There have been albums for every occasion produced by music companies. There are albums brought out for Ganesh Chaturthi, and Navratri, and Ramzan, and Christmas. But albums for children are released once in a while, and erratically in the music market. Except for a few, most of these kiddie albums are shoddily produced, with predictable themes like nursery rhymes or compilation of kids’ film songs. On the occasion of Children’s Day, which fell on November 14, Screen reviews the children’s album scene and finds out why music companies shy away from kid stuff...

A growing mind is the most curious and asks the most questions, and parents are just not enough to satiate the child’s curiosity. The medium of television and internet has definitely done a lot to feed the child’s ever-growing thirst for knowledge, but then both these mediums can also expose the child to things they are not supposed to know at a young age. Also, continuous exposition to the visual medium is stressful to the eyes and mind, not to forget expensive too. Here is where the audio cassettes come into the picture. They can be subject specific, can enlighten the child, and are also comparatively easy on the pocket.

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In the Indian market though, albums for children on various topics are hard to find, unlike the Western countries where one gets albums on every subject, from arts to science, to stories to nursery rhymes, which is a boon for children. The Indian child suffers in this aspect, with little choice in children’s albums, most of which have little to offer, and hardly stimulate the child’s thinking prowess.

The winds of change are blowing though, with a few quality audio books on Indian mythology and folklores. And music companies too are taking kids’ fare seriously. Yet, inspite of these companies investing in children’s albums, there are not as many takers for it. "Music companies have been coming up with children’s albums for the last 25 years, yet there has been no significant growth in the music market for children, which is why it is neglected area," says music analyst Amod Mehra, "No music company is interested in releasing albums for children on a big scale because the returns are very limited. And now, with CD Roms coming on the scene, and a whole lot of TV channels dedicated to children like Cartoon Network, there is a lot of entertainment available."

Agrees the spokesperson for Times Music, "Children’s albums are not a viable proposition for any music company simply because parents tend to do the purchasing in India, and there is no culture among parents here to go for kids’ albums. They prefer to spend on adult cassettes. If at all parents want to buy something for the children, they go for books. The thinking is, ‘Music ki kya zaroorat hai, kitaab padho’. As it is, there is so much of music on television already."

Mehra says that some kiddie albums have made their presence felt in the market, like Preeti Sagar’s Nursery Rhymes released by HMV 10 years back. "That album is till found in music stores, and still sells. Sharon Prabhakar had done an album for children, which attracted consumers. Then we had filmstars like Zeenat Aman venturing into kiddie albums. Sunil Shetty too had recently released an album for children with Times Music titled Jantar Mantar. These albums created curiosity, but none sold big. All music stores do stack children’s albums, but the sales are not fast, and returns not handsome and immediate like film or pop albums." He adds, "Also, children today want to "see it" rather than "hear it," which explains the step-motherly treatment meted out to children’s albums by music companies."

In the West, specifically in the US, points out Mehra, Walt Disney comes out with albums for children on a big scale, and these albums are much sought after. "But when the same Walt Disney albums are released in India, they don’t sell," he says.

Adds the Times Music spokesperson, "Buying a childrens’ album is definitely an extraneous expense for any parent. It’s only the enlightened parents who would think of going for it. In India, a child is bred on adult entertainment, like he/she will be made to listen to a film or pop album, instead of a kids’ album. A family in Indore will prefer to spend Rs. 200 on watching a film in theatre rather than on kids’ albums. It will be a welcome change if there is awareness about children’s albums, but it will take time."

Times Music initially had a tie-up with Sky Music, during which it released the Kardi Tales series. Later the company released Jantar Mantar with Sunil Shetty, for children aged between five to eight years, and Kissa Kahani Ka. "In places where literacy level is high, like cities in the West of India, childrens’ albums do sell. But you can’t expect them to sell in North, like in UP, MP, Bihar. In fact, kids’ albums don’t work even in Delhi," veers the spokesperson of Times Music.

Champak Jain of Venus begs to differ. According to him, childrens’ albums have a demand, though small, compared to film and pop albums, and Venus has a special catalogue for kids’ albums. "Venus doesn’t hesitate to produce a kiddie album if it comes across a good proposal," he says, "We have released quite a few children’s albums, 10 of them in Marathi, and all have fetched good returns. Children’s albums faidemand hain." He points out though, that these albums have to be attractively packaged and should have catchy tunes too. "When we released Nursery Rhymes sometime back, which sold really well among all our children’s albums, we presented it like a gift, with specially designed box and crayons, and colouring book. That worked because it made for a perfect birthday gift."

