How technology has impacted the art of music-making-Entertainment News , Firstpost

No feeling is similar to the sound of our favorite music that lifts us out of depression and makes the otherwise horrible day a beautiful one. However, like any other industry, the world of music has also witnessed a revolution with technology taking up the center stage. AI composers, holographic artists, streamlined streaming, VR music videos, and pay-to-play gave new avenues and mediums to artists to connect with their audience.

Indian lyricist and National Award winner Swanand Kirkire says that technology has impacted the music industry in a big way. “With the change of technology, so many good things have also come in the music, for example, good sounds have come, and music-making has become so easy,” he told Firstpost and pointed out that yes, it has also taken away the charm of sitting together and creating music.

“Music-making has become an isolated process. Earlier everyone used to sit together and make music but having said that, things change with time. We have to understand and see how technology has eased down the process of music-making,” he added.

Singer Sona Mohapatra, who is excited for the release of her new documentary 'Shut Up Sona' on ZEE5 that chronicles her journey not only as a woman standing up for her rights but also as an artist who simply wants to sing without a muzzle, says that Technology has democratized the creative and production process.

“This has liberated artists, content creators and record labels in small towns and regional music have made the most of it,” she told Firstpost.

However, for her, the downside is that “for new artists and those who don’t want to pay through their nose for promotion, the process of getting discovered has gotten even tougher than before.”

“Music streaming platforms like Spotify & Apple Music are doing their bit by promoting playlists featuring independent artists, but the mainstream still has a stranglehold on the eyes and ears,” she said.

Popular Singer Aastha Gill who has given hit tracks like ‘Buzz’, ‘Naagin’, ‘DJ Wale Babu’, and has now collaborated with rapper Bali for her next dance track titled ‘ Balma’ that will release soon by Warner Music India, says that with innovations, comes both positives and negatives.

"Everything is more accessible now, and the playground for musicians, and artists have become bigger. Also, a lot of samples are digitally made and that’s how the sound is evolving and we get to hear new sounds every 6 months or 3 months which is a great thing,” she told Firstpost.

Having said that, she says that the authenticity of Indian cultural music has deteriorated a little because of that innovation.  “A lot of musicians and artists have become dependent on this technology which is not a good thing and the authenticity has gone down the drain,” she added.

For Delhi-based rapper, and music producer Bali, Technology has helped music reach a wider audience but with that, the shelf life of every track has been drastically reduced.

Some agree that the intervention of technology in the music industry has given a platform to a lot of homegrown artists who were otherwise looking for the right platforms.

“Right now music and art have become so handy that they can travel easily and hence the experiments are happening. Now you have a choice among so many artists whom you can support,” said Indian pop singer King, whose first track in 2015 has clocked up over 120 million audio streams.

“There was a time when making music was costly and there was a completely different analog for that but now everything is digital so yes it’s good for aspiring artists who are looking for platforms,” he said.

The same is with Dream Note band members - Vocalist and Songwriter Gaurav Tiwari  and Producer and Guitarist Taresh Agarwal

“The good part is you can listen to music anytime anywhere, there have been so many advancements regarding hearing devices from Bluetooth speakers to earbuds and whatnot, making the Music listening experience better with every passing day. The same goes with creating music, you can now explore a wide range of soundscapes through these plugins and software, even instruments, which gives the creator a wide room for experimentation,” they said.

The duo also feels that a lot of artists are doing Online concerts, on social media, or on platforms that have been designed for this purpose only, and then there's VR, Metaverse, a whole new world of endless possibilities.

Singer-composer and poet Chinmayi Tripathi says technology has changed the way music is produced nowadays but with some drawbacks.

“It's not just about using new kinds of techno sounds but also whatever live instruments were being used earlier in music whether it was sarangi, sitar or violin or the saxophone can now be replaced by technology. You can use the same samples and produce the same kind of sound without involving any live musicians so one drawback I would say is that live music has gone out of the scene completely and it has affected the bread and butter of so many artists because of technology,” she told Firstpost.

However, with every revolution something bad happens, she said.

“The good thing is that music production has become superior in terms of quality and the kind of sounds we have today has enriched the music scene,” she said.

Finally, singer and Guitarist Vishal Sumer says earlier, that it used to take many months to a year to roll out and record a song with an orchestra of musicians playing an instrument live, but now with digital advancement, a song can be recorded within days.

"The duration has reduced tremendously," he said and added that with that, many musicians have lost jobs as most music from instruments is now being created digitally,” he said.

However, he points out that technology has also opened a lot of new avenues in music, a lot more genres were created and hence it becomes even more important for music creators to find the right balance.

"There is a fine line between a song going 'music to your ears' and 'just noise',” he sums up.

Nivedita Sharma's work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA. 

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