Niraj Chag is a British composer and musician who has had success in the music industry without any formal training. He began making music at a young age, starting his first band at 11 and building his own studio by 15. Though he did not attend university, he taught himself music theory and production skills. After many rejections, he signed his first record deal at 20 and went on to produce works for other artists and release his own album in 2006 under his own label. Some of his notable achievements include winning a U.K Asian Music Award and composing music for television programs and films.

1. Questions I thought of to ask our guest speaker:
1. What subjects did you study
2. How did you get into the media industry?
3. How long have you been in the media industry?
4. Are you a free lancer?
5. Did you want to be in this part of the industry?
6. What achievements have you been awarded?
Notes on our guest speaker: Niraj Chag
• Won U.K Asian music award
• Niraj Chag – Album – ‘Along the dusty road’
• No training in music, no university
• Music for: ‘Power of art’, ‘Darwin’s dangerous ideas’, ’Sex in the city’.
• Worked in pop – Liberty X – Craig David
• Independent deals
• First band – 11 years old
• First studio – 15 years old
• First musical – Stratford East – 25 years old
• 15-20 years of age he was learning skills
• Books on music theory, learnt piano skills
• 17 – working at studio owned by Marquille and applied for work experience
• Moved to London – 19 years old
• Demo-tapes sent out, rejected, knocked over
• Another 6 years he was signed at 20 years old
• Publish artists on his label, produced work
• Asian Fusion
• Days at Uni, nights out doing magazine interviews etc.
• Left record deal at 24 years old
• Free lancer – shows, radio, tv
• Writer making tracks, songs and beats
• Own albym – 2006 – own label
• Connection with online stores e.g. itunes
• Produced videos, funded himself
• Sponsors – Art council, private ferms
• PRS foundation – finding – application form
• Write songs on artists
• Both celebrities and amateurs
• Made his own tracks and released them
• He can create a product and market it
• Studied A levels music – didn’t get in
• Got to know how to communicate when working with others – ‘music
language’
• Wanted to be a musician – stuck to it
• Scored last segment Slum Dog Millionaire – cut off!
• Composed music for various programmes

2. • Achievements: Radio session, Asian Music Award for his album
Composer = makes music to suit a specific mood.