RISE of MUSIC : from the subcontinent

I have lived in Mumbai for three and a half years now, and spent 6 months in Bangalore. During this period of my life I was fortunate enough to have interacted with musicians who I met from many walks of life, they have been an inspiration/muse and a healer to me. Music was something I have always enjoyed listening to but I was not particularly involved in going and finding it to listen. I heard what the radio/TV played in childhood and then moved to sharing mp3s as a teen with very similar teens who were listening to very similar beats. My exploration deeply expanded in college because of YouTube, but it was very sporadic and moody (when my heart broke the first time, the rabbit hole of music was chased deep).

I had spent the 90’s in India and the music then was catchy and pop was rising. But mostly people heard Bollywood related stuff, a few independent albums here and there. Sometimes cousins/friends coming from the U.S would bring something that would really move me. But things have changed drastically.

I don’t have anything against Bollywood music (ok I do, a significant amount of it is just regurgitated fluff), but to be fair there is some amazing music coming from the movie industry too and there are many new apps like Saavn and Gaana for people to explore it.

Though what I want to talk about today is the growing current of independent music coming out of India and Pakistan. I feel that partly thanks to the internet the youth here got access to an unprecedented music collection over the last decade, this music’s inspiration has given birth to distinctly global music out of this region.

India has a rich tradition of music and because of the diversity of this country, both instruments and voices vary quite significantly across the region, this has led to some amazing fusion and folk music. Endeavours like Coke Studio, Nescafe Basement, Kappa TV amongst others come to mind, that have celebrated this diversity of music in India and Pakistan. They have created an environment of collaboration between artists that would otherwise not have had an opportunity to create this unique amalgamation of sound.

I also had a chance to explore the rising electronic music here in Mumbai, the underground scene is very much alive. I guess with the ease of access to electronic equipment and some space with a computer has led many to experiment, the beats being created have substance, though there are few that truly have an original sound, I feel there will be more soon.

Same goes for Rock and Pop, the college festivals across India have really helped sustain these bands and the scene is flourishing with more artists touring the country and finding an audience for their music.

There is a new wave of music coming out of the subcontinent and I have been fortunate enough to be experiencing it first hand. My friends and I realised that there is currently no place for a community to form that wants to celebrate the spirit of these artists who have not made it big commercially but deserve our attention and love. We have taken the matter into our hands and over the last month built such a community of music feelers at — www.hotserved.com

Here are some key benefits that I want to share:

• Listen to independent and undiscovered music you won’t find anywhere else.
• Share and dedicate your favourite songs.
• Personalise your listening experience by voting your favourite tracks to listen later.
• Listen to songs from SoundCloud, Saavn, YouTube, Spotify, Patari all in one place.

We have done this because we care for the music, I am sure there are many others out there that feel the same. I want to urge you to spread the word about Hotserved, it’s your community and we promise to keep it democratic.

Let’s go feel some music :)

PS: Android app is here