COVER STORY: Music’s Next Gen

In December 2022, on a massive stage at India’s biggest music festival, we witnessed the dreams of six young musicians come true right in front of our eyes. Singer-songwriters and composers Nisa Shetty, Simran and Riya Duggal (from pop duo Simetri), John Oinam, Medha Sahi and Shruti Dhasmana shone bright over the three days of Sunburn Goa, playing their brand of unapologetic independent music. Musicians and industry folk will tell you that an opportunity like this has to be earned over years and years of relentless passion. And these six young guns earned every bit of that glory. 

In January 2023, this brilliant cohort of musicians, now joined by Hanu Dixit, rocked out at the inaugural Indian edition of the cult festival Lollapalooza, which received a record-breaking turnout of over 60,000 attendees.  

The seven young musicians, who come from across India, represent not only various cultural backgrounds but also different phases of an emerging career in music. While some have been flitting between studios and stages for years, a few are grasping the full potential of a music career ahead. Each of them, undeniably talented and driven, would perhaps have had a slightly different, even arduous path to take for these elusive opportunities, if not for the one thing that connected their collective dreams: NEXA Music, an audacious nationwide hunt promoting indigenous talent among emerging artists. Each of these seven artists have been the mentees of two seasons of NEXA Music.

An unparalleled platform for emerging talent

Maruti Suzuki’s NEXA Experiences launched NEXA Music Season 1 in 2019, created in collaboration with digital media company Qyuki, to support English-language original music across the country. Spearheading the project is Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman.   

The first season of the hunt received over 1,000 entries from musicians across the length and breadth of the country. They included solo artists, duos, trios and bands – both fledgling and popular – across genres. The top 24 artists were given the opportunity to have a song of theirs produced and a music video shot for it. They also graced the cover of Rolling Stone India’s December 2019 issue along with Rahman. The four artists – handpicked by Rahman — who eventually won were New Delhi musician Nisa Shetty, Mumbai-based pop-musician sisters Simetri, Ahmedabad jazz/prog outfit Heat Sink, and singer-songwriter duo Jonathan-Pelenuo, all of whom collaborated with Rahman on the flagship NEXA Music song titled “You Got Me.” 

Season 2 saw an even more overwhelming response from artists across the nation, with over 2,500 entries. While there has never been a dearth of Indian artists writing and performing music in English, since the pandemic the number of English-language artists in the country has risen exponentially. Through social media and streaming services, this new crop of musicians took full advantage of pushing the boundaries of their music. Thanks to NEXA Music laying this foundation for artists, the scope to grow as a musician in India performing in English only got better.  

When brands innovate, inspire and impact

NEXA Music’s commitment to scale up homegrown musicians nationally and internationally blazes a new trail for both the business and creative ecosystems within India. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, believes that the value of his novel IP lies in its scale and depth of impact. He says, “NEXA is Maruti Suzuki’s premium retail channel which was envisioned to go beyond just selling cars and to provide unique and innovative experiences to its customers. It is strategically built around the consumers’ passion points of music, lifestyle and travel. Music, being the most important pillar, needed something special, innovative and unique, and that’s why we partnered with the maestro, A.R. Rahman to create NEXA Music, India’s first original English music IP.” 

According to Srivastava, through NEXA Music, their goal is to provide a platform for young talented musicians to be nurtured into becoming global superstars. He adds, “We are also partnering with top global and Indian music festivals where these budding musicians are getting opportunities to showcase their talent and leave a lasting impression.” The veteran business leader has put his money where his mouth is.

Season one winner Nisa Shetty has had quite the trajectory ever since her time from being part of the talent hunt. Besides her Lollapalooza and Sunburn performances, the singer-songwriter has gone on to tour globally and also be part of Rahman’s traveling band. The singer-composer says, “I had two goals: one was to somehow meet A.R. Rahman sir before 2020 and to someday be on the cover of Rolling Stone. It is absolutely unreal that both these dreams came true on the same day thanks to NEXA!.” 

Riya and Simran Duggal of Simetri are quite the music force to reckon with, collaborating with industry bigwigs like singers Shalmali Kholgade, Ananya Birla and Harshdeep Kaur, besides being booked for international gigs of their own in the recent past.  

From homegrown artists to emerging superstars

The path to music glory is not easy. Behind the sheen and glamor of festival stages and word-class studios, there are teams at NEXA Music working tirelessly to build a dream brick by brick. The creative infrastructure of a platform like this one is expansively laid out across pillars of discovery, mentorship, production and amplification. 

NEXA Music has also become a platform where some of the best creative minds in India are working collaboratively towards honing future stars. It is a feat that is unprecedented, given that most cookie-cutter talent hunts tend to look at a winner’s trajectory in a linear fashion, offering prize money and at best a record deal. 

