Musicians Incubation Prog: 100 Artists, 100 Songs

Morung Express News
Kohima | September 25

As a hub for musical talent, Nagaland has a lot of musicians but many of them are also ‘struggling musicians’ even as they are often pushed to do the job of a marketing agency and creating great music at the same time.

With no institutionalization of system, artist management houses or streamlining in this regard, which Advisor to Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA), Theja Meru points out “is not an artist’s job to figure out how do I promote myself or how do I manage myself,” the Musicians Incubation Program (MIPro), one of the many initiatives of TaFMA, is going to change the very way musicians work in the state.

Through MIPro, TaFMA is trying to handpick and identify serious musicians from across Nagaland. Beginning with 100 musicians, they will be given the challenge of learning 100 cover songs of any genre whether in Hindi or English, pop or country but also with more focus on popular music. Once they are able to learn 100 songs, they will be further trained on the basics of performance and given more knowledge of entertainment industry and how the industry of music works.

“When they graduate from there, we are going to give opportunities to these musicians at the local level in our cafes, events, wedding receptions, wherever, but the way to book them will be through the TaFMA Music App”, Advisor to TaFMA, Theja Meru relates to The Morung Express in an exclusive interview.

When they have learnt 100 songs and more, have been trained and once we think they are ready, we are going to take photographs, make videos, write their bios, their song list and put them all on one music app, he further divulges. The artist booking App will enable anybody looking for different genres of music for their consumption, to read through the artist list and call TaFMA for booking them for any type of show or event.

“Right now, we are focusing on the local platform, but eventually, we also want to target the market outside Nagaland”, Meru puts across. Impressing upon that it’s not going to be easy, he states that “we are not making it easy for anyone because this industry is too competitive and there is no room for half-hearted artists.”

Having started the process, so far a total of 40 musicians have signed up to be part of it and have agreed to learn 100 songs. As they evolve as musicians, the program will eventually lead them to further training and be listed on the TaFMA Music App. In every sense of the word, it is a Musicians Incubation Program, the Advisor puts across.

While the signing up for the program is open to any ‘serious and committed musician’, he highlights it is especially for those who have empanelled with them. It may be noted here that roughly about 20 bands, 26 institutions and 8 solo artists are currently empanelled with TaFMA.

At a minimum, it is looking at 100 artists to start with, but he also expressed hope that more will join MIPro as TaFMA continues to play a proactive role in creating a vibrant music ecosystem in the state.