Music hits a high note in the capital

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Lately Delhi has played host to many musical gigs and the count doesn’t stop here as an entire season of national and international music festivals is lined up for the coming weeks. Organisers feel that there is a positive change in the music scene of Delhi, hence the niche genres are also being featured on a regular basis in the city.

Delhi NCR has seen a lot of action of late, and it will grow further if there are lower taxation implications for organisers, feels Michael Khanna, founder of WORME Fest. He says, “There is a very large void and lots of work has to be done. The noticeable change I’ve seen is that today there are more companies and teams involved in organising live musical events, both domestic and international ones, which is good for the independent music industry in India.”
Earlier many music lovers would complain about the lack of good gigs, but since there is growing appreciation for non-Bollywood and independent music, Delhi’s musical circuit has become more cosmopolitan.
Anirban Chakraborty of Rock Street Journal and co-organsier of 100 Pipers India Music Week, says, “Delhi has always had a music listening culture and it is this ongoing tradition of appreciative audiences that has made it the musical hub of the country. A big change is the emergence and combination of many forces that now seem to have the proper insight and vision to create a great scene of music in the city. Demands are getting bigger in terms of infrastructure and facilities as it has become a growing industry that indicates only great potential. Accordingly, all concerned laws and permissions have also started understanding the importance of the same.”
If we talk about the demand and supply phenomenon, the rise in number of folk, sufi, cultural and classical music is as noteworthy as any other Western genre of music. Abhay Rustum Sopori, musician and sectary-general of SaMaPa music festival, says, “The nepotism prevalent in the music industry is fading now. More and more talented artists are getting recognised for the work they do and are getting appreciated for it by listeners. It is a cultural movement and it will take some time to get into full swing. However, the government and authorities concerned have been very helpful and post-Commonwealth Games there have been more cultural activities in the city on a larger scale.”
Our monitoring mechanisms, infrastructure and facilities need to be more flexible so that more such activities can be organised on a larger scale, fells Ankur Malhotra, co-founder of Amarrass Desert music festival.
He says, “Earlier the only music that was popular was Bollywood, but now people want to listen to something new. There are lesser-known yet talented folk artists and now we have a platform for them. The permissions and norms related to musical gigs in Delhi NCR might be tedious but it is getting more relaxed now.”