After Priyanka Chopra, singer MONAlI THAKUR is aiming high to make it big on the global music firmament through singles. She talks to SANGEETA YADAV about the lack of music infrastructure and intellectual property rights that need to be fixed
After winning the hearts of the millions with her song Moh Moh Ke Dhaage and Sawaar loon, and her latest instinct with MTV Unplugged and Rising Star, singer Monali Thakur aspires to make a mark globally. Hitting the right note at international music scene last month, Thakur debut with new her new music video titled On Top of The World alongside Oscar-winning actor-singer Jennifer Hudson, Brit pop star Pixie lott and Brazillian singer luan Santana for creating awareness about clean energy solutions.
Thakur is now working on her single and feels that independent music scene has the potential to grow big than Bollywood. “Independent music has grabbed attention. New musicians are coming up with singles. It is the best time to venture into the scene. I want the youngsters to come up with their own singles and not just depend on film music. This will open up new amazing sounds that lie unheard,” Thakur says.
Singles by independent artists are getting so popular that their compositions have been adapted in Bollywood movies, be it Kala Chashma or Saturday Saturday. While one may consider Bollywood music popular music, Thakur feels that it would be wrong to say this as independent music is making Bollywood music. “Bollywood has always adapted singles but people don't get to know about it. Independent music which should be the popular music. That is how things are everywhere in the world. Artists should do independent music,” Thakur asserts.
But to collaborate internationally and work as an independent artist, Thakur emphasises that we need to fix our Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).“Indian culture and music is the richest in the world but it is sad that we have not been able to reach the top of the international charts. To be able to collaborate with international artists, we need to fix our IPRs. I faced the issue when I wanted to make something with producers abroad and the project got stuck. As an independent artist, even if we launch our own single, we will never be able to generate revenue because everybody is busy buying the rights so that they become creators. Singers don’t get what they deserve. There are a lot of problems regarding rights, music infrastructure and how it functions.
“The IPR has been snatched away from the artists because of the power and money game. We need unity in the music fraternity to fight for our rights. If as independent artists we are not clear about the rights and have no legal support, it is not possible to have a good career growth and revenue generation,” Thakur says.
Though these are good times for singers in India, Thakur reveals that radio channels, the biggest platform for promoting the music of all genres, are now turning down the independent music. “I was saddened to hear that the radio channels which are supposed to take all kinds of music to the masses having stopped playing independent music. They only play Bollywood songs. It is all about money, maybe. They are discriminative with songs and artists,” Thakur says.
Despite all the issues, the best thing that has happened in the music industry is MTV Unplugged. “MTV Unplugged is paradise for musicians. We get the chance to interpret and sing in our own way even if the song is composed and sung by someone else. I got a chance with my song Moh Moh Ke Dhaage which I had sung long back. It was nice to be able to jam on that,” Thakur says.
Talking about what changes she would like to see for the musicians, Thakur says: “I would like to see musicians getting to have and not being sabotaged by their producers. People making music should feel good about it instead of being frustrated about not getting returns.”