“Dominance Of Independent Music Is Coming Back”- Prateek Gupta

“Dominance Of Independent Music Is Coming Back”- Prateek Gupta

In the last two decades the independent entertainment industry has witnessed substantial growth. Having both cinema and music on parallel tracks, talent management companies have become a firm bridge between art and artists. But due to the pandemic, the entire system has undergone a change which has badly affected the entertainment industry. 

Opinning on this, artist relationship manager and co-founder of Alpha Roar (talent management firm) Prateek Gupta says, “Like all other sectors, the entertainment industry too has been affected hugely by the pandemic. But there is no proper revival plan for the same. Live shows were banned during lockdown which was a huge loss. As now those have slowly started to happen, yet things are happening with limitations keeping the guidelines in concern. So everyone is hoping that this calendar year will be a productive one.”

He further says that the artist and artist management business work in a two way format. “If one is not functioning, the other one wouldn’t. So keeping that in regard, the artist management sector is struggling hard to sustain. So the best part about it is that there is mutual support and cooperation,” he mentions.

“For an artist manager, it is very important to understand the art and the artist in the first place. It’s music for me because before an artist management executive, I am a musician. That helps a lot in managing the artists and what inputs you give to them. No real artist never compromises with his creativity.”

Prateek has some memorable connections with Odisha and predominantly in the music industry. One of his projects in 2020, ‘Dugga Dugga’ by Sunidhi Chauhan was received well by fans in Odisha. He tells, “We faced a lot of technical challenges due to Covid 19 in the making of the sequel because everyone was at different places. But Kaushik-Guddu and Sunidhi Chauhan gave their best. My friend Saugato Roy Choudhury played a very crucial role in the marketing and PR part entirely, especially in Odisha.”

Some of his past projects include ‘Dil Ka Fitoor’ by Monali Thakur. In the upcoming movie ‘Sooryavanshi’, Prateek is into marketing for one of the songs composed by Kaushik-Guddu. His other upcoming projects are with artists like Dev Arijit and Raghav Chaitanya.

Prateek’s journey started back to 2009 when he began as a guitarist. Prachitosh Bhowmik, who is currently a guitarist for Jubin Nautiyal and Arijit Singh had groomed him while Prateek was simultaneously pursuing his studies. Around 2016, Prateek got into the artist management business.

Talking about artist/talent management scenario in Odisha, he said, “Odisha has a glorious history when it comes to art and creativity. Even in yesteryear’s films and music the essence is eternal. But technically, Odisha is at a very primary stage when it comes to today’s music, movies, artists and audiences. So the industry and artist management sector here will take some time to grow.”

Talking about the growing popularity of independent music, Prateek says that Independent music is the next big thing. “90s’ had the dominance of independent music. After a shift in the culture now again independent music is making its way which would witness the grandeur in the upcoming future. Salim-Suleiman, Neha Kakkar, Shaan, everyone is coming up with their own labels and channels, because art is an ocean with no barricades where everyone wants to take a dive.

He further adds that digital visibility has become a crucial part in the post pandemic era. There are many artists who already have a huge fanbase on digital platforms and there are artists who are now building or yet to build a fanbase digitally. “This is going to work in both ways for the audience as well as for artists. For example, those who have a prominent social media fanbase, they have to bring something new and exciting for their audience, whereas artists who are debuting digitally have to go skillfully with their creativity,” he says.