Punjabi musicians talk about the current state of Bhangra industry

Punjabi musicians like Roach Killa, Killa K and Aman Sandhu talk about the current state of the Bhangra industry���������
Roach Killa: I think it has always been an industry where people around the world look at to see who is hot and who is not, what is bubbling, what is coming, breakthrough acts, Punjabi, urban. It is the centre of attention as UK Bhangra industry has been developing for decades.Because of the social media, it is a bit easier to get your music across the public.
Well, buying your own music is like blowing your own trumpet. You can lie to others but when you come home in the night and are standing in front of the mirror, you can see right through yourself. Nowadays, people are buying their own records to achieve chart positions in order to fool the public into thinking that their music is popular, so they can benefit on bookings. But at the end of the day, public knows it all and sooner or later, will find out the truth, and that would be proved by the declined popularity of the artist.
We need to educate the public on legal downloads. Most people are genuine supporters and download your records online for free instead of legally downloading and they actually don't have any malice. For them, it is the norm and they think they are supporting the artist by listening to their music, which is great, but if you don't buy the record from iTunes, Amazon or any other digital outlet, then it affects the chart position of the artist.
Killa K: If you want to make noise in the industry, then you need to capture the Indian market. There was a time when the UK was good but now, all we get to see are the ���������ghost-produced��������� songs. We have no quality control and everyone is out there trying to become the next superstar. If we talk solely about the UK industry, it is becoming a joke. This has been proven by the YouTube artist, Jus Reign���������s song, 'Kabootaran di shaan.' Canada and Australia, I see, are the next in line to bring something new as their sounds are now developing at great speed.
Buying your own songs creates hype and gives the artist music exposure to a wider audience. However, on the other side, it is cheating and conning the genuine buyers of your music. The song and the music might be substandard. Therefore, it adds to the determination of the Punjabi music industry.
The industry needs a clean-up by getting rid of all the artists who are not talented and the record companies need to stop releasing the substandard music that these artists are trying to release. Platforms like YouTube and iTunes need to ensure that there is no way of people buying views which will put a stop to the false economy. We need to go back to the golden era, when bands like Apna Sangeet, Alaap and Heera were around. What I mean by this is that artists need to also need to start performing live rather than just using the studio recorded songs to impress their listeners.
Aman Sandhu: Punjabi music is reaching worldwide, which is a good thing. For example, in every other Bollywood movie, there is a Punjabi song. But at the same time, to increase the level of the industry, my suggestion is that the upcoming artists should learn the art of singing, at least the basics of music.
By buying the fake views, an artist is betraying himself in his own eyes just to make himself comfortable in front of his fans. Second, it is ruining the business side too because of piracy of audio and video. It also affects the thinking of fans too. Nowadays, fans think that whichever song has more views is a hit. They judge the song from views now, not the quality of music.
The artists as well as the record labels need to work to improve the Punjabi music industry. Otherwise, time is near when Punjabi music will be judged by its views not by its quality of music. Let fans decide which song deserves more views.
Source: Simplybhangra.com