As the third wave of pandemic subsides, some trends in the Indian indie music scene are here to stay

What a difference a month makes. In part one of my column about how the live music sector has changed for Indian independent acts since the onset of the pandemic, published in the last week of January, I wrote about how gigs were back at antiSOCIAL in Mumbai. I am typing out the second part on a weekend when over a dozen gigs are being staged in the city at more than half-a-dozen venues.

Expectedly, most of them are electronic music events but they are followed closely by those featuring hip-hop acts. And the list includes the first legit live music festival to be staged since March 2020, Mahindra Open Drive, which was held at the outskirts. As promised, here is another set of my hypothesis that I tested by interviewing some of the country’s most prominent indie artist managers and promoters.

Observation: Listeners’ tastes have expanded

Consensus: True

While rock and metal have lost a bit of ground, electronic and sub-genres such as house and techno have retained their status as the most popular independent music styles on our live circuit over the last few years when hip-hop has simultaneously become, arguably, the second biggest genre on the gigging scene.

More recently, we have seen a noticeable rise in the listenership for local funk, soul, and R&B. “[International] acts like Anderson .Paak, Chet Faker, Jungle, and Little Dragon, all of whom have toured India, have contributed to this,” says Tej Brar, the founder of artist management and events company Third Culture Entertainment and label Export Quality Records. Their rosters include Kayan, RANJ, and T.ill Apes, acts whose music broadly falls into these associated styles, and who have built niche but loyal fan bases. Notably, each of them was slated to play one of the legs of this year’s NH7 Weekender festival, the revised line-up for which will be out this week.

Last but not least, singer-songwriters, which, though not quite a genre, look to be the fastest-growing segment in Indian indie at least in terms of the sheer number of rising artists. Those who managed to grow their followings online in the past two years, such as Anuv Jain, Hanita Bhambri, Kamakshi Khanna, and Raghav Meattle, are reaping the benefits offline. “Solo songwriters with a large Instagram footprint are taking over the world,” says Yama Seth, artist manager at Big Bad Wolf Entertainment, which has Prateek Kuhad and Khanna among its clientele.

Observation: Business models are evolving

Consensus: Partially true

The pandemic has provided the impetus for more live music venues, eager to recover losses incurred as a result of consecutive lockdowns, to move to booking musicians on a gate-share basis rather than a flat fee. This is something they have long pushed for, as it makes the artists equally invested in selling tickets. In turn, acts who are anxious to get back on the road are more agreeable to this arrangement than ever before.

“More artists are willing to take a gate share now,” says Dhruv Singh, the founder of management company Pagal Haina, whose roster has Lifafa, Peter Cat Recording Co and The F16s. “Quite honestly, they don’t really have an option because a lot of venues and promoters have been avoiding buyout deals since COVID-19 struck. This is a good thing in the long run because it puts the onus on them to not take gigs for granted, and take the time and effort required to put bums on seats.”

Some promoters have started offering deals where they underwrite the musicians’ fees instead of the venue, and bank all the proceeds from the ticket sales. “The way we and a couple others have been operating of late [is that we’re] only doing landed deals for a lump sum, and taking the full gate,” says Third Culture Entertainment’s Brar. “The artist is expected to handle their travel, stay, local transport for their entire touring party as well as other expenses such as cargo charges and room service [from that amount]. Whatever is left over is their performance fee. [We’re] still responsible for providing backline equipment and staff. It’s a high risk game because if you don’t hit your break-even footfalls, you’re automatically in the red.”

Observation: Live acts are lowering their dependence on concerts for their livelihood

Consensus: Partially true

While playing gigs remains the main source of income for the majority of Indian independent musicians, and as Brar points out, “especially regional acts that do not have a national following," many artists, out of necessity as opposed to choice, have found alternative sources of revenue. Royalties from streaming, as has been well documented, pay too little save for a handful of acts. After the first country-wide lockdown, indie artists increasingly began conducting online classes and workshops and taking on more commissioned commercial assignments such as composing and singing for advertising jingles.

In what has been an indirect consequence of the pandemic, several of them have been involved in or signing synchronisation deals with OTT films and series, and even Bollywood movies.

In 2020, producer Achint Thakkar secured a streaming hit with his theme for the web show Scam 1992, and in 2021, When Chai Met Toast fans were pleasantly surprised when the band’s single 'Firefly' was used in the social media announcement post for Farhan Akhtar’s next film Jee Le Zara.

This year, viewers have seen and heard the acoustic version of Kuhad’s 'Kasoor' in the Netflix India Original thriller Dhamaka, and Sameer Rahat and Hybrid Protokol’s tunes in the SonyLIV drama Homecoming. During the first week of February, singers Jai Anand, Mali, and Kamakshi Khanna announced their Hindi film or OTT series soundtrack debuts with their appearances on the OSTs for Netflix India Original movie Looop Lapeta, the theatrically released Badhaai Do, and ZEE5 show Kaun Banega Shikharwati respectively.

Khanna scored somewhat of a double whammy; in addition to 'Chhan Chhann Chhan' from Kaun Banega Shikharwati, which also marked composer duo Parekh & Singh’s first foray into this field, her 2021 collaboration with electronic artist OAFF, 'Duur,' was part of the trailer of the just-released Netflix India Original series The Fame Game.

Speaking of OAFF, his chart-topping and short video platform-conquering tracks for Amazon Prime Video India Original film Gehraiyaan, which he co-composed with Savera Mehta, has been the largest indie-to-mainstream crossover since Gully Boy [2019]. Next, you can catch songs by Indian Ocean, Prabh Deep, and Taba Chake in the upcoming Lionsgate Play show Jugaadistan. Finally, our film and TV industries seem to be spotlighting indie, not just co-opting it.

Amit Gurbaxani is a Mumbai-based journalist who has been writing about music, specifically the country's independent scene, for nearly two decades. He tweets @TheGroovebox.

by Amit Gurbaxani