JOIN USDo you identify a lot of new music on social media nowadays? Independent musicians are hard to be tapped. While they have live shows every now and then in the capital, they also tend to vanish for a long time from the scene. Musicians and singers find YouTube and other social media channels, a great platform to showcase their talents. Look at Taher Shah, the Pakistani singer, is he anything less than famous? Famous, is now just a relative term.
People, who are just starting off, without much ado, involve themselves and invest financially even, in launching themselves through these platforms. If stars permit, they even make it big. Metrolife spoke to some beginners in the scene.
Ajay Govind’s name does not resonate among the masses, but he is among those who are pushing themselves. A Delhi-based filmmaker, who after making independent documentaries, also made a feature length fiction film. Recently, he made a music video.
“The idea of making the video actually emerged from a song we had access to, from Dr P V Bose’s (my Guru; He trained me in Carnatic music) album, Karunacheyvan. This song, in particular was close to my heart. My grandmother loved it and had passed on her love for this song to my mother. So this year, as gift for my mother on her 60th birthday,
I decided to put this video together,” Govind tells Metrolife.
Karunacheyvan, a Malayalam song, is probably not going to be found on YouTube. It is just one amongst those millions of songs in English, Hindi and other regional languages, that are being launched every other day.
Producing a music video is a large collaboration, because it’s not only the voice that matters, but also the visuals and its glamour. A director, actors, scriptwriter and editor are additionally involved. It is no less than a short film.
Rising as a star in YouTube is tough, but Arjun Kanungo of Baaki Baatein Peene Baad fame, is a good enough example, who is establishing himself on YouTube.
Twenty-four year old Paromita Mathur is an aspiring singer, with more than 20 years of training in classical music. She went to Mumbai from Delhi to launch herself. She is still in a conundrum whether launching online is a good idea or not. But she has approached producers, to sing in their music videos.
“I myself check out a lot of indie artistes on YouTube. Unique work is not appreciated by many. I am speaking to people to know what people like. I am confused, whether I should make compositions for people or for my own creative satisfaction,” says Mathur.
According to Govind, indie projects will stay and one will see more of them coming. The scales may vary depending on the kind of resources, time and money people have.
“The realities of the world are such that there is no conducive environment where such opportunities are created for you, so you have to create opportunities yourself. You will find yourself a few thousands or lakhs of rupees poorer, but you will be one project richer. And that project is a game changer, if for no other reason, but definitely for that invaluable movement up the learning curve,” says Govind.