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| Pakistani artists who gained fame from Spotify, who were 'invested by seeing talent' |
Global audio streaming service Spotify, launched in Pakistan two years ago, claims that 70 percent of people in the country listened to hip-hop songs on streaming last year. It is not difficult to guess that most of the young generation is using streaming services.
Hip-hop music is relatively new in Pakistan and most of the young artists are trying their claws into this genre of music, the most popular group being 'Young Stunners' whose songs have been and are still dominating the top charts of streaming services. are
Young artists acknowledge that streaming services, including digital platforms YouTube, have played a major role in bringing their work to audiences. Young Pakistani artiste Tahaji has been making music for the past six years, but only recently has he and his work started getting recognition.
According to him, the reason for this is Spotify, a global streaming platform launched in Pakistan two years ago.
"I've been releasing songs since before Spotify. I've seen how much of a difference Spotify has made. On all my streams and listeners.
Spotify is helping young and emerging musicians make a name for themselves through its Radar program. Tahaji is the Radar Artist for this year, while young musician Hasan Rahim was selected as the first Radar Artist last year.
'Gen Z is interested in understanding the music business
In the past, like the rest of the world, Pakistani artists marketed their music through audio cassettes, minidiscs, and CDs. Along with globalization, when the internet became more accessible to the general public, these artists also saw a tough time when people started downloading their work instead of buying and listening to it.
In the same scenario, there was a time of streaming websites, but even there the music was free and there was no financial benefit to the musician.
Khan FM, Spotify's artist, and label partnership manager told the BBC that piracy has been a huge challenge in Pakistan, which has led many artists to stop making music.
"Like a painter or any other artist, a musician has the same desire to release his songs, perform them and make money from them."
Mentioning the pop bands Junoon, Vital Signs, and Strings, he said that they all made their careers by doing live shows. But when you get older, obviously the shows are fewer, then artists around the world survive through the music business.
People connected to the music industry say that very few musicians are aware of the copyrights of their songs, whether they are from cities or folk and folk musicians from remote areas.
But now there are audio streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal, or iTunes which have completely changed the shape of the music industry in Pakistan like the rest of the world.
Composer, producer, and songwriter Saad Sultan, who composed the music for the Pakistani film 'Kamli', says that 'audio streaming platforms have gained a lot of popularity in Pakistan now. The main reason for this is that there have been no regular record labels in Pakistan for a long time.
So the new artist usually doesn't know what to do? How to release the song, if they have made the song, what is its future and how can it be brought to people.
According to Khan FM, Spotify is also informing musicians to register the rights to their songs after which they can easily showcase them on various platforms and get financial benefits. According to him, the young generation or popularly known as 'Jin Xi' musicians are very interested in this.
"Spotify talks about the music business, along with revenue and royalties." "Jin Zhi artists are more aware of who owns or should own the rights to their songs."
Streaming services: 'Pakistani music has a bright future
While global music streaming is becoming popular in Pakistan, the reach of Pakistani music has increased globally. Recent examples of this new recognition are artists like Urooj Aftab, who won the country's first Grammy Award for Pakistan, or the young artist Shay Gill, whose song 'Pasuri' went viral not only in Pakistan but across the world.
While streaming services are still relatively new to Pakistan's music scene, there is a clear upward trend in their popularity. It is because of these streaming services that Pakistani artists have been seen and heard in Times Square and Marvel movies.
“There are a lot of artists who go beyond social media, but in my case, my streams were very few until Spotify came to Pakistan,” says Tahaji. Then there was a difference. Now I have followers not only in Pakistan but also in India, UK, and USA. Now my music can be heard all over the world.
In the past, Pakistan has been a market where free entertainment has been a trend, be it downloading and listening to songs or getting free concert tickets.
But now this impression is disappearing. People are listening to music on the digital platform YouTube or by subscribing to the audio platform Spotify. Both these things are directly benefiting the artist financially.
"Spotify doesn't need to invest in us, but they're investing because they're seeing talent," Tahaji says. Showing them how far these people can go. Only in PakistanNot only, but in the whole world.
Saad Sultan said, 'Most artists are preferring to release their new music on these platforms as they are mainly music and audio based platforms which do not require them to make videos and A song can automatically reach people, which was not possible before.'
Pakistani artist Sajjad Ali calls the popularity of the streaming service a welcome change and is optimistic that the future is bright.
While talking to BBC, he said that "I don't think that it is too far for anyone to complain that we don't get a chance." Now if something comes to you, show it. Places and avenues are yours. Especially on Digital platforms.
“A lot of my work, almost all of it, is on digital platforms. My work is on Spotify, iTunes, and other digital stores. I am quite optimistic and I think the future is quite bright.
Despite the challenges of cheap internet services and other free streaming available in the market, the way audio music is listened to is changing worldwide and its impact is being seen in Pakistan as well.
Due to this shift and boom, the environment for music in the country is getting better and more favorable day by day. Otherwise, earlier people preferred to listen to songs on services like Patari and SoundCloud, which did not pay the artists that much.
It is not that people are no longer listening to music on these services, but now people, especially the youth, are turning to streaming platforms where they can listen to music by subscribing.
After this changing situation, it is hoped that a solid music industry will emerge in Pakistan and music piracy will be completely eradicated.
This will encourage the creation of distribution firms, artist management companies, and promotion enterprises that support artists.