Notes that byte
There has been a tectonic shift in the kind of music that is popular with young people. These are exciting and happening times for music lovers as well as music makers as electronic and digital beats resonate
Kritin Joshi

With the advent of technology and various tools, devices and methods to compose the perfect and most alluring sounds, music has evolved from the auditory to the sensory and has become a sixth sense in the true sense of the word. India, today, is headed for a demographic sweet spot. Besides having the second-largest population in the world (1.21 billion in 2011), it is a young nation with a median age of 26.2 years.

Music has become one of the most sharply expanding industries in India. With pubs, clubs and venues cropping up in tier-1 and tier-2 cities and the youth slowly getting exposed to the global music through various sources, music has become the single biggest connecting fabric across geographies and demographics.

Which music is playing on the most iPods today and what is the new age Indian youth listening to in India.

The answer is not a simple one to arrive at but after analysis it seems that electronic dance music (EDM henceforth), pop, hip-hop and lounge music are the most listened and followed genres of music today.

This is based on three observations. The primary observation comes from the music trends on social media channels for music like Youtube, Reverbnation, Spotify and Pandora. One more observation to support this is the extensive downloads for this genre of music through both online sources (legal and illegal) and through various network providers like Airtel and Vodafone.

Reports on the Indian Music and Entertainment industry by Ernst and Young (YEAR) and FICCI - Price Waterhouse Coopers (2006) predict a fall in physical music copy sales and a sharp rise in digital music. Youtube has been the major influence on music trends in the country with Kolaveri D, Gangnam Style and other viral songs guiding youth’s preferences in music.

Here are some sizzling new artists in EDM, pop, hip-hop and lounge genres that young Indians are listening to:

Swedish House Mafia

With their ear-thumping beats and killer electronic sounds, this EDM genre act from Sweden is touring across India as we speak. With great tracks like

"One", "Save the World" and "Don’t You Worry Child", they have some really exciting music to look forward to. It is rumoured that they might be breaking up after the tour in India. We highly recommend seeing them live on New Year’s in Sunburn Festival in Goa.

David Guetta

Dubbed as one of the most in-demand producers and DJs on the planet, David Guetta is poised to take electronic music out of the confines of the global underground, where he reigns as the No. 1 House DJ. Having collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry, David is already a multi-platinum selling artist, with three chart-topping albums to his name to date (Just a Little More Love, 2002; Guetta Blaster, 2004; Pop Life, 2007; One Love, 2009 and Nothing but the Beat 2011). As an artist and producer, he makes music that rocks the coolest clubs and yet sits proudly on pop radio and MTV. He uniquely and boldly treads a tightrope most DJs wouldn’t dare to cross: the line between being an underground DJ and having huge crossover success. Guetta has sold over three million albums and 15 million singles worldwide. In 2011 Guetta was voted as the No1 DJ in the ‘DJ Mag Top 100 DJs’ fan poll.

Black Eyed Peas

This hugely famous American pop-hip-hop group is known for its amazing compositions, vocals and rapping skills. Their album Elephunk topped 13 international charts in 2003 and they continued on similar lines with subsequent releases. They have been placed at number 7 on Billboard’s list of top 100 artists of this century! Their famous tracks are "Boom Boom Pow", "Where is the love?", "Don’t Phunk With My Heart" and "I Gotta Feeling".

Pitbull

Armando Cristian P`E9rez a.k.a Pitbull is one of the super amazing music producers of this generation who has gained international fame for his brilliant tracks. His track "I know you want me" peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and peaked within the top 10 spots of charts in the UK, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands. The song reached No. 1 in France and the European Hot 100 in 2009. He is known for his out-of-the-box tunes, catchy loops and hooks and the magnificent music videos that accompany his music. His tracks include, "Give me everything", "Bon Bon" and "Rain Over Me."

Bruno Mars

The pop icon of late 2000s, Peter Gene Hernandez, better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is a brilliant musician and composer from Hawaii. His influence comes from a plethora of music genres and he plays at least half a dozen instruments! Having had a failed stint with Mowtown Records, he’s finally broken pro and his albums Doo Woops and Hooligans and Unorthodox Jukebox are lasting proofs of his mettle. Some very popular tracks to watch out for by this talented artist are, "Just The Way You Are", "Locked Out Of Heaven" and "It Will Rain."

Virality, social media and cloud computing will fuel the revolution in music and we will enjoy a broader variety of artists. The so-called rock-loving population is only 8 per cent of the total music enthusiasts in the nation. It will still take some time for India to provide the right platform for its own artists so that their originals get promoted and they also have resources to make their music be heard across the world through similar well-facilitated, promoted and followed channels.

We are headed towards a foot-tapping, ear-thumping, heart-pumping music-loving generation which sees music as an escape from the monotonity of daily existence.

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