When up-and-coming independent artists participate in songwriting camps, there’s often a chance that the resultant compositions won’t eventually be released. In the case of—take a deep breath—‘The Indie Circle Songwriting Camp, Music Showcase and Creator Connect Programme’ put together by Sony Music Publishing India and copyright society IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society), the tracks that emerged from the four-day event will be put out by Chandigarh-headquartered platform Jugnu Music—unless they’re snapped up by other labels.
The camp, which was conducted between 18 and 21 June in Chandigarh in collaboration with the Elahi Music recording studio and the Chandigarh Citizen Foundation, was held specifically for music creators from Punjab and Haryana and the neighboring states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.
The participants included Punjabi and Haryanvi singer-songwriters Anjali 99, Harman Sood, Jaya Rohilla, Prince The Artist Singh, Raman Roman, Surinder Baba, Thought, and Zorra. The states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu, meanwhile, were represented by vocalist-composers Hrishita and Vipul respectively. Afsr, Janmeet, Kenz Arya, Sync, The Majjor and Tushe S made up the music producer contingent.
They were each mentored by such established Punjabi acts as performer-producers Mellow D and Sukh-e Muzical Doctorz, singer-rapper Simiran Kaur Dhadli, and lyricist Navi Ferozpurwala who guided them in the creation of 20 songs inspired by “the cultural heritage, folk traditions, and contemporary sounds of the region”.
The tunes were then presented at a showcase staged on World Music Day on 21 June where the performances were preceded by a session on ‘Understanding Music Rights’ by Sony Music Publishing and IPRS; and a panel discussion, featuring Mellow D, singer Kaka, and Thought, on ‘The Art of Songwriting’.
Considering that the Punjabi and Haryanvi music markets are two of India’s most prolific and popular regional-language segments, they seem like obvious choices for publishing companies and copyright societies when deciding where to channel their efforts. For emerging artists from those territories however, the level of competition is perhaps higher than in any segment apart from Hindi, which makes initiatives such as ‘The Indie Circle Songwriting Camp’ a great opportunity for them to not just collaborate and create with peers but also build what could be potentially be career-changing connections within the music industry.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source musically.com ’














