Rapper songwriter Ikka, who made his Bollywood music debut in 2014, has strong views on the music industry. He believes that the success of a song should not be judged by its popularity on social media.
In the age of virals and trend reels, the focus in the music industry has shifted towards quantity over quality, resulting in music being treated like fast food.
focus on quality
“The only change I would like to see in the music industry is for people to focus on making artistic videos, give importance to sounds, and spend some time and attention on making music. And not just release anything and everything,” said Ikka, whose real name is Ankit Singh Patyal.
“We have to focus on quality so that it lasts for years. I still listen to some songs that were released 20 years ago. Today, the focus is not on making music that can stand the test of time and not even on quality. It’s just fast food. Done in no time, finished in no time and you’re off to your next bite,” she continues.
The public no longer hears the whole song
But the rapper blames no one for the declining quality of the music. “No one is to blame for this. An incredible number of songs are also being released. Almost 100 songs every week. And the public only hears 30 seconds of a song these days. They don’t listen to the whole song anymore.”
Explaining his point, the rapper states, “It’s the age of 20-30 second reels. And when a song is used on a reel, it can also become a hit these days.”
“Sometimes I wonder if this is used to assess the success of a song created after so much brainstorming and effort. Trust me, it’s not an easy task to create a song from scratch and shape the vision. But that effort is no longer appreciated today.”
The public has the power
Ikka believes that only the public can influence the change that is necessary to offer a quality stage.
“The change can come when they listen to the song and then decide which song is good and which is not, instead of falling for all the marketing tricks.”
“Today, songs don’t just become hits, they are heavily influenced by the marketing plans associated with them. It is the listeners’ responsibility to determine the future sounds of the music industry.”
And Ikka is doing his best to help the public with that decision. He tells his own story in his new song Nishu. “The story of my song Nishu is the story of my life. I think it’s very important for the public to know where you come from so they can understand and identify with you.”