The concept of releasing single tracks has taken off in a big way in Kollywood When Yuvan Shankar Raja and Simbu released one of the songs from their Vaanam (Evan Dee Onna Pethaan...) as a single track in November 2010, the duo would have been sure of the song's success. But little would they have expected that the very concept of releasing a single would become a hit. If one is to go by recent examples, releasing a single track before the audio launch of a film is the new trend in K-Town today. Talking about how he hit upon the idea, Yuvan says, "This is quite a normal practice in the US, where leading musicians release a single track from their latest album as a sort of preview of the album for fans. We just wanted to try something similar here and went ahead with the release. Just like we have trailers for films, singles are promotional tools for the film's album."
Vaanam's single was very much instrumental in creating expectations for both the album and the film. And this is why other composers and directors from the industry have taken this path. Yuvan himself is set to have a hat-trick in this respect as he will be releasing a single from Vikram's Rajapattai on Deepavali. However, he isn't open to revealing details about the number other than mentioning that it will not be a party number like Evan Dee... or Vilayadu Mankatha....
So, how do filmmakers choose the song that will be released as a single? While Yuvan says that it depends on what song the director wants, Vijay Antony, who released the song Makkayala... from Naan as a single, says that it was a case of convenience in his case. "Makkayala... was the only song that was completely done. The entire album would take three more months to be ready. Hence, we released this song so that there is some talk about the film and the song in till the album's release," he says. He adds that not just peppy numbers but even melodies can succeed as a single (G V Prakash's Oru Murai... from Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal being a case in point). However, for audio labels releasing a single track on CD doesn't work well as a strategy in India unlike in other countries. Says Priya Krishnan, marketing head of a Chennai-based label, "Releasing a single track on a CD has a tangible cost involved. You cannot afford to price the CD at 10, which is what the average customer is willing to pay for a song. The margins are low when you release a single on CDs, even when you price them at 30. Also, unless the songs are truly excepstional, a customer who has bought the CD of the single track rarely buys the entire album when it is released."
Admitting singles are great promotional tools, Priya says that the release should happen on alternative media - digital downloads, FM and ringback tones (which cannot be pirated). "We released the track Nee Korinaal... from Nootrenbathu as a free digital download before the album's launch, while Naan's single was a FM-only release. Such innovative measures helped us familiarize the albums for the customers," she says.
suganth.m@timesgroup.com
'ONE'DERS
Evan Dee Onna Pethaan - Vaanam
Nee Korinaal - Nootrenbathu
Vilayadu Mankatha - Mankatha
Makkayala Makkayala - Naan
Oru Murai - Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal
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