‘You need to have an edge’
Delhi-based Ritnika Nayan has turned her passion for music into a full-time profession; she manages artists and music bands

By Shubhdarshani Mitra
May 15, 2009: “It is about helping change the scene … We are working to make it better for the next person to come around (in the music field),” says 26-year-old Ritnika Nayan. Despite studying films from Hofstra University in New York, Ritnika’s drive to do something for those in the field of music took her to London where she did a course in music business management.

A confident girl who knows she has chosen the path less traveled, she firmly believes in pursuing what one likes rather than following the mob. An ardent music lover, she got her big exposure while she was doing her undergrad course, when she became part of an executive board that held concerts. It was then that she realised her career call. A die hard fan of Doors, she got a chance to work with bands like Maroon 5 and Nickelback.

Early lessons
“I was always into music as I was a drummer.  While I went to college there was a group that would conduct concerts for schools ... So, we would get bands like Maroon 5, Nickelback, etc. It’s the same thing what people do here, but on a much bigger scale. There used to be a core team of 10-12 people who were on the executive board and there were other student volunteers who would help out the crew. Our job was basically to put on shows. So, we would handle from a small 500-people show to a 5,000-people show. I kept doing this and I really liked it. This was close to music as well. From booking tickets, to artists’ contracts, production, selling of tickets, doing the security, we had all kinds of responsibilities,” she says.

“I did a little bit of patch work on Gandhi My Father,” she says. However, she adds that in India, the choice is between Bollywood or Saas-Bahu kind of daily soap operas, both of which she did not want to do. Ritnika explains, “I realised you need to have an edge. Everybody wants to do music. So, I found this masters course in Westminster in London that offered music business management. I took the one-year course in 2006-07. And that’s where I learnt different things about music — how to do the contracts, how the business side works, how do the finances work etc,” she adds.

Indian stage
After graduation, she came back to India and did some work in films.

Doing the course was simple but the point was to come back to India and use the knowledge here. Initially, with no friends and without much of an inroad into the music world back home, she had to start with one artist.

“I was friends with one person from Jalebi and then one thing led to the other. They didn’t have the manager and I said why don’t we do something and that’s how it took off,” she says.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last for very long. She soon realised that sticking to one artist wasn’t enough and so she corrected her business move. She now handles four of them including music band Advaita, which has eight members.

“I couldn’t stick to one artist because I realised one artist would take all my time and God forbid if anything went wrong, I would be left on my own. I wanted options and I learnt from my mistakes. That’s not a good business move; you don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” she says. Ritnika started her company Music Gets Me High (MGMH) in 2007.

Band image
She started it small, working on her own to keep the overheads low, then hired interns and then hired people to work for her. Right now, they are a three-member team. She would soon be expanding by opening a rehearsal space for bands where they can come together and practice.

MGMH as a company, says Ritnika, has various aspects and one of them is the management wing. “For eg we have a band like Advaita who we manage currently. Anything related to their music career like getting shows, handling tasks related to shows like tickets, stage, equipment, etc, we handle. It is a lot like event management but in that case when you are working for an event you don’t have to worry about things like the sound but we help with everything right from the press to helping them build the image, to getting shows for them... Basically, we manage everything that has got to do with their careers,” she adds.

The company also works as a promoter at times. And besides their own artists, they also work with other artists.

Low notes, high notes
While there are glitches in the job like the promoters not paying the money, Ritnika has her patience intact and believes that money is secondary when it comes to living your passion.

Ask her on the current recessionary scene and she doesn’t seem much bothered.

“It has gone down a bit but my business motto has changed from one artist to many artists. It has been hit and the prices have gone down but things are still happening,” she says.

But as she says her aim is to make a difference to the current scene. “We want to hold music business workshops to educate people about music business because nobody knows about music business,” she adds.

And she puts it rightly: “In the end, it’s very simple; you have to have passion for music. If we were working somewhere else right now, we would be making double the amount. Things will come when they have to. Sometimes, they don’t come so soon but you have to stick with it. Besides, you have to try to be a problem solver. You have to evaluate situations and fix them. That’s what a manager’s job is. I am also learning and I think one should work with people who know more than you do.”