Mumbai: In India where 70% of music is dominated by Bollywood, recent years have witnessed an outburst of talented upcoming artistes, bringing novelty in the indie music scene. The core reason for the availability is wide array of new platforms provided for artistes to showcase their talent.

Shedding light on the challenges faced by young artistes a group of panelists gathered at the 3rd edition of Nokia Music connects - the Indian music forum 2011 day. The session, Music Beyond Films, moderated by  On Mobile content head Atul Churamani, included Orangejuice Entertainment partner Owen Roncon, Artist Aloud associate VP Soumini Sridhara Paul, Kurian n Co MD Ben Thomas, E18 CEO Fahad Wadia, lyricist Neelesh Mishra and The Peninsula studio CEO Sita Raina.

To be recognized by the artiste manager has always been a major challenge for the musician in India. Speaking on the difficulties faced by emerging young talent  Ben Thomas said, "It's still difficult for upcoming artiste to make his mark in the very competitive Indian music scenario. It's very important for an artiste to deliver the right kind of content but along with it's equally necessary to have the  right backing."

E18 CEO Farhad Wadia differed with Thomas,  "I don't feel the artiste today  faces any difficulty in being recognized. But I agree that an artiste has to deliver the right kind of  content. Once artistes deliver good or rather right music, then they can easily attract a manager and record labels."

The introduction of several platforms and reality shows has provided a wide array of opportunity for artistes to showcase their talent, interjected Roncon. He said:  "The whole scenario of getting recognised and showcasing  talent in India has changed. There are 10 times more opportunities as compared to earlier times, thanks to the availability of social media and reality shows. Showcasing talent is no longer a road block."

"I think this is a best time for a musician; they don't have to depend on labels anymore as today artistes have opportunity to showcase their music directly to consumers through various platforms. Even telecast of music shows like Coke Studio, Unplugged has helped artistes to connect with consumers," Wadia added.

The sudden explosion of social media and networking sites has expanded the prospect for artistes. On the benefits of social sites Artist Aloud associate VP Soumini Sridhara Paul shared, "Social media has greater impact in today's music world. Artist Aloud has promoted artistes from every genre and language. Earlier artistes had fans because they were big, now they are big because they have fans."

Agreeing with Soumini, Raina stated, "Today, in the world of social media, the tables have turned. Consumer demand is of prime importance; they are the ones who make artistes. Social media platforms are the future of upcoming talent".

Contradicting this, Roncon commented, "Good music will always have audiences no matter on which platform it is projected. Earlier there were no mobile, no social media, but still good music existed."

Opposing Owen's views Soumini added, "Good music is very subjective and it depends on a very discerning listening audience."

However while the opportunities have expanded, new and upcoming artistes in the independent space continue to lag behind in incomes as compared to established singers. Said Wadia: "The artiste can earn through live gigs. And yes while his income is lesser than existing established acts, the fact is he has a much better opportunity to make a mark today, then he could in the past."

Mishra totally agreed with this, saying that he was a journalist for many years, who went on to writing songs, to forming a band, which has come in from nowhere and gained recognition by winning two awards recently, among which was indiantelevision.com group's Tellychakkar.com New Talent Awards.  I believe if your music is good, the sky is the limit....