Over the last couple of years, we have seen a significant change in the Indian music industry. The streaming age has transformed the culture of music consumption and appreciation globally. India has followed the trends of the West in some regards, and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has helped independent music artists gain relevance and popularity. Overseas, “Independent music” is categorised as music that is produced and published by an artist independently, without the backing of a record label. In India, however, the idea of independent music is more vast, encompassing all non-film music. Though devotional music and ghazals also fall under this umbrella, they are generally not regarded as independent music as they enjoy major mainstream success and popularity. The lack of a record label-dominant music industry has led to India becoming a unique environment for artists who want to make a career outside of Bollywood and other film music. Over the last few years, there seem to have been some significant changes in the Indian music scene. For starters, the pandemic brought the almighty Bollywood music production machine to its knees. Few industries were hit harder by the lockdowns of 2020 than the film industry. Bollywood, which had for two years prior to the pandemic, already been seeing lower content output and a decline in revenues, came to a grinding halt. A 2021 report by the Indian Music Industry (IMI) stated that the Bollywood-dominated Indian music industry had been in steady decline for a few years, facing an annual loss of over Rs 2,000 crores in the years leading up to the pandemic. This created a void in the market for new music in India. The Indian population, which on average listens to 19 hours of music per week (as compared to the worldwide average of 18 hours per week), needed something to quell their thirst. Enter the indie music industry. Taking advantage of the Bollywood hiatus, independent artists from around the country began to adapt to the changing digital landscape. With live gigs and concerts being virtually non-existent, independent artists began to use other media to their advantage, connecting with fans through social media, and popularising their music on streaming platforms like JioSaavn and Spotify. Though royalties from music streaming platforms don’t contribute much in terms of income for artists, they have given independent artists a much wider reach than what they would have otherwise. Social media and streaming services allow artists to get their music out on an equal footing with the multimillion-dollar Bollywood marketing industry. The top ten indie artists on Spotify India have over 15 million monthly listeners. With the pandemic, the audience for internet-savvy indie musicians has also seen an increase. Another factor worth mentioning is the musical-open mindedness of the current generation. Demographic data from Spotify has shown that Indian millennials and Gen Z youth show less inclination towards Bollywood and film music, preferring to experiment and find their own preferences. The popularity of K-Pop among Indians is a testament to this. This gives homegrown indie musicians and bands the chance to connect with a massive audience. Notably, Prateek Kuhad was the first Indian indie artist to break into international audiences with his 2018 single cold/mess, with former US president Barack Obama naming it as one of his favourite songs.
10 May 2022
Rishab Sengupta
