Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live

Less interest in albums, singles rule the roost now: Sona

- Samarth Goyal samarth.goyal@htlive.com

Singer Sona Mohapatra feels that the shift in Bollywood’s dependence on music to that on original stories is one of the many reasons why independen­t music has grown in the country. “It’s been on the rise forever, but never seems to take centre stage due to the media behemoth that is Bollywood. Thankfully, now, Bollywood has started realising that it has to focus on strong stories and content, instead of lazily piggybacki­ng only on hit songs,” she says.

“It will give the pop scene more room to breathe and stand on its own feet. Artists have to do their bit as well and make good independen­t content on a consistent basis,” adds Sona, who recently collaborat­ed with the Pakistani band Strings for the single, Naina.

The single has crossed a million views on YouTube since its release last month. Sona feels that listeners don’t engage with albums as much as they did earlier. “It’s less about the romance of it and more to do with the audience tastes and how they engage with music. Albums aren’t being listened to like in the past and now it’s become a single-oriented market,” she opines.

However, the singer is optimistic about change. “As an artist, I prefer bringing attention to my singles from Lal Pari Mastani, one at a time. I’ve been releasing one every month. Once they’re all out there, I might aggregate them under one common album as I’m still a fan of albums. Nothing gives you deeper insight into a musical artist’s journey an evolution like an album does,” she says.

The Ambarsariy­a (2013) and Ankahee (2017) singer feels it is important not to get bogged down by the ever-changing sound. “You have to get the balance right. It’s important not to get caught up in trends, yet remain relevant in an ever changing popular scenario. I’m not an elitist and believe that every genre of music yields its share of ustaads,” she says.

[The decline in interest in albums] is less about the romance of it and more to do with how the audience engages with music.

SONA MOHAPATRA SINGER

 ??  ?? Sona Mohapatra plans to aggregate a few of her singles under one album
Sona Mohapatra plans to aggregate a few of her singles under one album

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