At NEXA Music, things are more layered, nuanced and holistic. As many as 24 budding artists get a chance to produce their own work under the mentorship of pros and for the top winners, the sky’s the limit. For season two, NEXA Music went on to bring on board a set of seasoned names such as the headliner artists including Monica Dogra, Shor Police (Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes) and Uday Benegal, as well as Mikey McCleary as a composer. Rahman continued his association with NEXA Music as a mentor and jury member. Not surprisingly, this season received over 2,500 entries.

NEXA Music takes things to the next level by facilitating incubation, development, collaboration, marketing, branding and more for its artists. The Top 24 musicians who are in the mentorship program called the NEXA Music Lab, get the opportunity to elevate their skills and artistic potential on many fronts beyond just music making.

Qyuki Digital Media’s Chief Operating Officer Juhi Mehta says NEXA Music is molding a new template for success stories in the creative industry. “We were just testing the waters with season one. We had the ambition, desire and opportunity of creating something new with an English music property. We wanted to invest our belief and our expertise at Qyuki into working with emerging talent in a constructive manner. We have the best production, audio, video, business, marketing, publishing and distribution partners. We are making valuable content alongside music that is richer.”  

As this association between Qyuki and Maruti Suzuki merges the worlds of creativity and automobiles, Qyuki’s Managing Director, Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan says the time is ripe for innovation and creative disruption, “I think that’s what we’ve done with NEXA Music… It’s a tribute to creativity.” He adds, “We’re centralizing the entire creative world as we’re excited to bring you the second season.”  

Season two has also sparked some much-needed creative conversations in India’s thriving music ecosystem. The new podcast hosted by Rolling Stone India Executive Editor, Nirmika Singh is a series of candid chats which bring to the fore the pulse of the community by raising vital questions and sharing creative notes. Featuring six episodes, the guests include all the significant stakeholders in NEXA Music, including Rahman, Srivastava, Mehta, Radhakrishnan, Dogra, Benegal, Shetty, Cerejo and Gomes.  

Over the course of its two seasons, NEXA Music has helped release tracks from artists such as Raghav Meattle (“Back In Time”), Aarifah (“Hey Good Evening”), Vernon Noronha (“Heartless Heart”), Temsu Clover (“I’ll See You In My Dreams”), John Oinam (“Take Me Home”), Huyana (“Believe”), Trisha (“You’re The Problem”), Maanuni (“Come Alive”) and more. The multi-platform IP has not only captured the sounds of these artists but also chronicled a definitive turning point in the sonic history of the creative and performing arts landscape in India. 

What makes a winner

Having your own personality, strong characteristics and a musical identity are some of the aspects Rahman looks for in a NEXA Music winner. However, not one to discourage anyone or take away the dream of someone who doesn’t make the cut, he states, “Everybody is a winner and some people are slow burners; they learn and they evolve and become extraordinary in a year or two, or the sixth or seventh year.” Rahman also admits that it was quite difficult to select the Top 24 and then also filter it down to the Top 4 from such a wide array of talent. Ask him how he would have fared in a competition like this, and he says, “I would have failed [laughs].”  

Another aspect of fresh talent that has caught the composer’s eye is the preparedness of individuals. “They know how to sound, how to talk, how to script. These are the things that can’t be taught at university.” He adds that it’s fascinating to see how they are doing it all by themselves, with a little help from friends teaching them, and often putting it out as Reels. Rahman also goes as far as to say that some of the content he’s seen on social media is done better than by filmmakers. “They don’t have any pressure of, ‘I have to make 100 crores.’ They just do it for the sake of doing it.”  

Rahman’s biggest request to artists is to believe in themselves and their art. The musician expresses that artists don’t need validation from other people. “I think that’s the main thing. I think that we always wait for validation. [You] can surpass that and then believe in yourself and go deeper. People will find you.” He adds, “Believe in the universe, believe that something is going to happen. If you do it sincerely, it will happen.”  

The future of creativity and how ‘songs change the world’

“It feels extraordinary,” says Rahman, as he reminisces about his mentorship on NEXA Music. “When we started this, I never expected that the kids would be going to the next level of writing, their vocal textures [improving] and [gaining] confidence. So, all that has improved a lot. I think it’s also seeing the opportunities and their outlet through various social media [platforms] and the internet that has given them the confidence to say that we can do better.”   

The legendary composer adds that this is an opportune time to invest in young India that is bursting with ideas. “The right time for paving paths is now. India is known for film music, classical music and folk music. But independent English-language music is probably the orphaned area, the ignored space.”  According to Rahman, the next generation of artists are fearless, focussed and futuristic. “We need to inspire them so that they can lead this nation to an even better future. Songs change the world. Songs inspire the mundane.”