Is the song reel-y worth it?

They know that song more than they know merdquo says singersongwriter and composer Aditya A better known as the voice behind Chaand Baaliyan The song was released in April 2020 but blew up only in February this year ldquoA few celebs covered itrdquo says the Chandigarhbased musician ldquoand eventually Instagram influencers shared it on reels Within a month it blew out of proportion with around one million reelsrdquo It now has over 25 million views across YouTubeAdityarsquos sudden rise to fame made him one of 200 Indian artistes Instagram has partnered with for their latest music property 1 Minute Music Launched in late May this new music property is a set of music tracks and videos exclusively available on Insta for reels and storiesKavita Seth Gaurav Wadhwa and Sidd CouttoldquoReels is a growing global stage where artistes and music are being discoveredrdquo Instagram said in their statement Aditya A is definitely one such artiste ldquoIf I could attribute a current artiste or their success due to Instagram organically it would be Adityarsquos Chaand Baaliyanrdquo says Gaurav Wadhwa founder of Mumbaibased record label Big Bang Music The viral hit song has now been bought by Sony Music This according to Wadhwa is a new phenomenon for AampR Artist and Repertoire labels like his ldquoInstead of going on reality shows and to physical campuses for singing competitions we just look at what is happening on Instagram reels and which young artistes are getting the numbers without putting marketing money and getting them on boardrdquo he says Wadhwa believes that just having a song available on Instagram music and reels can make it popular Aditya agrees He says he was never a social media person but would upload his music videos on YouTube After Chaand Baaliyanrsquos fame fans looked for him on various streaming platforms and he now has 160K subscribers on YouTube On his recent tour he was requested to sing the song at least twice per show and during one of the shows he even sang it four timesParas Sharma Director Content amp Community Partnerships Facebook India Meta says ldquoMusic is a catalyst for trends on Instagram today In fact reels is becoming the platform for people to discover music and artistes With lsquo1 Minute Musicrsquo wersquore now giving people access to an exclusive set of tracks they could use to make their reels more entertainingrdquoSpeaking of discovering new talent through social media Sidd Coutto a Mumbaibased songwriter believes that it is an avenue for kids who donrsquot listen to music a lot to expand their taste ldquoI donrsquot foresee an artiste releasing an album with oneminutelong songs or 30second reelsrdquo says the man who has been in the business for more than 20 years To him short form music is a genre in itself and is just another trendldquoIt serves as a background score for videos right nowrdquo says Coutto ldquoPeople listen to it because of the visual content It is not even uploaded and used by the artiste Some influencer picks it up and it starts catching onrdquoKavita Sethrsquos Rangi Saari released in April 2020 with her son Kanishk Seth as a duet song and gained traction organically because influencers and actors used it to make reels ldquoMy song went viral due to wordofmouthrdquo says the 52yearold playback singer ldquoPeople would hear the song and then go on YouTube to check out the video They listened to it on whatever platform they had The biggest factor for its wide reach was that everyone was online during the pandemicrdquo The song is now part of the upcoming movie Jug Jugg Jeeyo The Mumbaibased singer shared how during live shows she would be requested to sing her popular song Iktara but now the audience wants to hear Rangi Saari at least twiceldquoUsergenerated content has changed the way music is made and usedrdquo says Achille Forler Founder SyncMama ldquoThere is a lot more production involved in short form videos now Content creators donrsquot just want traditional songs now they are looking for lsquosomething differentrsquomdashexcellent tracks and sound effectsrdquoWadhwa also admits that as a label ldquoIn the last yearandahalf we spent a lot of effort on curating reels campaigns for song marketingrdquo He believes that this strategy can be a plan for the future A reelsfirst release of a song could even be around the corner