like that too yeah so what I believe as industry stakeholders or if you are part of the industry and you believe in what you are saying and if you're trying to do something do it genuinely don't do it same sake suppose I say okay tomorrow I will give opportunity to a female composer but I don't create a very conducive environment for her to work in the studio so if you are trying to do something do it genuinely and create all the possible like not only opportunity but environment for her to work properly secondly as nanniman very rightly said that today live event industry is like again post pandemic is growing very big so we need support from the industry from our government and other related bodies where we can make the place safe for a woman if it is a very night late night show or it is like going to the wee hours of the morning and she has to come back from a place as a society as a kind of as administration do we have that kind of facility for us in one of our panels I think two years back we had two of the composers on the panel who said that yes I'm a sound engineer or a music producer but in the studio there is no proper kind of a toilet or a place where I can just go and rest because I'm working 24 hours or 36 hours a guy can just go and lie down anywhere on the sofa but as a woman still now a room full of boys how will I just go and lie down so yes you have given the opportunity to that sound engineer who is a lady but is the environment safe for her or kind of she's comfortable there do it genuinely and and provide the required facilities this the second thing is that we as women when we are voicing the concern talking so much about it who we could do something or we were fortunate to get those platform and opportunity in our life let us take a kind of a conscious effort to also kind of pull up few women we know who are good from our end because yeah we can always blame who is not doing like like men are not supporting but I think yes all successful women do also have successful men behind them be it a father or a husband they have been like supporting you and hence you could do it or your son even so if we have been able to do it let us take that initiative to like be there for few other women and make a real difference in their life that is what I like I believe should be that effort from my end sorry I just I'm just going to button one second before month that comes in and just adding to this you know there's a very very nice ad by Spotify these days Spotify is doing some wonderful ads these days sorry it's not Spotify it is forget it anyway whichever brand so it is about this woman how efficiently she's managing things and she's moving around she's managing work she's hosting a party at home she's doing all that right at the end of the day and this woman is saying look at her look at how she goes to work she's she's okay about her aunt's birthday she's like got her children's different being done her husband's dinner being done all that stuff she just comes and sits down on the chair and she's saying by speaker she's saying you you're a superwoman she's saying I'm also human and I think that is one aspect that gets forgotten somewhere along the line like also one more thing just from my experience because I have been here been veterans and kind of oldies now so what I'm not saying in many families and now society is celebrating the work of a woman in the family at the family level also as a mom or as a wife you're judged whether you can like like cook well or not they're like they're a good cook or not I remember my son was very young four year five years old said you are not you don't look like a mommy because you don't make my meals you're not my mommy I said why but I'm like taking you to school I'm like helping you with your studies we are having so much fun and I'm buying you like whatever you need no no no moms are not like that so so like what I started doing is that I started taking him along with me to different places where I am going for my work say to a studio or to an event or to a conference so he started realizing that yes my mom is also doing which is meaningful because it like till now in many places the women is not the sole bread winner of a family so even if she is earning it is seen that okay you're doing to buy your cosmetics and your fancy clothes and all but you're not still seen as yes you are contributing meaningfully to the family but it's slowly changing but we don't celebrate enough of women's work it will like within the we can talk about the women's work within the family hey you're doing this it is really good it's a kind of a good feat that you have achieved let's start doing that then your kids will also start respecting you your society your family the entire like people around will start seeing you from a different lens I think it's a very beautiful combination of all my thoughts also what Roopa and Nanuji they are resonating with yeah so a couple of key points inclusion inclusion not from the point of that let them know who you are yeah in your narrative and story include them let them know what struggles and challenges and fears and failures and tries and tribulations are you going through to make where you want to where your dreams and aspirations are choose your battles to be a perfect cook is it really my aspiration or to or have I educated myself to do something much more in life so pick your battles judge yourself less so even if you can't like how you know even Pratik Shah said in the earlier conversation that how men are keeping that focus is because they are not judging themselves if they if things around them are not clean or there is a towel that is thrown on the bed or you know everything is not impeccable they're not judging and making themselves responsible for that I think these are the things that we have assumed as a gender for ourselves so include everyone everyone in your success take everyone along and that is how we are going to rear a generation of change the change of course will start with me first I cannot wait for others to give me the best for me to perform or for me to chase or be where I want to be but I can change my own internal dialogue the disempowering dialogues and context that I have created so there is there is no perfect idea of anything beat any gender a man or a woman so let's not unnecessarily delve into or allow ourselves these internal dialogues which are anyway not taking us anywhere right so so that and and yes include them include them because until I actually started getting my mother on my press conferences she did not understand my job profile it took me at least five different conferences around the country to take her along to actually show her what my work involved it was not all that glamour and hunky dory and fancy there was a lot of hard work being on your feet you know which obviously she could appreciate much later so beat your husbands beat your sons beat beat your daughters and it's so uncanny that we are speaking just the same language what I was talking two days back on a lingon live audio which I was conducting and an editor of a leading publication she said the same thing that my victories are not celebrated enough so don't wait for that celebration right you you celebrate yourself yeah yeah so begin with with yourself I think that's that's the perfect place to be so teacher what will you add to that I'm just nodding my head in agreement actually because yes I agree self talk is very important my mother used to say this she still does she transformed from an aspiring IPS officer to getting married suddenly and then trying to learn things not getting back to IPS but you know other things computer and music but somehow she couldn't juggle and later when we grew up she started running her own business and I've always seen the lack of support forget appreciation the lack of basic support I've always seen that always always even though we went to little champs we had some sort of you know jacket a tv celebrity sort of a wife back in 2009 because 2009 reality shows were really booming and just one or two reality shows so people really remembered the faces and everything was happening but still when I looked at like I was being appreciated my father was being appreciated for the work he's doing there were certificates but when I looked at my mom her certificates they were not in that frame and who had kept it aside my mom only kept it aside she used to say so it's not it's not about it's about her own deals okay so then later when my mom then she realized the power of self-talk then she started literally in front of me she used to tell me see how I'm talking to myself in the mirror it might sound dramatic but it has done wonders for me this is the only reason I have I have had sort of developed that conviction in me and in an environment or a situation no matter where I am but if I am not okay with something even if I like I can always put it out in a manner which is not disrespectful also but I always make sure that the other person knows that I'm not okay with it in in a very respectful manner but I need to make sure that that message that I am not okay with this and we need to draw a line here and now you need to stop talking and I need to start speaking because this is something that I have come for so you know all that attitude that confidence that self-talk that respect and love for my own self that is very important that that willingness to embrace my imperfection that is also very important I've got everything all of that from my mother I'm still learning I keep watching documentaries and hearing all you respected ladies it inspires me even more and I'm learning a lot today so I think yeah I would really agree with ma'am that it starts from within and if it starts from here then sooner or later you are definitely going to get there that's what I truly believe in. Pratish, can you sing to a line so women stay special you know and think regarding women's state? Yeah, of course. Let's listen to her. So I'm not sure if the lyrics are right but there's this two lines from Bai Sunidhi Chauhan. That's it. Thank you so much. So thank you everybody for your time it was a pleasure to have you all here on this very special day a very happy women's state to everybody and I hope you have a great day ahead enjoy yourself and celebrate yourself every day everybody out here and hashtag unstoppable women and keep celebrating yourself. Thank you so much. Thank you so much and thank you everyone and happy women's day. Happy women's day once again. Thank you. Celebrate yourself. Bye.