Kurds’ music keys for advent of TV
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Enis Tayman - Referans
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 17, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The new Kurdish TV channel TRT 6 generates great hope for Kurdish music, which ranges from hip-hop to heavy metal. As it grapples with market forces, the most serious threats to the sector come from piracy and illegal Internet downloads.
Among the abundance of albums and posters, there is a picture of a smiling blonde woman in a strapless dress on a CD cover that says "Lori," which means lullaby in Kurdish. Her name is Deniz Deman and the CD looks no different from any other found in pop sections of music stores the world over.
Another CD is called "Hip-hop bi Kurdi" (Kurdish hip hop). The album is by hip-hop artist Serhado who lives in Sweden. Diyar is considered the Tarkan Ğ the successful Turkish male pop singer Ğ of the Kurds and has CD covers that show him smiling flirtatiously.
In this shop, there is no shortage of images of Kurdish singers wearing "poşu," the traditional Kurdish headgear. The names examples are just a few of the Kurdish singers whose albums can be seen in shop windows of Kurdish record companies at the Linen Drapers’ Bazaar, or İMÇ. Do not be fooled by the name, it is also where most of the record companies in Istanbul are located. There are about 400 artists on Turkey’s music scene who perform various styles of music in Kurdish, such as pop-jazz, reggae, arabesque and heavy metal.
TRT 6, a Kurdish television channel by the state broadcaster, went on air recently. Many people are hoping it will serve as a new stage for the evolution of the Kurdish music market and offer new opportunities for music discovery.
As Kurdish music takes its place on television, work is in progress for "Popstar Ala Kurdi," a Kurdish version of a very popular arabesque music competition, "Popstar Alaturka." The Kurdish music industry has had record sales of a million copies in the past, but has seen sales drop by more than half in recent years and many are watching TRT 6 to see if the industry is on the rise again.
Pirated copies a big problem
The approximately 400 artists mentioned above do not consist only of Kurds from Turkey. There are singers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, and albums from Kurds who live in Germany or Sweden also with their posters in shop windows. This array of musical talent shows that Kurdish music has grown beyond the few names, also known and listened to by non-Kurds, such as Şiwan Perwer, Ciwan Haco, Aynur, Rojin, Rojda and Nilüfer Akbal.
The Kurdish music scene may look rosy from the outside but it is a different story when one knocks on the doors of record companies or interviews artists. There are many problems that occur behind the colorful posters in shop windows. The biggest problems for Kurdish music are pirated copies of albums and illegal downloading on the Internet, according to the owner of Silvana Records, Şehabettin Yanık, a pseudonym because he did not want to give his real name to avoid any kind of neighborhood pressure regarding his interest in Kurdish music.
"I know some of the albums I release sell very well. For example, I am sure Şahe Bado has sold 1 million copies at least, but my sales of legal copies have not even reached 30,000. That is why Kurdish music cannot progress. Everybody goes for the pirated copies," Yanık said, adding that even if he reduced the price to 5 Turkish lira a copy, people would still buy pirated versions.
Some say the reason piracy is so common in Kurdish music is because the genre is unable to find its way into big record stores. This happens for two reasons. One is neighborhood pressure, as the Kurdish language is still considered taboo in many places. Second is the perception of separatism that comes from albums that have political lyrics that have dominated the Kurdish music scene in recent years.
Tahsin Can, owner of a record store, explained the critical issue of neighborhood pressure. "Things were easier for us between 2002 and 2005. However, we yearn for the days when speaking Kurdish is not a taboo," he said. "My store is in a neighborhood where Kurds and Alevis (a liberal sect of Islam with adherents mostly in Turkey and Syria) are the majority. Nevertheless, I am not comfortable when I play music in Kurdish. Psychologically, I do not feel safe."
Can said he receives hostile stares from non-Kurdish people when he plays Kurdish music.
From pop-jazz to heavy metal
Ethem Güner, owner of Ses Records and a producer of Kurdish music since 1987, said, "There is a serious amount of royalty theft. Piracy is common. Also, the level of income among Kurds is very low. Besides, as the language was forbidden, people did not become familiar with the concept of legal Kurdish albums."
The real complaint from Silvana’s Yanık uncovers another truth. It does not seem possible to reach a healthy number of record sales in the Kurdish music market. With the economic crisis, the loss of purchasing power, piracy and illegal downloading, official sales do not even reach half a million. That is a very low number for a country where there are many Kurds.
Sales, however, do not reflect the popularity of the music. Illegal downloading on the Internet, which is very easy to do, can be measured in the millions. According to Güner, it is a very big deal for new Kurdish singers to come up with sales of even 10,000. It is not possible for a Kurdish singer to sell 1 million copies but it is possible to have an audience that large. He said selling 100,000 to 150,000 would be a great success. Hüseyin İldan, one of the shareholders at KOM Records who has released albums by 120 artists, plans to print 200,000 album copies this year. According to İldan, the Kurdish music market has a capacity for approximately 1 million copies. İldan said that number was 5 million five years ago, but dropped because of the digital revolution, Kurds not claiming their own singers and neighborhood pressure. Another reason for low sales, according to İldan, is the primitiveness of music videos, which is related to a singer’s market share. "With these conditions, a Kurdish singer can shoot a video with a budget of 3,000 lira at the most. But a singer just standing in front of some images does not pass for a video, of course," he said.
Familiar with Kurdish music
Another claim about Kurdish music is that the roots of Turkish folk music lie in Kurdish. Furthermore, Mehmet Bayrak, author of a three-volume research work about Kurdish music history, said that most modes used in Turkish classical music today are actually Kurdish modes.
