How this unique multimedia book is disrupting the way we understand and process music

At a time when streaming applications have taken the forefront, radio often goes unnoticed. Yet, it’s still very much floating in the background. What is keeping radio alive in today’s world?

Vineet Singh Hukmani, the founder and former MD of Radio One, is someone who has cracked this code and is known for creating radio-friendly pop earworms. The Harvard Business School alumnus is the first Asian to achieve accomplishments on a global scale, like DRT and Cash Box Magazine charts in the US, the World Indie Music Charts, and the World Radio Charts. The artiste has also had three of his songs submitted in the Grammy’s in four mainstream categories. He went on to start his multimedia project Nine, which is a book as well as a music album. He released his single Ghanta in February. Vineet is also the founder of greatsong.world, an organisation that gives local artistes across Asia training and a platform to make their music reach a global audience. The radio mastermind talks about his musical career, and why radio must be kept alive.

Edited excerpts from an interview:

Your multimedia book Nine is a unique concept. What gave birth to this idea?

The initial objective was to do something unique and disruptive. I wanted to make my music more immersive and experiential for listeners and was just trying to figure out what I can do to get a new bunch of people to listen to the nine songs I had done in a year. That was the first thought and so I took each of the nine songs, and the movies I like to watch, and based every story on a thriller genre with technology. At the end of the story, there were each of those songs. There was a commercial reason to do it as well. Today, music is free for everyone. People just pay subscription, and listen to as many albums or songs. Therefore, it’s become difficult for musicians to make money. People still pay for books. It’s a great way to give more value to people, so that they pay for it, but at the same time, discover something unique and disruptive. Most of the feedback has been that we’ve never seen a book of stories like this, where you read a story, then you go to a QR code and listen to the song.

One sentence to describe each song in the book...

The common theme is how does one process emotions in a technology-led environment. The first story is Nine, which is about a guy called Dwayne who suddenly disappears from his family because he’s an undercover CIA agent who is in deep trouble. Because he doesn’t want his family to get affected, he goes away and leaves all technology. But finally his past catches up with him and then he has to come back and use technology to protect his family. The second story is called Dreaming Out Loud, which is about two friends who are athletes, but they must compete with a genetically engineered entity. There is another story about an app that helps people to break up. But there is a mythical entity with godly powers that still believes in love and is living in New York at the same time, ensuring that this project doesn’t succeed. You have to see what will win — technology or the idea of love? There's a story and song I wrote during the pandemic, and it is about vaccination. But this vaccination uses technology that removes hate from your system. A lot of things in the world today are built on hate. So, if hate disappears, what would happen? What I am trying to communicate is that beyond all this emotion and technology overload, there is an optimistic way to look at life.

Three of your songs were submitted to the Grammy’s in 2021 and seven musical projects across 13 categories in 2022. How was that experience like?