Centre to launch two new music channels

Chennai, June 29: The Centre will soon launch two new music channels, one for Hindustani Classical music and another for Carnatic Classical music, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Jaipal Reddy said today.
While one of the channels would be started from Lucknow, the other would be launched from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu. Both these channels would be available on DD DTH platform, so that lovers of classical music could avail this music in digital quality for most of the time, he said.
Releasing 'Akashvani Sangeet' CDs and Cassettes of doyens of carnatic music, late M S Subbulakshmi, Alathur Brothers and 'Ariyakudi' Ramanuja Iyengar, at the music academy here tonight, he said the Doordarshan DTH now had space only for 33 channels and 17 more would soon be added when these two new music channels would be 'mounted'.
Stressing that All India Radio (AIR) would also focus on folk music, Reddy said 'we have decided to go in for huge expansion of FM radio in the private sector.
We will set up 330 AIR stations throughout the country in as many as 80 new cities, thus laying more focus on growth rather than on earning more revenue.
Reddy said the first phase of the private sector radio expansion did not succeed in full as lot of emphasis was laid on revenue earning rather than on growth. "Now, I am reversing this priority so that people will be able to enjoy more radio in general and more radio in the private sector".
In an obvious reference to the All India Radio losing out to private FM channels, he said all efforts would be made "within our powers to see that radio is revived."
Speaking about the proposed music channels he said: "The golden voice of M S Subbulakshmi, Alathur brothers and of others would be avaiable now to everyone", he said adding that music and peace were intertwined. "Where there is music, there will be peace".
Reddy said Doordarshan's DTH was the only 'free-to-air' DTH available in the world today. The unique feature of it DD DTH was that 'we are able to accommodate all the radio channels in it'. "We are also planning to release AIR folk music in digital quality. Our entire archives, the richest in the world today, had been digitalised by harnessing the latest technology".
The Prasar Bharati now had all the speech of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Rabindranath Tagore and all Prime Ministers and Presidents. "All these have been preserved in digital form. The problem with the Prasar Bharati is that we have lot of good things but do not know how to disseminate them".
Paying encomia to the music doyens whose CDs were released today, the minister said Government cannot remain 'indifferent' to the fate of arts. Governments should be eliminated from intervening or interfering in arts. The AIR had played glorious role in promotion and preservation of classic music.
Jaipal Reddy said historically the All India Radio in the country had rendered greater service, be it Hindustani music or Carnatic music.
"We have record of 10,000 hours of classical music. We have rare recordings of doyens of both the music".
Reddy handed over the first CD of Subbulakshmi to another maestro of Carnatic music, Balamurali Krishna, the CD of Alathur brothers to the Editor-in-Chief of 'The Hindu', N Ram and the CD of Ramanujam Iyengar to Gauri Ramnarayan, a music critic. (Agencies)
Published: Wednesday, June 29, 2005
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