Shaan warns young singers to not sell their soul to music companies: Don’t become slave to the system

Singer Shaan understands how musicians today are under enormous pressure to produce music that generates endless revenue, social media attention, and so on. And he feels due to this, both creative freedom and quality are being compromised.

Shaan says though he is familiar with all the tricks of the trade, he personally cannot compromise on his values as an artiste.

“I cannot just make songs that would all just get viral in 30 seconds and it will get stuck in your head. All these tricks are familiar to us (musicians). But yeh sab karke aap haasil kya karoge? [You will come up with] just another mediocre song… So in the long run you are destroying yourself as an artistes. No one will take you seriously. Don’t become slave to the system. If you make the same song then that means you are selling your soul,” Shaan tells us.

The singer, who recently released a devotional song, says this pressure is getting to the point of exasperation.

“Hum kab tak woh karte rahe jo aap chahte ho,” he asks, while adding, “As an artiste to keep your creativity and passion alive you have to make your identity and you can only do that when you do different from what others are doing.”

The 49-year-old says that getting a higher number of views online these days is a “new pressure”, which has become a big marketing challenge as well.

“People have this think that itne views aye hai toh achaa hi hoga. It is about whether the song is a hit or not. Sab time pass ke liye gaane sunte hai. Now algorithm is manipulating listeners. That is what the music companies are doing and making singers sing the same kind of songs,” he says.

However, the Tanha Dil singer is quick to add that he understand that business side is important but encourages artistes to find that balance.

“You cannot eliminate yourself from it. You can’t just bask in your past glory and say hamare zamaane mein aisa nahi tha. For me what I feel there is a fine line and balance. You don’t have to lose your identity and give in completely but at the same time you do not have to say take it or leave it,” Shaan concludes.