MUMBAI: With independent Indian musicians like Raghu Dixit and Maati Baani participating in interesting music initiatives revolving around Independence Day, music channels are facing a tough challenge keeping up with the patriotic spirit of Independence Day.

On 15 August, 9XM, part of the 9X Media will be promoting the message 'Freedom Haq Se' with the help of multiple Filmfare Award winner Rani Mukherjee. Through this programme, Mukherjee aims to promote her upcoming film, 'Mardaani'. To spread the message, 9X has created two videos which will emphasise the importance of using freedom responsibly. The videos created by the channel will be promoted across on-air and digital platforms.

9XM's sister channel, 9XO will air songs surrounding 'liberty' and will follow the theme of 'Believe What You Want', 'Love Who You Want' and 'Listen To What You Want'. On Independence Day, 9XO will air songs that encourage liberal thinking, free will and freedom of expression. Besides this, the channel will also feature songs by Indian independent musicians starting from 7 August till 15 August.

In a surprising turn, Vh1, known for its foreign music content, seems to have taken the 'desi' route with specially-created custom programming. On Vh1's Top 50 Indian Songs, the programme will feature a countdown to some of the best of independent music. This special entertainment segment will be hosted by Rohit Pereira of Shaair + Func and Vice Versa fame. Pereira will walk the audience through the countdown with special inputs by Indian artistes and musicians on the evolution of Indian music in India and the influence abroad.

However, Pepsi MTV Indies is incorporating social media and encourages its viewers to tweet what freedom means to them using #indiependence. An amalgamation of these tweets will result in a song composed by Folk, Fusion and World music band, IndoGypsies. The band is known to seamlessly blend Folk music with a myriad of genres ranging from New Age, Western as well as Indian Classical.