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The year 2021 saw the release of several non-film singles that made it to the trending charts and went viral online. ‘Adipoli’- a celebratory track about a Tamil man falling in love with a Malayali woman as he partakes in Onam celebrations at the latter’s residence, became an instant hit following its release in August last year. Important aspects of Onam celebrations like Onam Sadhya (feast), Chenda beats (percussion instrument), Vadam Vali (tug of war) and Pookolom (rangoli with flowers) are all elements that light up the screen in this fun dance number. Popular music composer Sean Roldan who made his debut with Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, came out with a music video titled ‘Parai’ which is based on the life of a Parai artist. The six-minute video presents a sharp take of casteism and discrimination faced by Parai artists. Although several tracks like Vivek and Mervin’s ‘Orasaadha’ went viral in 2018, long before the release of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’, it is only in 2021 that bigger music labels like Think Music and Saregama Tamil, among others have been consistently producing non-film singles.
Speaking to TNM, Magesh Rajendran who is the Creative Head of Think Music and A&R (Artists and repertoire) at Think Indie explains that the music label has been focusing on increasing production of originals for two to three years. However, he notes that the massive success of Arivu and Dhee’s indie single ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ has created a buzz around release of these tracks. “At Think Music, non-film music videos fall under two categories- Think Indie and Think Originals. For Think Indie, we look for artistes who have not released songs with larger music labels earlier and we groom and launch them. Whereas, Think originals has well-known players from the industry on board.” Apart from 'Parai' and 'Adipoli', Think Music also released tracks like ‘Rani’, ‘Hora’ and ‘Idli Chutney’.
Anand who works as Deputy General Manager (DGM) for content at Saregama Tamil believes that the success of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ paved the way for a market for non-film music. The lack of film releases in 2021 due to the pandemic is also viewed as a factor that boosted the release of non-film music.“Notably, the boundaries between mainstream and independent music also seem to be blurring with the release of more originals by bigger music labels,” he says. For instance, Cooku With Comali fame actor Ashwin, gained popularity through singles like ‘Kutty Pattas’ and ‘Adipoli’.
“For ‘Magizhini’, a song about the love story of a Tamil lesbian couple who meet each other at a Bharatanatyam class, I wanted to cast two well-known actors since it is viewed as a taboo subject by some, and doing so, would increase the reach the song has. I was looking for two actors who can dance, and once I approached actors Gouri Kishan and Anagha, neither of them were hesitant to join. They were happy about the collaboration, and the song has also garnered good responses from viewers,” says VG Balasubramanian, director of ‘Magizhini’.
Though this is a positive trend, Anand also notes that as far as stars and well-known players from the film industry signing non-film music projects are concerned, there is still a long road ahead. Saregama Tamil originals released in 2021 include songs like ‘Enna Vazhka Da’, ‘Good Naai Bad Aadu’, ‘Marry Me’, ‘Bodha Devadha’, and ‘Gundumalli’.
‘Parai’ and ‘Magizhini’ are both examples of conceptual tracks. Instead of catering to the larger plot line, characters and situations as is the case with songs in a film, creators have the ability to build their own world - both in terms of visualisation and music. The result, Anand and Magesh share, are interesting tracks that explore unique themes that would be more difficult to discuss in films. “Some labels might not produce a song like OfRo’s ‘Semma Bodhai’ since it discusses usage of alcohol. ‘Pottum Pogathume’ which starred Arjun Das and Lavanya Tripathi was initially conceptualised as a short film. We turned it into a 11-minute long music video. I don’t think it would be possible to have these kind of songs in movies,” Magesh tells TNM, while explaining how there is more room for experimentation when it comes to originals.
Sung by Satyajit Ravi and Jen Martin, ‘Pottum Pogathume’’ is set in the future, in 2050, in a world where people haven’t been able to successfully fight the coronavirus pandemic. It is set against the backdrop of a hospital taking in people infected with the virus and not permitting them to go back to their regular lives. Anyone who tries to escape gets punished in the dystopian setup. The main focus of the song however, is on the love story of a couple who fight all the odds to get back together.
Watch ‘Pottum Pogathume’ here:
Watch ‘Semma Bodha’ here:
Indie music artists for long have spoken about the lack of opportunities presented by bigger music labels, and the lack of freedom to touch upon sensitive themes. Anand shares that it is changing with more indie artists entering the mainstream, and there is more space for indie artists more open to experimenting with unique genres and themes. The growth of the indie music scene in other regional language industries like Malayalam, and more actors, singers and creators involved in cinema turning to production of originals, is proof that it is the way forward.
Saregama as well as Think Music have several originals lined up for release. After the release of ‘Amour’, Anand shares that six to seven originals will be released in the upcoming months. Meanwhile, Think Music, on the other hand, has collaborated with artists like composer Harris Jayaraj, Josh Vivian, who is known for the song ‘Cosmopolitan Kadhali’, and ‘En Rant ah Konjam Kelu’ fame Vaisagh, among others for upcoming projects.
Both Anand and Magesh point out that measuring the monetary success of music videos is quite different from film music. If box office numbers and OTT deals are used to measure the fiscal success of films, it is the number of views and streams that is predominantly used for music videos. “We are all still in the process of figuring out monetary strategies for fiscal recovery in the non-film music space,” says Anand.
Think Music’s Magesh adds that recovering the money spent on production becomes difficult when the tracks are led by artists who are not popular. In order to circumvent the issue, Magesh says Think Music prefers signing several small-budget projects with the same artist instead of using a higher budget for a single music video. “If the artist is not well-known, we spend around Rs 3 to 5 lakh per video and collaborate with them for four to five songs instead of one. This way, the artist gets exposure and the venture is also profitable,” he says.
Nevertheless, social media has become the backbone of such projects. Interestingly, it is not the number of views but the number of Instagram reels that is counted to gauge if a song has gone viral. The music labels start working on a social media strategy for different platforms right from the production phase. “If it is a fast song, it is more likely to go viral since people would use it in dance reels but if it is a melody or emotional number, the marketing strategy has to be different. We try our hand at influencer marketing or collaborate with artists who make covers of these tracks to increase its visibility,” says Anand. He further says, “For ‘Magizhini’, we created a hashtag as the first LGBTQIA+ song and it was trending in India on the day of the song’s release. So, it is true that a different strategy needs to be used for each platform.”