ADITI SARAWAGI
Independent
Regional Music
Next Big Thing in India’s Music Scene
Western audiences have always listened to music across
genres and their listening choices are not limited to the
soundtracks of movies but on the contrary expand over
independent artists and bands. This in turn leads to more
and more new emerging musicians to enter the field. In India,
the trend is a little different i.e. the soundtracks of movies
are extremely popular here and playback singers along
with music directors are well known and admired greatly.
But lately the trend is shifting towards independent artists
and new sounds in music away from Bollywood. Regional
music is playing a huge role in this shift with many Punjabi,
Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and even Marathi artists changing
the way people look at independent albums or singles.
To enable this shift towards independent regional artists,
music apps and online streaming has played a huge role.
According to reports, the digital video subscription market
is estimated to be around 4,000 crores by 2020 and research
shows that the increased number of users is due to the
increased demand for regional content. Wynk Music has
seen solid growth banking on local content in languages
such as Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Kannada. Saavn has
launched Artist Originals to promote new independent
talent and ensure it reaches the masses. Regional content
is also the reason YouTube is seeing phenomenal growth
and says viewership has tripled over two years alone.
Cited as being the first Punjabi rapper, Bohemia back in
2002 released his first album “Vich Pardesan De“and it
reached the Top 10 on BBC Radio UK in 2002. A lot of Punjabi
artists like Hard Kaur, Honey Singh, Daljit Dosanjh, Guru
Randhawa, Neha Kakkar, Raftaar,PrabhDeep and Naezy
are extremely popular and even though they contribute
to Bollywood and Punjabi films they are consistent with
their independent releases as well. They support the
independent scene and are actively engaged in promoting it.
The success of Kannada rap album KA-01 selling over 25,000
copies by Alok Babu or All.OK is a major breakthrough
with the songs “Nan Kannadiga” and Young Engo going
viral with three million views. Tamil boy band Namma
Ooru is hugely popular too. When it comes to Malayalam
independent artists, Vidwan is well known for its original
music compositions influenced by jazz, hip hop and
electronic music. Thakara and Prayaan are also well
admired Malayalam bands. The last edition of NH7 had
Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna on the festival stage.
Regional music is really gaining momentum with Kolhapur
born rapper Bhau rapping in his native Marathi at India’s
Got Talent got him collaborations with Universal Music
and Qyuki for wider outreach. He also tied up with Silk
Road record label. Well known Marathi band 90 Feet Road
with Ajinkya Jadhav, Rahul Bhavsar and Shakyamuni
Pawar aim to create original Marathi content to preserve
the language with the first single Laaj Dhar. Famous music
directors Ajay-Atul entered the indie scene with their hit
single ‘Zingaat’, thanks to their association with movies.
The linguistic barrier in music is slowly and steadily
decreasing with people all over the country listening
to music from other languages. Regional artists
have a huge fan following thanks to social media
and they are putting India on the global music map
with their individual different styles and genres.
South India is churning out remarkable talent too.
Thaikkudam Bridge from Kochi is a name to reckon with
in pushing Carnatic Rock Language to the forefront.
Contemporary Kannada is the forte of The Raghu
Dixit Project is and is one of the country's
most popular live act. Agam, Swarathma
and Avial are also making waves in
Kannada music garnering a huge
fan following not limited to
South India alone.
The
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