How Important Are Record Labels to Contemporary Indian Music?
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Record Labels In Indian Music Today:
In a very practical sense, a record label in the year 2024 should be virtually obsolete. The internet can serve as a substitute for all of its major functions. Through the internet you can distribute your music, promote it through social media and create connections that lead to opportunities for gigs and performances. The ‘blew up online’ success story went from a rarity to the norm in a few quick years.
In 2009, when the art collective / rap group / streetwear pioneers Odd Future communicated and shared art with followers exclusively through Facebook, MySpace and blogs, they were viewed as revolutionary. Today, having an internet presence as an artist of any medium is compulsory. A physical ambience is optional, artists can live online, build their base on streaming platforms and if the music connects with other online presences, they’re now established musicians.
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The 2019 Zoya Akhtar film Gully Boy plots Ranveer Singh as a rapper gaining fame through his YouTube channel. The movie served as a mainstream platform to bring familiarity to the bubbling underground of Desi Hip Hop that has soared to great heights in the years since.
Musicians in India have a glass ceiling of growth. Local and even national fame are accessible through the internet and have spawned many underground hits, turning into a live-performance culture that is, to an extent, gatekept. While unintentional, this enclosure prevents international acclaim and cross-cultural potential.
For enthusiasts of the physical medium, labels help music sell as CDs and Vinyls, taking over their production and placement. This volume of raw material is generally inaccessible to independent artists.
Hanumankind took the world by storm in 2024 with Big Dawgs. After being a well-known name in Desi Hip Hop for several years through self-released singles and EPs, Big Dawgs was his second-ever label-pushed song. While the song’s catchiness, its high-concept music video and pop sensibilities are all factors that lend to a hit, such a steep uptick in streams that catapulted him right into the global mainstream was unprecedented yet well-deserved. As an artist with a formidable body of work before the viral hit, Big Dawgs feels like it was a long time coming and was enabled by a larger organisation that put it in the right hands and ears.
Labels help an artist break the glass ceiling and transcend borders. Getting your start and reaching audiences alone isn’t impossible, but a push is still necessary. Coordinating with organisations and reaching mutualistic conclusions that benefit both parties is important. Maintaining artistic integrity while shooting for bigger audiences is the balance most artists strive for.