Looking forward to OTT Music, which will likely to play a huge role in 2023-Narendra Kusnur

As the year ended, the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the forthcoming film Pathaan was played all over. Never mind the controversies regarding its originality or Deepika Padukone’s attire. The fact was that it became an overnight hit, with people even releasing reels showing them dancing to the tune.

Industry pundits are hoping that once the film is released on January 25, the song will get even more popular, contributing to a turnaround in the Hindi film music scenario. After all, though 2022 produced a few hits like ‘Kesariya’ in Brahmastra, the Dhokha title track, ‘Rangsari’ and ‘The Punjaaban Song’ in Jugjugg Jeeyo, the remade ‘Manike’ from Thank God, and the improvised ‘Jehda Nasha’ from An Action Hero, the overall standard of film music had fallen drastically. Qualitywise, the only consistent album for a theatrical release was perhaps Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. What worsened the situation was the fact that most big-screen Hindi releases flopped.

A year ago, one would have expected the Indie music genre to create a big dent on film music. But in 2022, Indie was a confused genre in itself. There were many good songs and albums, both in Hindi and English, but most got lost in the clutter. Many songs boasted of having these many million YouTube views, but those in the know would agree that some of those figures aren’t because of quality or actual popularity.

There were some brilliant albums, like Jaimin’s Cutting Loose, the Sushma Soma-Aditya Prakash record Home, the multi-artiste meditative music collaboration Aakasha, Panaah’s Nissima, Keshav Iyengar’s Seeing Faces and The Indica Project’s Time Travel. But these reached out to limited audiences. Rap artiste King grabbed attention with Champagne Talk, which had the smash song ‘Maan Meri Jaan’. The desi hip-hop scene depended more on live gigs, than new music releases. Also, with most listeners depending on streaming platforms and YouTube, they had the option of quick-surfing. So they rarely gave much time to one particular album or song. More than popular new music, the trend was to share links of classical and old Hindi film music.

Despite the overall struggle faced by Hindi film music, and the stagnancy in the Indie field, there were success stories in two other genres, namely OTT-related music and regional music.

If one looks closely, some of the best music was produced for OTT platforms. One of the biggest club numbers these days is ‘Yeh Ek Zindagi’, sung by Anupama Chakraborty Shrivastava in the film Monica, O My Darling, released exclusively on Netflix. Amit Trivedi’s songs in Qala, streamed on the same platform, have received rave reviews, with special mention of singers Sireesha Bhagavatula and Shahid Mallya. In Songs Of The River, a travel documentary, Shantanu Moitra gets in a host of magnificent singers.

Multi-episode OTT series with commendable music were Mukhbir, with music by Abhishek Nailwal, Masoom, composed by Anand Bhaskar, and Guilty Minds, with music by Sagar Desai (who also did the background score of Qala). Along with Achint Thakkar (Monica, O My Darling), Shivam Sengupta and Anuj Danait (Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen) and Advait Nemlekar (Escaype Live) these are some of the new composer names to look out for in 2023.

In the past, only a few OTT films and series boasted of good soundtracks. Examples were Made In Heaven, Bandish Bandits and Pagglait. But over 2022, the world of OTT platforms opened up, with some marvellous films and series being produced. This created potential for some different kinds of music, with focused on quality. Yet, a lot needs to be done in terms of marketing this genre – there seems to be little proactive effort on this front.

The other area to attract listeners was regional music, both popular and folk. Punjabi music has always been popular, because of the language’s closeness to Hindi, and its regular use in Bollywood. AP Dhillon, the late Sidhu Moosewala, Gurnam Bhullar, B Praak, Shubh and young Talwiinder had some huge songs, and the Pakistani hit ‘Pasoori’ by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill became a rage in India. Likewise, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi and Rajasthani folk music were in demand.

One notable observation is the fact that songs from the south crossed over to other regions. Last year, the Tamil ‘Enjoy Enjaami’, the Telugu ‘Srivalli’ (also released in other languages) and Yohani’s Sinhalese ditty ‘Manike Mage Hithe’ became a rage in other parts of India, besides clicking with the diaspora abroad. This year, Telugu music in particular was on roll.

According to a report by streaming platform Jio Saavn, Telugu music has 2 billion streams from January 1 2022 till December 20 2022, which was over twice the amount as Punjabi (1 billion), Kannada and Tamil (900 million each) and Bhojpuri (850 million). Now, with MM Keeravani’s song ‘Naatu Naatu’, from the Telugu movie RRR, nominated in the Golden Globes and being included in the Oscar shortlist, Indian music fans are waiting in anticipation. Another huge Telugu hit was the film Sarkari Vaaru Patha, composed by Thaman S.

Looking forward, OTT music is likely to play a huge role in 2023, though stronger publicity and marketing methods are needed. Regional music is also likely to be benefited by OTT platforms, as many films are streamed on them, leading to more exposure and better access to songs. Classical music and fusion will depend more on live events. Indie needs to be more organised, but there doesn’t seem to be a concrete mechanism to do that. As for new Hindi film music, one can only hope for a miracle.

(Narendra Kusnur very well known mumbai based (Music Journalist) gave us a 2022 recap for the music industry.Have over 37 years' experience and have been involved in diverse fields like journalism, music marketing and corporate training. Currently a music journalist covering all genres, writing in various publications, besides hosting online shows and consulting for playlist development on music streaming apps).