Are music videos still cool?

When MTV Beats and Vh1 India went off air on March 15 it felt like the end of an eraFor decades Vh1 helped us discover music itrsquos where we went to investigate whether our favourite artiste had dropped their new single yet Itrsquos where we learnt the lyrics to English songs well enough to sing along and build our cool credentials Catching the Top 10 Countdown or Hiphop Hustle was a ritual It lit up our screens with the delicious visuals of our favourite music videos and expanded our world How else could we have experienced Coldplayrsquos visually sweet Strawberry Swing or Beyonce and Shakirarsquos Beautiful Liar And now we have to bid goodbye to all of itTruthfully though we have not needed to rely on Vh1 to discover new music for a long time Now you can simply open an app search for any song and play it at will At times on loop There are algorithms that will point you in the direction of similar artistes to explore One of the features of YouTubersquos Premium subscription allows users to continue listening to music while their screens are off So is anyone even watching videos anymore22 cr Views that Hanumankindrsquos innovative music video Big Dawgs got on YouTube PicYoutubeHanumankindAsk the artistes who continue to invest in and churn out videos and the answer is a resounding yes Itrsquos just that the platform has shifted from TV to YouTube and social medialdquoWe have stopped watching TV But the main shift is that we now decide what we want to watch and listen tordquo says Nanku an Indian hiphop singersongwriter and producer ldquoWhen we had music channels we couldnrsquot pick the song and had to wait for the one we liked to come on screenrdquoVideos are a tool for storytelling for musicians Itrsquos why many of them spend big bucks to make the visual experience all the more stunning Therersquos Hanumankindrsquos Big Dawgs and his more recent Run It Up which is a cultural feast for the eyes Metal band Bloodywoodrsquos Bekhauf made in collaboration with the Japanese band Babymetal has an animated video To further their artistic expression musicians are not only acting and performing in videos but directing them as well Folkfusion artiste Raghu Dixit turned director for his song Alemaari Tamil pop artiste Paal Dabba for Kaathu Mela and the increasingly popular Chaar DiwaariThe video for Karun and Arpit Balarsquos hit song Maharani racked up 33 crore views on YouTubemdashproof that therersquos still an audience for the format PicyoutubekarunldquoWhen we make songs wersquore allowed a certain kind of sonic tapestry to tell the story that we want to tell And with videos you get to extend that world into a more sort of solidified visual worldrdquo says Saachi singersongwriter and producer adding ldquoI believe it helps people better understand the point of what we are trying to sayrdquo ldquoVideos showcase the quirkiness of the artisterdquo echoes Nanku ldquoAnd as an artiste the most exciting bit is that you get to live out the music you have created on screenrdquoTalking about the process singersongwriter Karun says ldquoWhen you are making a song you see it in front of you Itrsquos like a movie into your worldrdquoPho another singersongwriter believes seeing the artiste performmdashon video or livemdashmakes a difference ldquoI performed at a private show for Amazon in Bengaluru and the audience could not understand Hindi lyrics But my energy helped them connect with the songrsquos emotions I listen to Tamil artistes and I cannot understand the language but through visuals I get the context Videos can help break language barriersrdquo she saysKarunTherersquos also a flip side wherein artistes create a video after a songrsquos success Karunrsquos viral desi hiphop number Maharani was first released on CD and then Spotify A video was later launched on audience demand and racked up 33 crore views on YouTube ldquoWe also made the video for Kamikaze song by Faizan and Nanku in Nankursquos home and it was just a bunch of us having funrdquo says Karun pointing out that the quality of production rarely matters to the audience as long as the song feels authentic to the artisteMaharani is proof that audiences enjoy consuming music visually India is YouTubersquos biggest market with approximately 476 crore users The platformrsquos global charts feature Bhojpuri numbers Tamil film songs and independent artistes like Karan Aujla and Hanumankind among others Compared to that audioonly streaming apps have fewer users in India In 2024 Spotify boasted seven crore active monthly users in India Gaana had over 185 crore and