Underground Music Industry of Pakistan

The term music industry is used to describe a range of music related businesses and music organizations. Now talking about the underground music industry, the word underground refers to something that is hidden or concealed and underground music industry refers to a variety of music subgenres, bands that usually develop a subculture cult following their lack of mainstream trend or commercial promotion.

When talking about arts, music is also a part of it and that particularly in the Pakistan. In the last ten years many movements in the local scene have come and gone. Some of the musicians have left a sharp mark in the field of enduring pop and rock anthems while others have just faded into history as they never existed. They just came and vanished. Some of the underground music singers or bands in Pakistan are doing a great job. Their appeal to the local market as compared to the other music industry is exactly the same as the engines of the global record industry. Worldwide trends in music had been changing with the passage of time and with the change in the taste of music buyers. Now having a look at the last ten years of underground music industry in Pakistan, focusing on the main players of the music game of popular music in Pakistan was a period that has seen alot of ups and downs in the local music market.

In the year 1994 .The Pakistani scene was afire with the creative currents of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Vital Signs and others. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan had the distinction of bringing laurels to Pakistan internationally as goras went mad, spinning and whirling to his intoxicating blend of qawwali and western pop. At that particular time TV pop chart music shows as Rhythm Whythm, music channel charts helped and encouraged the local pop industry to evolve in a big way in that period. They gave a chance to the upcoming bands as the underground singers to make pop stars out of themselves. Some of the underground music bands or singers emerged with great success and victoriously while others failing into the mainstream due to the lack of musical depth and talent in them.

 As things went better and better, the Vital Signs though an underground band had begun their final descent towards the pop history books. In the beginning as the band was formed by two teenagers in early 1986 in Rawalpindi who were later accompanied by lead guitarist and Surprisingly, at that time the band had no name and not even when the band recruited lead vocalist Junaid Jamshed who was doing engineering from Lahore at that time. During that time General Zia ul Haq was the president. That was the time when the middle and lower middle classes were propelled by the economic and political tensions. In mid 1986, when Benazir Bhutto returned from her exile, she led a rally in Lahore. This led to many urban centers saw many new local pop music bands emerging. Most of the new acts played at private parties and weddings and at college functions, and by early 1987 the Vital Signs seemed firm favorites n the period's college function circuit.  The "Dil Dil Pakistan" lads were now headed in a more psychedelic pop direction. In '95 they released "Hum Tum", one of their most mature, sonically dense, musically diverse and one of the most popular albums. After that, though not revolutionary in the truest sense of the word, Junoon's 1996 album "Inqilaab" was definitely a treat for the ears. This was the band's golden age, as they were writing socially conscious tunes, as was evidenced by such pioneering tracks as Saeen. With that song, the band showcased a shade of their 'Sufi rock' side, which would later bloom fully in 1998's "Azadi", the record that helped them smash through the South Asian charts and become household names from Delhi to Dera Ghazi Khan. "Azadi", probably the greatest album of their catalogue yet, put the group into another league, and tax bracket, altogether.

Awaaz which emerged from the underground music industry into the mainstream were once the perfect poster boys for shrilling clean sound to the commercial pop music. With their catchy looks and bouncy synth leads, the band singers Haroon, Fakhir, and Asad Ahmed seemed unbeatable at what they did best: make safe, sugary corporate pop.

Now talking about another underground band which due to presence of talent and their hard work came successful in the mainstream and the name of that band is Noorie. It originated from Lahore; Punjab .The genre they belong to is pop and rock. Its members include Ali Noor and Ali Hamza. They became a rock icon for the new generation. The band released their first album; “Suno k main hun jawan” in 2003.The album was a big success in Pakistan. Then they released their second album in September 2005. Another band named  Aaroh, the group that had won the Battle of the Bands, launched their hotly anticipated debut album "Sawaal" in 2003. Mixing pop balladry with alternative rock and semi-classical vocals, the band created a deft mix that had the potential to conquer the local scene. But there was trouble in paradise, and in 2004, the band called it quits after hardly a year together.

In 2004, Mekaal Hasan launched his deliciously different "Sampooran", which has raised a strong with its mix of classical vocals and jazz-fusion guitar. Besides that EP is also a very famous band these days which was first singing as an underground singer. Another well known Underground music in Pakistan is Irtaash. They have sung English songs as well as Urdu and are doing a great job. There songs can be found on the different websites etc.

So that, briefly, was a bird's eye view of what the last ten years in music were like. Much has changed, yet much remains the same. For instance, local musicians still swipe tunes and melodies from foreign artists and pretend that the audience is too dumb or stupid to realize when they are playing a Jimi Hendrix or Jimi Page riff. On the other hand, the next generation of groups has proven that only those will survive who take chances, who try out bolder themes when it comes to subject matter and play with different song structures. The future, for a change, looks very bright for Pakistani pop and all its subdivisions.

We can find a number of underground music singers and bands on different websites. They are known as the social media band websites. Many of the particular sites offer the ability to upload the songs for free. Visitors to those pages can also listen to those songs that are being uploaded there. They can also learn about the bands and can possibly buy the particular music if it is available for sale. These websites offer great opportunities and effective ways to promote their music. This is how underground music singers and bands evolve and if interested, they can also enter the mainstream.
Saleha Butt
Section H
BBA II 
09U0440