The Independent Music Industry In India Should Be Bigger: Armaan Malik

Singer Armaan Malik wants his fellow musicians in the film industry to start releasing music independently as well, and make the independent music industry bigger. “If mainstream musicians start making independent music more often, then it will get bigger and I have no doubt about that,” says Armaan, who has released independent singles such as Aaja Na Ferrari Mein and Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon.

He adds, “In fact, there are some people, who are averse to the idea of starting their career with Bollywood, and want to start in the independent circuit directly. I don’t have the same thought process. This country lives, and breathes on Bollywood. It’s not right to shun that completely.”

The 22-year-old is very vocal about maintaining his identity as a singer-songwriter, and doesn’t want to be known as playback singer. Armaan says that he owes a lot to Bollywood, and feels his hits in Bollywood have made his independent music bigger.

“A lot of my album songs, like Le Ja Zakham Tere did well, after some of my Bollywood songs got famous. I realised that my independent music benefitted from the popularity I got for my Bollywood songs, and I think that’s a great thing,” he says.

Live shows too have helped Armaan in establishing his singer-songwriter image. “They (live shows) are very important to me because they gives me an opportunity to showcase myself as an artist. For that one hour or two hours that I am on stage, I can sing variety of songs be it romantic or dance numbers, and the fans can see what I am capable of. Also, in a live situation the singer goes in an emotional space, and gets a chance to tell the story behind the song, or their story. You establish a personal connection, and they know the artist and don’t just relate to the hit song,” says Armaan who recently played in a concert in the Capital.