Farhadul Islam shares the reasons behind why Blues Communications was formed, their past and future events, and discussions of his experiences in regards to organizing big events of international standards in Dhaka.
1. How did Blues Communication come to be? Tell us a little bit about the company.
“Bengal Foundation usually works almost exclusively with art and culture. While working on Bengal Classical Music Festival’s debut event which in itself was a great success, we had to utilise many marketing and advertising tools in order to promote the festival. With an event of that scope and scale it was inevitable that we had to adopt various kinds of digital promotion. For the first time, Bengal Foundation had to take such marketing initiatives. Moreover, everything was done internally – we didn’t seek assistance of any event management company or advertising firm. On BCMF’s success many corporate houses asked us to take on their management and promotion of various events. Since the Foundation never did such commercial projects, we figured we actually have the market as well as the demand to start such an agency. That is more or less how Blues was founded. The idea was to serve Bengal Foundation’s needs alongside providing services to outside companies on a commercial basis.”
2. Your company has worked with the likes of Sonu Nigam, A.R. Rahman, Akon, Ustad Zakir Hossain and many other renowned artistes. What sort of challenges do you face when you are managing foreign artistes/shows abroad?
“Challenges vary from region to region. One of the biggest difficulties we face in Bangladesh is the lack of proper venue. We don’t have a single auditorium that can house more than two thousand guests, whereas, an international artiste will charge the same amount of money whether they perform in Bangladesh or elsewhere in the world. For instance, if an event takes place at the Wembley Arena in UK, we can anticipate around twelve thousand attendees merely because of the capacity of the venue. But if the same artiste performs in Bangladesh then even with a sold out show, we cannot expect revenue in ticket sales to exceed the limit of the venue’s capacity. This comes down to an increase in entrance charge per ticket in Bangladesh. Moreover, a person’s ability to purchase expensive tickets in our country is far less than that of a person living in, for example, Singapore. Another aspect that becomes a challenge is sponsorship. Companies pre-calculate their marketing budget per annum according to the number of target customers they will be catering to. These numbers are significantly less for Bangladesh in comparison to India or China. Thus, potential sponsors also have a limit to how much they can spend on sponsoring such events and shows. This in turn also leads to a major increase in ticket prices. In the end we have to struggle to simply breakeven, let alone think of making profits, when organizing events of international standards in Bangladesh. At the same time we have to deal with infrastructure issues. Sound systems, LEDs, lighting, etc. are big factors we have to keep in mind when bringing in renowned international artistes. For example, when we brought in A.R. Rahman for the ICC opening ceremony we had to rent equipments from abroad to meet his technical requirements. This, in turn, further increases costs. In order to overcome such barriers, we purchased our own equipments. This will not only serve to assist us but also others who are in need of such facilities when organizing events in Bangladesh.”
3. BCMF has gained massive momentum over the last three years. What is it like to manage an event of that magnitude?
“Passion is important. Anything done with passion has a good chance of resulting in success. Classical music is an ever present element in our culture but when organizing an event with it as the main highlight then things become a little tricky. Regardless of the significance of classical music in our history and culture, it doesn’t have a mass appeal in our country, especially nowadays. We had to put in a lot of thought into garnering mass appeal. We had to make sure that the audiences’ experience was comfortable as well as
interesting. We provided washroom facilities, coffee and tea stalls, food stalls and space to simply hang out with friends and family without disturbing other listeners. No matter how seasoned a listener is, it can still be difficult for him or her to listen to music for nine hours straight. A lot of hard work went into making the experience for all who attended a diverse and enjoyable one. Considering BCMF is an all-nighter, security is a very important issue, especially in Dhaka. We had to ensure it as well. We travelled to similar festivals around the world in order to get an idea of what facilities we must incorporate in an event of such a massive scope. We also carried out some local research. Since the audience has to go through a registration process to be able to attend, we have details recorded on our database. We called individuals at random to ask about their experience firsthand and for input on how we can improve the event. The audience feedback helped a lot in terms of seating arrangements, food and other such facilities. Even though the festival takes place in a span of five days but the preparation takes a better part of the year. We’ve already started to get ready for the next one.”
4. What was your first project? What was your last?
“The very first event Blues Communications organized was a fusion music show featuring Ustad Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Bela Fleck at the Hall of Fame of BICC on February 6, 2013. Fortunately, there hasn’t been a last yet but currently we’re working on a handful of events for Robi, UCL and Nestle among others.”
5. There are talks of a Sufi festival. Is that your next project? What should the people of Bangladesh expect?
“Yes, we are organizing a Sufi festival for the first time. Unlike the BCMF, this one will be a commercial event as well as of a very different genre compared to classical music. It’ll be flashy and colourful. We will try to convey to all who attend that Sufism is not all about spirituality and religion. The focus will be on other aspects like Sufi culture and lifestyle. The approach we’re taking will also express to the audience the Sufi message on humanity and morals. We’re bringing in musicians and artistes from all over the world to represent the Sufi culture.”