Yoga Music: The Omstream Interview

For true yoga music, omstream is a terrific resource. Founded by musician and studio owner Michael Perricone, omstream simplifies the search by helping practitioners and instructors find music to fit all types of situations.

Michael Perricone, founder of omstream.

Whether you’re looking for rhythms to accompany a Power Yoga routine, world music to lift up your morning, peaceful meditation sounds, or even ambient lounge to set a mood, there are more than 200 artists to enjoy on omstream.

Perricone, a master of the Tibetan singing bowls, has released three CDs of his music, including his latest, Savasana Bowls Live. He shared his vision and enthusiasm for yoga music --or, as he refers to it, consciousness music-- in this LoveToKnow interview.

Michael, please tell us a little about your background.

I’ve been a musician since I was 12, and have been entrepreneurial since that time as well. While growing up, I played guitar and bass in a variety of rock bands.

I got into music production pretty young, and owned a recording studio for 17 years. I mixed music for major motion pictures, television, and recording artists. I’ve produced musicians in all genres.

As a musician, my aspiration is to create music full time. I love to produce recordings and find artists, and would love to never do anything but that.

What was the inspiration for omstream?

Once iTunes and other online music sites started offering songs, I noticed my music fell into interesting categories – new age, spiritual, that type of thing. None of it seemed quite right, and I thought there had to be a better way.

For example, when Windhill Hill Records started, its brand of music was considered new age, but when spiritual music came about, it was lumped under that or as inspirational music. Somehow, that category label was stuck on everything, and yoga music wasn’t defined.

I thought there had to be a better way to categorize the many genres that make up what we like at omstream like to call conscious world music: the music of people waking up.

There are scores of online music sites featuring yoga music in one form or another. What makes omstream different?

Good categorization helps the music, because it helps link the music to the listener. The music featured on our site exists in as many as seven different categories. There are a variety of ways for people to find what they’re looking for. When we first started the site, before the blog keyword clouds became so prevalent, we wanted to know what keywords were good for defining this music. So we had to really focus on how people are using the music, what mood they’re trying to define. Then, we categorize it to make it easier for them to fill that need.

It definitely helps the music and the artists. With the democratization of the industry, people are inundated with music. The right tags and keywords help the user locate and separate from all the music that's out there. And now that we have a better way to find it, let's create a better way for the artist to reach their target audience.

Then, we take it to another level. Not only do we identify music, but also we try to act as gatekeepers to select stuff that meets a certain criteria of quality. I’m not talking about someone pressing some buttons on an electric keyboard. We try to answer the question of authenticity: did the music come from the heart, and is it still good?

How many artists do you have on the site now?

There are about 250 artists on site now, and we’re about to add another 100 artists. There are new labels showing some promising artists, too.

What many people may not know is there are so many legal factors involved to featuring music on a site. Many of the smaller labels are subsidiaries of larger ones, and because of their size, they're victims of their own success. So while a musician may really want to push his or her work to the people, the record company has to approve and agree to every outlet.

If the music resonates with our staff, and my wife, then we think our audience will appreciate it and we add it. I try to give the artists additional exposure in our monthly newsletter, too. omstream has been self-funded since day one, so the more the word gets out there, the more these artists can be recognized.

Who are you excited about right now?

Well, probably the most innovative artist today is Krishna Das. And we’re also trying to introduce people to:

• DJ Drez
• Donna De Lory
• Girish
• Baird Hersey
• Open Door Orchestra

Basically, if an artist is on our site, he or she is worth featuring. It's not that some are more noteworthy, because we've pre-qualified them already.

How does omstream help yoga instructors?

We try to qualify the music to eliminate the amount of searching. Yoga teachers need a high percentage of yeses to build a routine playlist.

On omstream, they can make a yoga music playlist out of a bunch of different artists - if they want to start with something contemplative, then flow, then power yoga, they can put all these moods together seamlessly direct from our site.

I've been practicing yoga for 12 years, and I created the “Journey of Seven Bowls” album based on this concept. I know the frustration of finding music that will get you into the flow of the routine. Instructors need to find what they want quickly, even for a class that night.

We also give a 10 percent discount to instructors.

What amazes you?

The emails I get from people -- it makes it all worthwhile. We have an audience that cares so much about this music and it touches them so profoundly that we hope we've done our job by providing it.

And now a non-music question. If you could be a superhero, what would be your magic power?

My power would be to be able fly, and do things with my mind, like psychokensis. I’d also like the power to heal people with music.

• Sign up for an omstream monthly membership and receive 40 percent off all music purchases, streaming radio, a monthly preview letter, and other specials.
• Visit the omstream community for inspiration, interviews, bulletin boards, and more.

~Tracey L. Kelley

• Basic Yoga Poses for Senior Citizens
• Restorative Yoga Poses
• Pregnancy Yoga Poses

• Nude Yoga
• Pictures of Yoga Poses
• Yoga Toes Toe Stretchers
• Hot Yoga
• Men's Yoga Clothing

• What is Ayurveda: Hilary Garivaltis Interview
• A Healthy Diet Plan for Yoga
• Category:Expert Interviews
• Yoga Music
• Benefits of Yoga Music