The music industry has long sold the label deal as the moment an artiste begins to “make it”. But for an increasing number of independent musicians, the deal comes with too many hurdles. The new trend is to not sign under a label.

“When I came to Mumbai, I thought I’ll find the right people immediately, make music, and release it. I realised that the first step is to find the right people which is not easy. That’s the part that took me a lot of time to figure out,” says Mumbai-based Punjabi hip-hop artiste Mananveer Singh. When he moved to the city in 2018 without industry connections, he assumed approaching labels was the next step. Instead, he found himself waiting — pitching songs, following up, and trying to convince people that his music was worth backing. Songs he made in 2023 eventually came out in 2024. “If I hadn’t waited for labels, trying to convince them to give me a shot for so long, I would have released my music much earlier,” he says.