Bashir Sheikh, director A&R, BMG Crescendo, shares the same opinion as Jain that there is a "market out there for kids’ albums which remains untapped." He informs that BMG acquired the entire catalogue of Pan Music because it had a considerable amount of albums for children in their Indian repertoire, and the company has been consistent in coming out with albums for children. "We have recently released the Tales Of Hitopdesha (which has narration by Bashir himself), and this album should excite the children," he opines, "I have personally done a lot of recording for children’s albums like Magical Journey To Nursery Rhymes, which was released on the Rhythm House label, and another album done by Zeenat Aman with me for BMG, which sold quite well. Taking a cue from the success, we then re-worked on some albums from Pan Music’s catalogue. We picked up Aesop’s Fables and had Pearl Padamsee re-telling the stories. Another album Favourite Fairy Tales had Roshan Treasurywalla narrating the popular tales."

Bashir is of the firm belief that there is a need for children’s albums in India since the young ones are keen listeners. "They want to listen to things. My four-year-old nephew from London is enamoured by all these kids’ albums he has been listening too, and he wants them to be played again and again. The concept of audio books is even better because the understanding is better when you listen and read the book simultaneously, " he says.

Like Bashir of BMG, the front-runner in the children’s album segment today, the Karadi Tales Company, also aims to provide fodder for growing minds, and help in moulding their values. But here the stress is on desi stuff, with albums devoted solely to Indian mythology and folk tales, as against the West’s nursery rhymes or Disney tales. "When we started out in 1996, there was nothing much for Indian kids, with albums for children having only nursery rhymes or Disney stories. So we decided on telling our tales," says Narayan Parshuram of the Karadi Tales Company. He, alongwith his two brothers, who also form a music group named 3 Brothers & A Violin, decided on re-vamping the audio book format existing in India for some years, and presenting Indian tales for Indian kids. Today the Karadi Tales "talking books" (as Narayan prefers to call it) are among the most sold children’s albums.

Starting out as Sky Music, the Parshuram Brothers released Karadi Tales initially with Times Music marketing their albums. But now the Karadi Tales Company is going its own way since "the one-year deal with Times didn’t prove beneficial" according to Narayan.

Initially, reveals Narayan, the take-off was slow. "Since there were not many talking books being produced, the concept was new. So the response to our first album was thanda. But gradually the sales picked up, and within six months we went into re-prints," he says excitedly, and adds, "There is a market for children’s albums which needs to be exploited. We wouldn’t have continued if there were no sales. Unlike other music companies, who are basically into film and pop albums, while children’s album is only incidental for them, we are completely a children’s album music company, out to do business. If the returns weren’t good we wouldn’t have survived."

Narayan agrees that the sales are slow, but he insists they are steady and the benefits reaped are for a long term. "We go for a first print order of 25,000 copies, and we get the benefits only after each of the piece has ben sold. But we always end up selling all copies, and go for re-prints. We have been around for five years now and ours is self-financed company, so we can sustain only because our albums are sell. We still have a long, long way to go but," he explains.

To date, the Karadi Tales Company has released 21 titles, and every two months, the company launches a new album. Among its popular titles are Karadi Katha by Gulzar, Blue Jackal And The Foolish Lamb by Naseeruddin Shah, The Monkey King by Saeed Jaffrey and recently Young Hanuman by Girish Karnad. Getting stalwarts to narrate the stories is definitely the USP of Karadi Tales. Agrees Narayan, "All the celebrities we worked with were only too eager to do their bit for children. Naseeruddin Shah deserves a special mention because he was the first to agree to work on our albums. Only after seeing him, other celebrities came forward. And Naseer didn’t even talk about money when we approached him. After he did the album, he never publicised the fact. And know what? He asked us to write the cheque in the name of CRY. Gulzar devoted five days to each song in Kardi Katha, and his song Bindaas bandar was appreciated in audio and video versions. We have now recorded with Nandita Das, and Tamil actor Nasser for a Tamil version. We have also approached Jackie Shroff."

Also, feels Narayan, what has worked in their favour is the good production value, almost on par with foreign albums. "So given a choice, an Indian would definitely pick what he/she identifies with. That’s how Birth Of Krishna scores over a Lion King," he veers.

The Karadi Tales Company would later be diversifying into merchandising, television, and ultimately feature films for children. "We are doing it the other way round as compared to Walt Disney, who started first with feature films and then went into TV, merchandising and audio books," smiles Narayan.

Everyone agrees that aggressive marketing is the need of the hour for children’s albums. Points out Bashir, "One has got to convince the parents that the product is really good for children. And it would do well for music companies to target the albums at children aged between four to 10 years, since after eight, a child becomes aware of technology, and is hooked on to computers and other hi-fi stuff."

With more and more children getting hopelessly addicted to television and internet at an impressionable age, Bashir asserts that it is all the more imperative for music companies to concentrate on children’s albums. "It’s time record companies weaned children away from TV and computer screens, which have made them into couch potatoes, and make them exercise their grey cells. Going back to the basics is one way of doing it, and audio albums are among the basics. With parents today tied up with their jobs, it’s difficult for them to concentrate completely on their kids. Putting some teachings on tape definitely makes things easier," he concludes.

— Salma Khatib
salmakhatib@hotmail.com