RETURN OF INDI-POP CULTURE
The Indian music business has seen a dominance of film soundtracks over the last decade . But the interest in non-film / independent / pop or Indi-Pop music has seen a resurgence in the past few years .
A lot of record companies have a large role to play in this . Universal Music India has launched VYRL Originals to promote Indi-pop and is building a strong culture around it . This was further accelerated with film music being put on hold due to the pandemic , and hence the interest in independent music increased manifold . Mass Appeal , launched in 2019 is another venture by Universal to amplify India ’ s burgeoning hip-hop scene . With musicians , record companies , social media outlets , and the audiences , all raving about Indi-Pop , this time around it is here to stay .
Not only are Hindi non-film songs flourishing , there has also been a boost in regional content like Gujarati , Punjabi , Bhojpuri and Tamil . Labels are putting in money in independent music after a long gap from the 1990 ’ s . A lot of interest is being seen from labels , artists as well as the audience side . Big names like Saregama , Sony Music , T-Series and Universal Music are giving Indi-pop much needed and much deserved attention . Sony Music is making its presence felt across genres and languages with the launch of ‘ Madras Gig ’, a series of Tamil pop singles , followed by the ‘ Hyderabad Gig ’, for Telugu pop releases .
Indian music is vast and for the first time after a long time , attention has begun to shift to music from all regions and all genres to reach a global stage , not limiting itself to film soundtracks . Indi-pop is giving voice to new perspectives and opening up myriad avenues Independent music has immense potential and festivals like Sunburn and NH7 Weekender have also contributed to the return of independent music , ensuring it reaches the masses and giving it a global platform and stage at the same time . Venues such as Hard Rock Café are also contributing to bringing the artists closer to the audience .
The digital ecosystem has also played a major role in the return of Indi-Pop music . The launch of 4G , low-end smart phones , high speed internet , low-cost data plans , digital payments , and innumerable applications and platforms has led to consumers demanding and accessing content reserved as per their liking . The method of music consumption has changed . Music is now available across various audio and video digital platforms along with various social media platforms and the consumer now has access to licensed content right in the palm of their hands .
The increase in demand for Indi-pop music can also be attributed to the penetration of music apps and internet to Tier II and Tier III cities which give more exposure to regional music and also because the quality of content has been greatly improving with more and more artists willing to create independent music , diverting from the pattern of the erstwhile concentration in film music . This can be seen in the meteoric rise of YouTube for which India is the fastest growing
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