Meet The Multilingual Vocalists Making Waves On Streaming Platforms Such As Spotify

Music is a universal language with the unique ability to transcend borders and societies. Multilingual vocalists from India today have successfully blurred language lines, with listeners from across the country tuning in to their offerings on audio platforms such as Spotify. Their success reiterates the fact that music has the ability to connect with people irrespective of the language it is sung in. We sat down with some of India’s most popular multilingual vocalists and advocates from Spotify’s AmplifiHer initiative to discuss their journeys.

Playback singer Jonita Gandhi, who records predominantly in English and Tamil, but has also sung in Punjabi, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, and more, says, “I often sing in languages that I don’t speak or understand, but the melodies and rhythms can sweep me away.”

“The beauty of the intricacies or emotions can be felt regardless of the language of the lyrics. I’ve read several comments over the last few years from listeners who’ve never listened to songs in languages other than their native tongue, saying that they began exploring and appreciating music in other languages after being exposed to my songs.”

Nikhita Gandhi, a playback singer who regularly sings in multiple Indian languages, shares this sentiment, “I began my musical journey in the Tamil film industry, with my first chartbuster solo being ‘Ladio’ from the film I. I had to sing in a language I barely spoke at the time — but I applied myself by learning the diction of the lyrics and delivered.”

Nikhita, who has received acclaim for her versatility in singing in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi, while also straddling genres effortlessly, adds, “Most times you don't even need a brief because the music and melody carry the mood forward and one can usually sense exactly how to emote while singing. It's the same reason we as listeners sometimes immerse ourselves in songs that we may not understand but still fall in love with!”

Multilingual music has its own fandom

Music apps are booming, giving a mix of genres a fillip but do vocalists who sing in languages other than Hindi enjoy similar popularity to Hindi vocalists? Singer and songwriter Maalavika Manoj, aka Mali, says, “As an artist who sings and writes primarily in English, I find that my market is more niche and does appeal to others whose first or second language is English. When I sing in Tamil or Hindi, a lot more people are excited about it because of the novelty factor, but also because there’s more of a connection to the language.”

Jonita Gandhi attributes the popularity of regional music towards multilingual singers excelling across the board, saying, “With regional music also being consumed by those who don’t speak the language, artists stand to gain more visibility.”

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The role of audio streaming platforms

The avenues created by audio streaming platforms help multilingual artists reach listeners across languages. Mali says, “Through curated playlists you can find music from the same city, genre, language, and even theme. I find that more people are open to listening to music in other languages with the advent of streaming.”

Furthermore, Nikhita Gandhi of ‘Jugnu’ fame also added, “I see a significant surge in playlists of regional languages in the past couple of years, no doubt! It also helps that all music is digitally consumed now on streaming platforms, so you can switch from an RnB record to a Tamil hit to the latest Rosalia song in seconds.” With audio platforms catering to everyone, listeners are able to discover more of the music they are drawn to, and vocalists in turn reach fans consuming music across languages.

The current audio ecosystem is steadily creating a democratic listening market, giving birth to the emergence of local superstars and songs. With multilingual music hitting a powerful note, our diversity is responding.

This article has been posted in collaboration with Spotify for their campaign AmplifiHer.