What Happened To 90s Indipop, The Golden Age Of Indian Music That Still Gives Us Goosebumps?

The 1990s Indipop or Indian Pop music was arguably the golden age of independent Indian music. The fans loved it, it was madly popular around the globe and the stars it made are now legends. Even before the digital age, songs like Made in India and Bolo Ta Ra Ra, were viral. But how did we get from this to a music industry characterized by a severe lack of originality and creativity with almost no independent Indian global bands or singers? Read on to find out.

The India of the 1990s was quite different from today. Cars were a distant dream, people didn't have mobile phones, the radio was a big thing, Shah Rukh Khan was the new kid on the block and the Web still meant a spider¡¯s web. YouTube wasn't even a thought. Also, for the most time people didn't even have computers. But what they did have his real quality Indian music.

The Beginning

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It all started in the 1980s with the Grammies, yes, the Grammy awards. One of the most popular music awards in the whole world had a considerable fan following in India even in the 1980s and the 1990s. Seeing this, India¡¯s primal and the only television channel at the time, Doordarshan, decided to air the annual pre-Grammy and Grammy Awards starting in 1982. This gave the budding Indian musicians a great bit of exposure and helped them understand global trends.

Exactly a decade later, the right catalyst for a music revolution waiting to happen came in, in 1992. Music-based channels like MTV and Channel V were launched. But how did it change the world of independent singers in the country?

See, Indian artists were already making quality music for a long time. Like the cult classic Disco Deewane, the original one, by Nazia Hassan in 1981 or the greatly popular Pari Hoon Mai by Suneeta Rao in 1991.

But for the distribution of these music tracks, artists were at the mercy of either independent music labels - who didn't have mass appeals - or broadcast stations like the Doordarshan, All India Radio and Ceylon Radio, who still preferred Bollywood or classical music more over these tracks. All of this, coupled with stiff competition from the Indian film industry resulted in a dismal growth of independent musicians.

During these times, music-based channels like Channel V and MTV came in like new rays of hope. Unlike other channels, these two were focused only on music while also letting artists broadcast music on them for free. Think of them as YouTube, before YouTube. Free publishing helped democratise the Indian music space and with the inspiration as well as the medium, the Indipop revolution was soon knocking on India's doors.

Indipop Incoming

In 1994, Alisha Chinai¡¯s Made in India, produced by Sashi Gopal¡¯s Magna Sound, came in and mesmerised the nation with its exotic beats, unique picturisation and engrossing story. The song was released on Channel V and sold over 50,00,000 copies. To put it in short words, it was HUGE. For the first time in years, non-filmy music was becoming so popular. With the song, Channel V also popularised the term Indipop for the first time. Shortly after this, another artist came in literally like an asteroid and rocked India. This was the Daler Mehndi with his Bolo Tara Ra Ra produced again by Magna Sound. It is said that it was this album that cemented Punjabi pop music's high status in Indipop and Indian music.

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The Indipop fever, through the years, not only gripped India but even countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and believe it or not Brazil, Russia, South Africa, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Latin America, the US, the UK, Canada and even the West Indies.

After this, every year people were listening to completely new tracks. From the fusion of Bombay Vikings to the Ghazal music of Pankaj Udhas. Indipop had created a stardom parallel only to Bollywood. Indipop not only helped Indian music talent to get on the world stage, but actors too were getting much more exposure. Many Bollywood actors made their acting debuts in Indipop music videos. From a teen Shahid Kapoor in the Aryans¡¯ Aankhon Mein Tera Hi Chehra, Bipasha Basu in Sonu Nigam¡¯s Tera Milna and Ayesha Takia in Falguni Pathak¡¯s Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye (which is also regarded as India's first LGBTQ anthem) to Malaika Arora in Bally Sagoo¡¯s Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha and of course, Rimi Sen as well as Vidya Balan in Euphoria¡¯s Maeri and Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gali, respectively.

Not only was the glamour quotient of these music videos high but the storyline of Indipop music videos too were way ahead of their time. So, Lucky Ali had fans lost in his exotic settings and mystic videos, Falguni Pathak¡¯s amazingly curated love stories always made people fall in love with her music all over again, Silk Route had India take deep dives in their serene videos, KK got listeners on his emotional rollercoaster rides and the two-part heart-wrenching love story of a dacoit in Piya Basanti Re mesmerised everyone. These videos were much more than booze, partying, money, eve-teasing and whatnot, they stood for something.

But even though Indipop was genuinely so good, the only question that arises is what happened to it and where did it go?

Falling from a High

As it turns out, there were three major reasons behind this great fall.

First was the oversupply of content. By the late 90s and early 2000s, everyone regardless of their talent wanted to get on the Indipop bandwagon. Anyone with good looks was up for singing. Speaking about this, Silk Route¡¯s Subir Malik stated, ¡°There was a time when everyone wanted to be a pop star. I would get calls from people who ran restaurants in Lucknow and paan shops in Kanpur who were ready to put in an insane amount of money to get their sons and daughters to become pop stars¡±. Moreover, in order to compensate for a lack of good innovation, music videos became racier and more explicit. Also, remixes took over originals, as they were easy to make and gave production companies more money with way less work.

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The second and third reasons were the lack of money coupled with a subsequent preference for Bollywood. Due to the film industry¡¯s massive machine, it had more money to offer. Most Indipop stars were primarily dependent either on record sales, of off which the distributors took major shares, or on live performances, which wasn¡¯t a major part of the social culture back then. This led to singers like KK, Lucky Ali, Alisha Chinai, Neeraj Sridhar of Bombay Vikings and Mohit Chauhan of the Silk Route being taken away as playback singers by Bollywood. As Indian Ocean¡¯s lead guitarist Rahul Ram put it, ¡°Bollywood is a huge monster that eats up everything¡±.

Apart from this, music channels too started giving higher preference to Bollywood as it was more lucrative when compared to independent Indipop. By the 2000s, even MTV and Channel V started charging for their broadcasts due to increased revenue pressures along with less advertising value in Indipop music videos. Many Indipop labels like Magna Sound, BMG Crescendo, Saregama HMV, T-Series, Tips, Venus Records and Times Music either closed or re-shifted focus on Bollywood. And as the Indipop industry was dependent on these labels, their departure meant a definite crash for Indipop.

They were many exceptions to this downward fall of course. Like Kailash Kher¡¯s Kailasa, Asha Bhosle and Adnan Sami's Kabhi toh Nazar Milao and Shaan¡¯s Tanha Dil in the early 2000s. But Indipop was now giving in, and these became its last crown jewels.

Rise from the Ashes

So, till the early 20th century, Indipop music except Punjabi pop was just hoping for a revival. And it was a revival that it got. At the forefront of this revival was YouTube, the real one this time, and hip-hop. Thanks to social media and a wider audience, we now have sustainable independent Indian music stars in artists like When Chai met Toast, Agni, the Local Train, Divine, Badshah, Raftaar and so many more.

Many people call the 90s Indipop a bubble that burst sometime after. But I think that it was this era that showed India that her music is worth all the appreciation and that genuine artists will shine whenever we give them a chance. Nevertheless, the nostalgic 90s with its Indipop fever showcased to a generation of young Indians what true love of music can achieve.

Also Read: 33 Forgotten Singers From The '90s Who Need To Make A Comeback ASAP And Pump Up The Jam

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