The last three years have seen a sudden rise in the number of indie songs releasing and thriving. Ask the reason behind it, and Sulaiman Merchant says, “During the lockdown, there was no film music releasing. So all indie artistes were sitting at home and releasing music. It got recognised because there was an appetite for content among listeners. When film music started releasing again, both forms of music started coexisting and now there’s a beautiful ecosystem.”
Salim Merchant adds, “Today, the treatment of songs is such that you cannot make out the difference between film and non-film projects. The DSPs (music streaming platforms) have been a blessing for independent music.
When you go on any music streaming platform, you search for a singer or composer or song; you don’t search for an actor. Also, the remix culture in film music around 2014-2016 led people to think, ‘Yeh kya ho raha hai?’ That’s another reason why independent music picked up.” However, he feels there’s a “downside” to the rising popularity of indie music too: “These days, independent music has also started sounding like film music and vice versa. Since indie music is now rising, the makers are trying to be safer and more commercial to make it massy.”