Music directors Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant will soon be starting a music school dedicated to western music in Mumbai.
The music directors feel that there is a talent crunch for musicians, especially for western music in India. The duo is in talks with the University of Berkley, California, to invite faculty and teachers for the school. They are even planning to invite ex-students from the university to train Indian students.
According to the brothers, they would welcome investment from corporates for this project. For instance, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is already into the business of entertainment through Adlabs. According to a Ficci-PWC report, the entertainment and media industry will be Rs 1.157 trillion by 2012, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 18%.
?Music is a large by-product of the Indian film industry and we do not have enough musicians in the country. The good musicians that are part of our orchestra are mostly in their 50s. The youth who are interested in music are always looking for shortcuts to success,? says Salim Merchant.