PESHAWAR: Unlike the past, the music buffs didn’t have new music albums this Eid as their favourite singers released only one song in audio or video form.

Over a decade ago, Pashto folk singers used to throng local studios for recording Eid releases and the sponsoring companies would compete with each other to bring out the best contents on the most auspices occasions of Eid.

However, this time around, the Pashto music market lost the trend of selling albums of icon vocalists.

Folk singers released single musical item on web pages, TV channels

Hit songs of few Pashto folk singers have been uploaded for Eid entrainment. The video songs of Zeek Afridi, Gulpanra, Zafar Iqrar, Karan Khan, and Haroon Bacha are getting more ‘likes’ on social media prior to Eidul Azha.

Popular Pashto folk singers including Karan Khan, Bakhtiar Khattak, Humayun Khan, Zafar Iqrar, Gulpanra, Sitara Younas and Nazia Iqbal have launched single item on their respective web pages and webTV channels for Eid audience.

Arshad Khan, a resident of Dir, told Dawn that he was a fan of Gulpanra and enjoyed her albums that used to be a medley of several pieces of different poets and music tunes.

He said only one music item could not satisfy his urge to listen to music.

“It’s so sad to know that folk singers don’t find sponsors and even popular singers release only one video to remain alive in the music market just for rating,” he said.

Music composer Nazeer Gul Ustad said traditional music faced serious threats due to rapidly changing music scenario as audience depended on modern gadgets to enjoy music.

“The era of launching albums has gone. Around 400 in KP musicians, instrumentalists and folk singers only look up to a few happy occasions where they could perform live. Pashto music has gone a tremendous change. Though Pashto folk music still enjoys popularity and has the strength but at the same time it is very hard to find a sponsor,” he said.

According to experts, the practice also posed a serious threat to traditional Pashto music as most computer composers don not invite traditional musicians to participate in the recording because digital keyboard have the sounds and tunes of almost all music tools. “ The owners of most production houses in Peshawar invite us only once during recording a music item and paid us for solo performance but then they use our tunes in several other compositions too. One computer composer has replaced rabab, flute, harmonium, sitar, tabla, and saxophone players, which, I strongly believe, are a threat to traditional Pashto music,” regretted rabab payer Bilal Khan.

Most singers now bring out one-song videos on Eid just to make their presence felt in the music market as they can’t afford to release an album containing more items because of non-availability of sponsors.

Also, young artists who know how to use social media, especially Facebook and YouTube, release a single item on their personal webTV channels to attract audience and enlarge circle of their fans followers. Young artists, Shan Yousafzai, Zubair Nawaz, Tariq Hussain Bacha and a few others have scored an encouraging impact on online Pashto music charts.

The booming business of audio cassettes was followed by VCR videos. There followed the modern era of DVDs and CDs and Nishtarabad in Peshawar city became the hub of CD business, where hundreds of production houses had sprung up but over the last few years, the once thriving music market lost to modern gadgets including USB and many other devices which could easily steal and copy any costly production and thus, leaving the producers and artists with no option but to leave the business.

“No music store sells out album of a single artist in Peshawar. No fresh music productions are available as most production houses have already been closed down due to business slump. The CD stores only releases only a hotchpotch music album of old performances,” said Sajjad Gul, owner of a music store in Nishtarabad, once a thriving music market in Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2018