Desihits.com

John Jurgensen wrote about this new Internet clearinghouse for all sounds "Desi" in an article appearing in yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Odd thing: I ventured over to MTV Desi only to learn that "MTV Desi is off the air...."

Wonder what's up wit dat?

And is there a relationship between MTV Desi's going dark and this new website popping up?

Here's Jurgensen's story.

Music: South Asian Sounds

A new Web site aims to help introduce Indian culture to a Western audience

Globalization introduced the business culture of South Asia to the West. Now, a Silicon Valley Web site is trying to do the same for the region's music.

Desihits.com, launched by a former headhunter of Indian descent and her husband, a former London DJ, has become a clearinghouse for all sounds "Desi," the colloquial term for people and things with South Asian roots. The site's streaming radio shows include songs from Bollywood films, melodramatic Indian musicals marked by thunderous drums, surging strings and traditional vocals that slide like mercury. Another genre category, Urban Desi, features songs geared for clubs that are propelled by hypnotic vocals, indigenous drums, hip-hop beats and raps in English.

Popular acts featured on the site include Sona Family, a London-based quartet that sounds like the Black Eyed Peas infused with traditional Indian bhangra music.

But because the site targets the Desi diaspora, its coverage is salted with U.S. acts. This week, for instance, the Desi Hits blog interspersed news about rapper Kanye West with gossip about Bollywood starlet Aishwarya Rai. Desi Hits Chief Executive Anjula Acharia Bath says Western listeners are "bored" with hip-hop. "The Indian influence just gives it a new flavor," she says. She launched the site in January, several years after moving to San Jose, Calif., from London with her husband, Ranj Bath, to work for an executive search firm.

She says 700,000 unique visitors from 68 countries came to the site this month, a 35% rise in traffic over the month before. Now she is aiming to attract U.S. entertainers hoping to gain a foothold in India. Ahead of his first concert appearance in India this month, rapper 50 Cent sat down with a Desi Hits host for a video interview.