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An online petition became the talk of the
town soon after it was shared on social media 2 days ago. The petition demanded
security and 24 hour observation for the famous rock band Strings. It is
believed that they're the last remaining members of the extinct species of
rock stars that once existed in abundance in Pakistan. “They are all gone, the
rockstars are gone. The last time I saw one perform was in an event that
offered discounted food. We got to save this band or else our children will
have no one to head bang to”, lamented Yasir Muraad, the originator of the
petition.
Stating his views about the current musical
sensations, Yasir said: “I am not critical about their music, because there is none, they
aren’t producing any. I don’t even know how one of them sounds like; I just
know how they look like in different outfits and how many pushups can they do.”
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Musicians all over the world suffered from
famine after the penetration of high speed internet which resulted in a total
crash of physical album sales. 1st world countries were quick to
react and brainstormed alternate business models to provide for the starving
artists. In Pakistan as well, musicians from different genres flocked towards
greener pastures to graze on drama OST’s and film music but the breed of rock
stars that showed loyalty to their craft dwindled.
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Retelling the sad tale, owner of Karachi’s
biggest rock music store called ‘Sons of the Devil’ (recently renamed to Kashif’s
Grill) said “I saw it coming long ago, but didn’t want to give up. Even till
last December, it was not all lost and I could still sell a few copies of pirated
albums daily. But today, even the polycarbonate they made compact disks with is
not available, so there wasn’t much I could do.” Upon the question of how does
he feel about this paradigm shift from a music store to a burger hub he replied:
“It wasn't much about the money but giving the youth what they wanted. They
wanted Junoon, Strings and Jal back then; they want fish fillet burger with
cheese now, so I’ll give it to them.” That’s all he said stripping the top of
1.5lt mayonnaise pack.
The petition has received enormous support
and half the target of signatures as per the stats taken 3pm today, the
majority consisting of 90’s kids. However not all share this view and there are
some dissenting voices.
Against this popular belief, Zain Ali, a
young guitarist in Islamabad denied all such notions. Presenting a very
optimistic view he said: “No, it’s not
all that dark and gloomy when it comes to the music scene in Pakistan. I agree
we don’t have a single music channel anymore and the record labels have all
closed down but on the brighter side you have some heavy corporate backed music
shows as well. All you need is a break in one of those, that’s it.” When
asked what happens after that big break he commented “well, it’s all set then. You’ll have to wait some time and you can get
another break in the next season. Plus, did I mention the facebook likes? They
soar up. Brand endorsements are the thing anyway.”
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Adopting a 3rd perspective,
Timmy—a Lahore based cultural critic tweeted: “While the downfall is true and
life’s harsh for a rocker, the petition thing is all silly.” When reached for a
comment, Timmy added that a better form of activism for this would be to buy
them better sound systems for their live performances. “The ones in their
previous performance were evil, were it not for the discounted food, I would’ve
left before supper.”
Whatever the case, one can hope that both the industry and the listeners develop better support for the artists and no need for one such petition in felt in future.
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