JioSaavn had over 10 croreBut this is likely because of our population and the fact that ldquowe are a pricesensitive marketrdquo Creative director and showrunner Angshuman Ghosh points out ldquoYouTube is free and therersquos more music content on it versus Spotify Not everyone can afford to pay the monthly subscription for Spotify eitherrdquo he addsAfter the immense success of his Big Dawgs music video Hanumankind has come out with his latest Run It Up which is a feast for the eyes PicyoutubehanumankindAnd how do artistes figure out what will be a hit Ghosh says ldquoTherersquos a place for all kinds of content consumption When I started working on Coke Studio it was a television programme People didnrsquot have a choice but to watch what was aired But now Coke Studio caters to regions and cultures and that is a result of us realising that everyone is differenthellip From a consumer point of view what that artiste represents matters because people are tuning into that artistersquos voice and want to see what that artiste createsrdquoVideo just makes better business sense says Meher Sachdeva founder of anArtizen and head of artiste management at UnderTheRadar ldquoItrsquos a combination of brandbuilding and personal branding YouTube is the largest mode of distribution and discovery of musicrdquo she emphasisesSo do artiste managers push musicians to create visually as well ldquoAs much as audio is being consumed the current generation is also a visual consumer They love to put a face to a song or a feeling and that gives them a familiarity and a little contextrdquo says Madhura Rumde creative production lead at Represent ManagementNanku Angshuman Ghosh Madhura Rumde Meher Sachdeva and PholdquoI have worked with artistes who have worked on a short film short videos or broken down content to be posted over a month Every artiste is utilising all platforms and getting very creative with themrdquo she addsSaachi feels that putting a video out on social media is also more fruitful for discovery ldquoThe minute you have a song in video format on any social media platform you are giving the audience an idea of your music and what you arerdquo she says ldquoThey automatically have a clearer idea and then can decide if they like you as an artiste or not Without that itrsquos harder to reach out to a new audience member and convert them into an active listenerrdquoWith video still holding reign even audio streaming apps such as Spotify have introduced this format ldquoWith Spotify specifically itrsquos becoming a huge hookrdquo says Ghosh ldquoItrsquos still nascent in Indiahellip Itrsquos an opportunity to kind of tastetest the artisterdquoSome artistes find it more economical to create visualisersmdashoneminute video teasers that play on loop throughout the song ldquoVisualisers help create some content without investing too muchrdquo says artiste manager SachdevaFar from dimming the future of music videos seems to be a little bit of everything ldquoMusic videos will also make it to Netflix and PVRsrdquo Karun predicts ldquoWe have already streamed Coldplayrsquos Ahmedabad concert on JioHotstar so why notrdquoLetrsquos also not forget the Taylor Swift The Eras Tour concert movie that Indian Swifties caught on the big screen So music content could sway any wayOf course one can have too much of a good thing ldquoContent has spilled over across domains and we are witnessing content fatiguerdquo Sachdeva cautions ldquoWhen Nucleya started with YouTube it was primarily audio content Now itrsquos harder to break through the noise As an artiste itrsquos not just about being discovered by listeners but also about building a following The only way to build a fan base now is to have something thatrsquos shot well and has a great concept and people will pay attentionrdquorsquo90s kids will rememberNarendra KusnurRewind to the rsquo90s when India had little beyond film and classical music No alternative music industry existed until Baba Sehgal Alisha Chinai and Colonial Cousins among other Indipop artistes graced our screens It was around this time in 1994 that MTV would broadcast twoandahalf hours of programming on Doordarshanrsquos DD2 Metro Channel In 1996 MTV India launched an independent channel that gave music videos a push Eventually other channels like B4U Music Sony Mix and 9XM cropped up ldquoAbroad this trend of videos had caught on Big acts like Metallica Guns Nrsquo Roses and Madonna were known for their videos Somewhere in the rsquo90s Indipop artists emerged and music videos became a promotional toolrdquo says music journalist Narendra Kusnur