Hanumankind and Maxo Kream carry out on the Mojave Tent through the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Pageant (Arturo Holmes/Getty Photographs for Coachella)
There are a number of moments you don’t neglect as a music journalist. The thud of a bassline rolling throughout a pageant discipline simply earlier than the headliner walks on. The mic test at a dirty basement gig the place solely 12 individuals have proven up—however each considered one of them is aware of the lyrics. The silence of a studio at 3 a.m., damaged by a singer capturing a verse that wasn’t even within the demo. However the one sound I hold coming again to—particularly on World Music Day—is the sound of India figuring itself out. The sound of an trade looking for its id and slowly, steadily, constructing one.
I’ve spent the previous couple of years writing about music on this nation. From front-row pageant protection to last-minute greenroom interviews, from artist profiles to behind-the-scenes items, the trade has developed. And if there’s one factor I’ve discovered, it’s that Indian music isn’t simply in regards to the music; it’s about entry, voice, visibility, satisfaction, and risk.
There was a time when it felt like this trade wasn’t fairly certain the place it was headed. A lot of the focus was on Bollywood. Regional artists needed to combat for visibility, unbiased acts needed to self-fund, self-produce, and self-market—typically with zero help. There have been no methods in place. No roadmap. Simply uncooked expertise and pure grit. And but, right here we at the moment are.
This 12 months alone has been filled with moments that will’ve appeared unthinkable a decade in the past. Bengaluru-based rapper Hanumankind brought fire to Coachella’s stage, making historical past as one of many few Indian unbiased hip-hop artists to carry out on the iconic pageant. Not lengthy earlier than that, Diljit Dosanjh, who had already made waves at Coachella in 2023, walked the crimson carpet on the Met Gala, carrying the burden of custom and stardom in equal measure. That wasn’t only a popular culture win. It was a message: we belong right here.
Nearer to house, Coldplay finally brought their Music of the Spheres tour to India, and what struck me most wasn’t simply the dimensions—it was that Indian artists like Jasleen Royal had been opening for one of many largest bands on the planet, in entrance of 1000’s.
On the similar time, unbiased artists have been making quiet, highly effective strides. Instrumentalist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma has been packing venues across the nation along with his Sitar for Psychological Well being Tour, worldwide festivals akin to Lollapalooza and Rolling Loud are being hosted within the nation; unbiased artists like Chaar Diwari and tricksingh have pushed visible boundaries with among the most hanging, cinematic music movies we’ve seen this 12 months; and the final version of Spotify’s Rap 91 showcase introduced collectively among the most fun names in Indian hip-hop—Dhanji, Child Jean, MC Couper, The Siege, —every representing a unique nook of the nation.
You’ll be able to open Spotify immediately and discover an Assamese alt-rock band subsequent to a Mumbai drill rapper. You’ll be able to attend a pageant in Goa or Meghalaya and listen to units that blend Manipuri people with UK storage. You’ll be able to scroll via Instagram and stumble throughout a Carnatic reinterpretation of a Western pop monitor, after which instantly swipe right into a Hindi lo-fi heartbreak anthem made in somebody’s bed room.
Our musical panorama has expanded, and it’s as a result of the individuals who make up this trade refused to remain in a field.
What excites me probably the most is that the tales I get to inform now aren’t simply in regards to the grind. They’re about development. Artists are pondering long-term, and producers are getting the highlight they deserve. Managers are constructing whole manufacturers from scratch. And followers? They’re extra invested than ever earlier than—shopping for tickets, exhibiting up, constructing fandoms, and educating themselves in regards to the course of behind the music.
In actual fact, we’re additionally witnessing a shift in angle. This isn’t an trade ready to be “found” anymore. It’s not about asking for a seat on the desk—it’s about constructing new tables altogether. We’re now not chasing international approval. We’re defining what international means on our phrases.
In fact, we nonetheless have an extended method to go. The royalty methods are nonetheless flawed, and gender illustration on stage and behind the scenes nonetheless wants work. Regional languages nonetheless don’t get equal visibility throughout all platforms, and psychological well being stays a priority, particularly in a enterprise that by no means switches off. And but, we’re acknowledging this stuff. We are attempting. And we’re studying.
As somebody who paperwork these shifts, I typically ask myself: What story are we telling the world about Indian music? The reply is altering day by day.
It’s now not only a story of wrestle; it’s a narrative of technique, neighborhood, and comeback. It’s a narrative of younger youngsters in small cities making beats that go viral globally. Of legacy artists embracing change. Of collectives rising rather than old-school hierarchies. Of a scene that’s now not ready for validation, as a result of it’s too busy constructing its personal.
So, for those who’re within the music trade—whether or not you’re an artist, an govt, a tour supervisor, or somebody working extra time behind the scenes—I hope you are taking a second immediately to replicate on how far we’ve come and the way a lot additional we will go if we hold this momentum alive.
Blissful World Music Day!
