The way music was being created has changed completely, here’s how pandemic has impacted Music Industry
“The pandemic has not been very easy for me. Sitting at home alone really changed my perspective on many things and most importantly, taught me how to find inspiration in the smallest of things.” – Kiara Chettri, Singer-Songwriter. Musicians talk about the change Music Industry has gone through during the Pandemic.
Pandemic has undoubtedly affected every other industry. And while some industries have seen really low points, others have discovered new and innovative ways to cope up with the pandemic, just like the music industry. Ever since the pandemic has hit, music production, a process that seeks the world around as a fuel for their creativity, has changed altogether. From not being able to step out and have creative inspirations to not being able to meet the artists and teammates to simply living in an atmosphere (people getting affected by covid) has added a lot to how music was produced.
We spoke to a few musicians about how their music production process has changed, and here’s what they said.
On How have the musicians managed to make music in pandemic
“The pandemic has not been very easy for me. Sitting at home alone really changed my perspective on many things and most importantly, taught me how to find inspiration in the smallest of things. Writing songs during the pandemic has been really fun for me. I get random ideas even at four in the morning and I immediately record them in my voice notes apps. After recording the idea, I start playing some chords or a melody on the guitar or the piano. Sometimes I have lyric ideas already on my phone or I write while I make the melody. – Kiara Chettri, songwriter and singer
“Yes, undoubtedly. Collectively, seeing fellow artists and music/art in general suffer has definitely impacted our/my understanding of the role music plays in society as well as personally. Art & artists are needed in times like these, more than ever.” – Karan Kaul – Guitarist & Vocalist of the Metal band Midhaven
“I think so many things have changed when it comes to making music now because naturally COVID’s disrupted the way we do most things. But I also think some of the processes I follow has remained the same. I guess writing lyrics has been pretty much the same thing pre and post-pandemic. I follow a kind of introverted process when I’m writing songs. I’ll lock myself in my room, get comfy on my bed or near the window, switch off my phone and follow any trail of thought I feel like. I mean, the pandemic’s actually given me all the time I need to do this so I think I’ve been productive. But when it comes to studio recording, I see so much difference. I recorded all the songs in my soon-to-be-released EP in the 2020 lockdown, so I wasn’t allowed to get out anywhere and that made a difference because I was collaborating with Ryan Benyo from LA, California for the production, composition, mixing, and mastering, and we had to rely on software he had to record my vocals when I would have ordinarily flown to his studio. That was a new experience for me, and something tells me I’m going to have to do it a lot more with other songs I’m making.” – Aditi Iyer, singer-songwriter
“I wouldn’t say that it has affected my understanding of music in any way, but it has surely given me the chance to understand myself better. In hindsight, maybe it has affected my writing. Most people would say that it has affected their production process, but that doesn’t apply to me because I’ve been producing artists from the US over video call apps since I moved back to India in 2019 (a year before COVID). So, it feels like I started that zoom trend in a way haha.” – Rohan Solomon, Singer-Songwriter, Producer and Vocal Coach
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Has the Pandemic affected the productivity of musicians and the music community?
“Yes, of course. There have been good days and bad days. There are definitely some days where I don’t feel motivated at all. I would be sitting with my guitar or piano or sitting in front of the computer with Pro Tools running and I would just draw a blank. It would get scary sometimes because I’d think to myself “Am I losing the ability to make music”? But on the contrary, I would have some great days as well where I would end up writing 3 songs in one day.” – Rohan Solomon
“There have been days when I feel so unmotivated and unproductive. I hate those days so much but I have come to the realisation that these days are so normal to have and that they are important. I will never want to make music or sing. I decided that I wanted to pursue music at the age of 13 for a reason and the reason is that music is my life and always will be. It is my first love and I don’t think I will ever stop making music.” – Kiara Chettri
“Well, the pandemic has affected me in a positive way, the pandemic has shown the world the way of survival, Covid-19 has hit the world in a bad way and so has the music industry. I was down with Covid-19 myself and once I revived and got well, the experience pumped in a lot of hope, energy and the strength to cope with anything from now on. Personally for me composing, writing, singing and music production was a routine so it was carrying along in the usual way but my urge to move towards my goal has been motivated to a larger extent. Darwin’s theory ‘struggle for existence’ returns as a slogan after a century.” – Sadu, Singer-Composer and former founder member of The Aryans
How is the gig market being affected and how things have changed for full-time musicians?
“The new normal in the global music industry is to earn revenue from music royalties from radio and digital, sync placements and leasing. Since my music is mostly targeting the US and European radio and charts, I was able to adapt. However, I keep my costs of making music super low. I self produce, I don’t spend on videos and only spend on very basic marketing. Gigs are very important but music is now e-commerce, we have to adapt.” – Vineet Singh Hukmani
“It is really sad that all artists missed out on live gigs and performances. I had so much planned for live gigs. During the pandemic, I did quite a lot of online gigs and enjoyed them. Online gigs will never have the same energy as live gigs but it is still fun for me to sing for a good cause or just like that for people.” – Kiara Chettri
How has working remotely been for the bands?
“We had some of our work cut out for us as we had the opportunity of composing the skeletal structures of the songs before the band had to split, geographically speaking. It was an interesting process working remotely nevertheless. Primarily because it was challenging, like shooting arrows in the dark; someone would compose something new over the established structure and the other guys had to put in their faith and work around parts that nobody was expecting to hear. The experience was entirely characterized by subtle surprises and a deep inquiry into the fellow minds that operate this band.” – Karan Kaul – Guitarist & Vocalist of the Metal band Midhaven
Well, overall, it’s is commendable to see that how the music industry has taken the pandemic as a challenge and figured ways out to redefine how they can produce music remotely.
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