Musicology

YouTube's launched charts for 43 countries — excluding India: What explains the oversight?

India is the 19th largest music market in the world, with revenues of Rs 725 crore in 2017. So why doesn't it get a YouTube chart of its own?

ABBA's reunion, Boyzlife's India gig — and our continuing enthusiasm for 'retro' pop music

For all the flak pop gets for being formulaic and throwaway, to a lot of people, even the most bubblegum variety represents cherished memories.

Dhruv Visvanath hits iTunes India's top five: Are exclusive streaming deals the way forward for independent artists?

This past week, Dhruv Visvanath’s The Lost Cause joined the short list of Indian independent music releases to have hit the top five of iTunes India’s all genres albums chart.

Nucleya to Raghu Dixit Project: The 10 Indian indie acts with the biggest social media presence

Unsurprisingly, indie acts are more dependent on social media than Hindi film musicians | #FirstCulture

Amid Radio City Freedom Awards 2018, a look at what impact such honours have on careers of indie acts

Awards can serve as much-needed validation for acts that rarely get mainstream attention in a country where being a full-time musician continues to be considered an unusual career choice | #FirstCulture

As New Musical Express' print run ends, a look back at the golden age of music magazines

This week brought news that long-running music magazine NME or the New Musical Express would stop publishing its print version

Musicology: The weird and wonderful world that is the Indian iTunes top albums chart

Where else but the Indian iTunes album chart would you find South Korean rapper Agust D’s eponymous album alongside 'Best Of' compilations for Kumar Sanu, Bryan Adams, AR Rahman, Blackstrat Blues' The Last Analog Generation, the mystically named Root Chakra, and the more prosaic 10 Minute Butt Workout? #FirstCulture