New songwriting initiative aims to bring independent musicians to the limelight

A new songwriting initiative by a spoken word and storytelling platform aims to bring independent musicians into the limelight

In 2004, Steve Jobs made the world a promise. "Thousand songs in your pocket," he said, launching the iPod mini and paving the way for a digital revolution. The next year, the world got YouTube and then came more promises and promising stars. Today, one can only wonder how musicians navigate through an industry that seems so intensely saturated. A collective of artistes, performers and creators, Kommune, has a different kind of indulgence. It is not the beat or the rhythm that matters; words do.

With their latest vertical — a series called The Songwriters — the collective aims to expand the definition of storytelling. For Hari Sankar, director of the performing arts platform, the image of a storyteller is often restricted to the spoken word. Sankar, also the co-owner of Beatmap, a digital platform that connects musicians to venues in the city, noticed how difficult it was for independent artistes to get a start. "With The Songwriters, artistes will be routed to a channel and help bring them into the limelight," he explains.

New videos by independent songwriters-musicians will be releasing on the third Sunday of every month, starting on July 22. Ankur Tewari, the man behind the idea, will also be curating the project, Ankur and The Ghalat Family, being the first featured group. After releasing their first album in 2010, Tewari says that the songwriting process has come a long way. "My process now is more collaborative. For me, this is a special project because people have moved away from traditional writing to specifically songwriting. So, they want to explore words and poetry," he says. While everybody has a story to tell, Tewari's aim is to also create a space for people who want to listen. "A lot of interesting work remains hidden. It is time to bring that to the forefront," he explains.

Log on to: Kommune's YouTube channel

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