Güner commented on the assimilation. "Eighty percent of Turkish folk music is Kurdish. Since 1938, Kurdish songs have been archived for TRT with newly written Turkish lyrics. When the time comes, they will be released in Kurdish and people will see. Forget about the old ones, even some of the most popular Kurdish songs are known by Turkish titles today."
Another CD is called "Hip-hop bi Kurdi" (Kurdish hip hop). The album is by hip-hop artist Serhado who lives in Sweden. Diyar is considered the Tarkan Ğ the successful Turkish male pop singer Ğ of the Kurds and has CD covers that show him smiling flirtatiously.
In this shop, there is no shortage of images of Kurdish singers wearing "poşu," the traditional Kurdish headgear. The names examples are just a few of the Kurdish singers whose albums can be seen in shop windows of Kurdish record companies at the Linen Drapers’ Bazaar, or İMÇ. Do not be fooled by the name, it is also where most of the record companies in Istanbul are located. There are about 400 artists on Turkey’s music scene who perform various styles of music in Kurdish, such as pop-jazz, reggae, arabesque and heavy metal.
TRT 6, a Kurdish television channel by the state broadcaster, went on air recently. Many people are hoping it will serve as a new stage for the evolution of the Kurdish music market and offer new opportunities for music discovery.
As Kurdish music takes its place on television, work is in progress for "Popstar Ala Kurdi," a Kurdish version of a very popular arabesque music competition, "Popstar Alaturka." The Kurdish music industry has had record sales of a million copies in the past, but has seen sales drop by more than half in recent years and many are watching TRT 6 to see if the industry is on the rise again.
Pirated copies a big problem
The approximately 400 artists mentioned above do not consist only of Kurds from Turkey. There are singers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, and albums from Kurds who live in Germany or Sweden also with their posters in shop windows. This array of musical talent shows that Kurdish music has grown beyond the few names, also known and listened to by non-Kurds, such as Şiwan Perwer, Ciwan Haco, Aynur, Rojin, Rojda and Nilüfer Akbal.
The Kurdish music scene may look rosy from the outside but it is a different story when one knocks on the doors of record companies or interviews artists. There are many problems that occur behind the colorful posters in shop windows. The biggest problems for Kurdish music are pirated copies of albums and illegal downloading on the Internet, according to the owner of Silvana Records, Şehabettin Yanık, a pseudonym because he did not want to give his real name to avoid any kind of neighborhood pressure regarding his interest in Kurdish music.
"I know some of the albums I release sell very well. For example, I am sure Şahe Bado has sold 1 million copies at least, but my sales of legal copies have not even reached 30,000. That is why Kurdish music cannot progress. Everybody goes for the pirated copies," Yanık said, adding that even if he reduced the price to 5 Turkish lira a copy, people would still buy pirated versions.
Some say the reason piracy is so common in Kurdish music is because the genre is unable to find its way into big record stores. This happens for two reasons. One is neighborhood pressure, as the Kurdish language is still considered taboo in many places. Second is the perception of separatism that comes from albums that have political lyrics that have dominated the Kurdish music scene in recent years.
Tahsin Can, owner of a record store, explained the critical issue of neighborhood pressure. "Things were easier for us between 2002 and 2005. However, we yearn for the days when speaking Kurdish is not a taboo," he said. "My store is in a neighborhood where Kurds and Alevis (a liberal sect of Islam with adherents mostly in Turkey and Syria) are the majority. Nevertheless, I am not comfortable when I play music in Kurdish. Psychologically, I do not feel safe."
Can said he receives hostile stares from non-Kurdish people when he plays Kurdish music.
From pop-jazz to heavy metal
Ethem Güner, owner of Ses Records and a producer of Kurdish music since 1987, said, "There is a serious amount of royalty theft. Piracy is common. Also, the level of income among Kurds is very low. Besides, as the language was forbidden, people did not become familiar with the concept of legal Kurdish albums."
The real complaint from Silvana’s Yanık uncovers another truth. It does not seem possible to reach a healthy number of record sales in the Kurdish music market. With the economic crisis, the loss of purchasing power, piracy and illegal downloading, official sales do not even reach half a million. That is a very low number for a country where there are many Kurds.
Sales, however, do not reflect the popularity of the music. Illegal downloading on the Internet, which is very easy to do, can be measured in the millions. According to Güner, it is a very big deal for new Kurdish singers to come up with sales of even 10,000. It is not possible for a Kurdish singer to sell 1 million copies but it is possible to have an audience that large. He said selling 100,000 to 150,000 would be a great success. Hüseyin İldan, one of the shareholders at KOM Records who has released albums by 120 artists, plans to print 200,000 album copies this year. According to İldan, the Kurdish music market has a capacity for approximately 1 million copies. İldan said that number was 5 million five years ago, but dropped because of the digital revolution, Kurds not claiming their own singers and neighborhood pressure. Another reason for low sales, according to İldan, is the primitiveness of music videos, which is related to a singer’s market share. "With these conditions, a Kurdish singer can shoot a video with a budget of 3,000 lira at the most. But a singer just standing in front of some images does not pass for a video, of course," he said.
Familiar with Kurdish music
Another claim about Kurdish music is that the roots of Turkish folk music lie in Kurdish. Furthermore, Mehmet Bayrak, author of a three-volume research work about Kurdish music history, said that most modes used in Turkish classical music today are actually Kurdish modes.
Güner commented on the assimilation. "Eighty percent of Turkish folk music is Kurdish. Since 1938, Kurdish songs have been archived for TRT with newly written Turkish lyrics. When the time comes, they will be released in Kurdish and people will see. Forget about the old ones, even some of the most popular Kurdish songs are known by Turkish titles today."