Indie music could benefit from lockdown, says Jigar Saraiya

Speaking about the music industry, composer Jigar Saraiya stated that the coronavirus lockdown might be beneficial for independent music in India. Promoting original music, he also said that the remix trend needs to get out of the system.

Mumbai: Jigar Saraiya, of the popular composer duo Sachin-Jigar, said that the only silver lining about the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown for the music industry is that since films and film music will get delayed, independent music might get a little more space.

The film industry has taken a huge hit owing to the lockdown. On asking what kind of a blow does he think is in store for the music industry, Jigar told IANS: "If we talk about hard-hit, (think of) our film released on March 13, Angrezi Medium. The film could only stay in theatres for one day because the cinema halls got locked down a day after that. The most affected film is our film."

He went on to add: "But at the same time, the most successful song of this year is Kudi Nu Nachne De - which is from that film. I think the song has benefited from the lockdown because people are at home, dancing to that song and making their videos."

He said that the lockdown has two effects. "It is going to affect everybody right from CEO's to musicians, business people... everybody will face difficulties... How do you recover from such a big halt? Music of course if there are films which are being pushed then music will also get pushed but at the same time because Sachin and I do a lot of independent music that will get a little cap because when a lot of film music comes then there is not much space for independent music. TV and radio have no slots."

Jigar added: "Since film music will come a little late, independent music might get a little space. What India needs right now is to get out of the remix trend and get into original music. Maybe, this is what I am thinking as a silver lining for musicians."

With inputs from IANS.