MUMBAI: Let’s Folk together- a folk artist relief fundraiser by Believe Entertainment, world’s fastest-growing digital and live music company in association with Anahad Foundation - is aimed at conserving India’s beautiful folk music heritage and its artists through a digital concert series.
Today, the folk music community in India find themselves in an extremely tragic circumstance as they remain in lockdown in remote villages, cut-off from metros and essential supplies and while India fights to curb the spread of the virus, the future of the folk music community, which relies completely on their craft as musicians focused mainly on shows and events, is at risk.
As we continue to face a global pandemic, industries and institutions are slowly coming to terms with its impact and putting in place strategies for a COVID-19 and post COVID-19 world. While the lockdown in India has had a debilitating impact on businesses, it has spelled doom for the live music industry with over 1000 events being cancelled or postponed over the next few months. The effects of the crisis are being felt by the mainstream as well as independent artists, live concert and event promoters, all of whom are working hard to adapt to the current situation. Ticketing platforms are fast adapting to the situation by creating digital concerts featuring artists performing live from their homes. These are extraordinary times and while the music community continues to find its voice, it is the folk music community in India for whom the lockdown has had a devastating impact.
Around 20 mainstream and independent, highly talented musician and stars of India like Shankar Mahadevan, Amit Trivedi, Vishal Dadlani, Salim Sulaiman, , Raghu Dixit, Harbajann Mann, Papon, Mame Khan and others have come together to support the folk artists and their families at this critical time through this folk fund raising initiative by Believe and Anahad. Let’s Folk Together, the digital music series will be launched on Friday, 24th April at 9 pm daily until the end of the lockdown on Sunday 3rd May 2020. Music artists will perform special concerts from their homes, featuring some of their favourite folk songs. Each artist will do a 15-minute web-episode. The episode will highlight their passion for folk music, perform a few folk songs and encourage fans to contribute towards the fund and support folk music in India.
Warren de Sylva, Chief Creative Officer at Believe Entertainment stated –“Believe’s global vision is to best serve artists with care, transparency, innovation and partnership and it is a critical time for all of us to play a part in helping sustain the livelihoods of these folk artists and thereby help conserve our cultural heritage.”
Abhinav Agrawal, Founder – Director, Anahad Foundation added “Through this initiative, we are trying to provide financial and ration aid to around 5000 vulnerable folk artists across the country. These artists are in dire need of help as all the shows for the next 6-7 months have been cancelled and they have no other means to support themselves and their families, they are not even considered as a daily wage worker. 100% of the donations raised through this initiative shall go to the artists.”
Subramanian Iyer - Chief Executive Officer, Believe Entertainment also stated, “Social media is all a-buzz with live streaming concerts across the world and while we continue to stay indoors, these concerts are a welcome source of entertainment and comfort. With Let’s Folk Together, we’re extremely grateful to music artists who have come forward to help us spread the message. While we hope to raise adequate funds through the campaign, we also hope to instill fresh appreciation for folk music among listeners.”
To donate to this cause and for further information please click : anahad.ngo/donate/
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