Rock Music is Not Dead in India. But Rock Musicians Are Struggling to Make a Living

Hey hey, my my / Rock and roll can never die...,” sang Canadian American artiste Neil Young many years back. These words ring true in today’s India too. With a twist of course.

Rock music, a staple of campus and club scenes, has slowly lost out to more contemporary genres. But as Young goes on to sing, “There’s more to the picture than meets the eye.” The notion that rock music is dead in India is a misconception. It may not be kicking and headbanging, but it is not dead and buried either.

"Independence Rock [a two-day music festival in Mumbai] has been a huge success, fuelled by people’s nostalgia. It's celebrating its 30th anniversary on November 16–17, and it is sold out. The success of I-Rock led to Bandland [a rock festival in Bengaluru], and now, because of both, more festivals are emerging," says Subir Malik, founder and organist of Parikrama, one of India’s biggest rock acts.

According to him, even with techno and electronic dance music ruling the airwaves, Bandland last year still managed to draw nearly 10,000 fans with international bands such as Deep Purple and Goo Goo Dolls headlining the shows.

The iconic I-Rock festival made a comeback in 2022 after a nine-year hiatus, with founder Farhad Wadia partnering with Hyperlink Brand Solutions as co-organiser and the Mahindra Group as the title sponsor. I-Rock was launched in 1986 and is renowned as the longest-running and most popular rock festival in the country.

“It is fair to say that there has been more rock music at festivals. There are not necessarily more festivals dedicated to rock, but the genre is inching back to claim more space on multigenre festival lineups,” says Anurag Tagat, a music journalist.

Hitting a Sour Note

Rock music in India often takes a backseat to more popular genres such as Bollywood music, regional film music, hip-hop or pop and a majority of the audience gravitates to these genres, making it hard for rock bands to sustain themselves and carve out a space in the mainstream music industry.

For many in the country who enjoy listening to rock music, college festivals were the first to expose them to this genre. Most famous colleges, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), would have a western music section with a famous band headlining the evening. They would also provide a major platform for emerging bands to gain visibility and make a name for themselves. However, the trends have changed.

“Colleges now often prefer to invest in Bollywood and regional acts, which can cost between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 35 lakh; rock bands are unlikely to attract that big a sponsorship. This shift reflects a broader change in audience preferences and market dynamics,” says Shardul Mehta, producer and drummer of Delhi-based Joint Family.

However, Parikrama’s Malik disagrees and says there are green shoots appearing. Rock music seems to be making a comeback on college campuses in the past few years, according to him.

“This year, several institutions like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and BITS Pilani, which have a legacy of hosting rock shows, have invited us to perform after nearly a decade. This resurgence among the younger generation shows that rock is making a strong comeback,” he says.

Part of the popularity, or the lack of it, of rock music—not just in India, but globally—is the cyclical nature of music trends. There is a bunch of dedicated followers who will always stick to their choice of music, regularly attending concerts and supporting their favourite bands.

But are these fans enough to sustain rock musicians?

Though opportunities to play live have increased, for sure, life as a professional rock musician is still not easy. Making a living playing rock in India is next to impossible. Only Bollywood A-list singers or their regional counterparts managed to do that.

“I've faced many challenges like financial instability, family pressure and the lack of regular opportunities. The struggle is real, and it’s a constant balancing act between pursuing your passion and ensuring financial stability,” says Chennai-based Edison Prithviraj, who has been part of the Indian rock and metal scene since the ’90s with his bands Bonesaw and Blood Covenant.

Trying to get an estimate of how much a band or a musician makes is very difficult. There is no way to arrive at a uniform figure because the circumstances and needs differ from individual to individual.

Many musicians supplement their income by teaching music, doing session work, or performing at private events such as weddings and corporate shows. The number of gigs a band secures varies widely, but it's often insufficient to support a full-time career. Financial instability is a harsh reality for most.

Money, It’s (Not) a Gas

On average, an Indian rock band might earn anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 per gig, depending on the venue and event. High-profile gigs and festivals might offer more, but these are rare, and most bands can’t rely solely on income from concerts.

“Usually, musicians earn between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 per concert. A top musician might get Rs 10,000. These sums are meagre. Hence most musicians earn a living through teaching music, often travelling to smaller towns for lessons,” says Kolkata-based Biswajit Dasgupta, a media consultant, who works with musicians and hosts shows.

Sounak Roy, who plays the drums for Arinjoy Trio, a blues act from Kolkata, says his band does not compromise on the fees or the music. But their main source of income is teaching music.

“I would say 85–90% of my income comes from teaching. I teach students who are interested in learning the styles I play, particularly blues, and they often come to me after attending my shows,” he says. The remaining 10–15% comes from playing music and doing gigs.

Many musicians, especially instrumentalists, take up session work to keep afloat. “I mix music for several bands. I also produce music for advertisements. Production houses often reach out to me when they need that distinct rock sound for specific brands,” says Chaitanya Ranjan Bhalla, a guitarist and a sound engineer.

Though most serious musicians do not want to, they still look to Bollywood (or its regional counterparts) and wedding gigs. As far as royalties from selling music are concerned, things have changed with the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify. Earlier musicians supplemented their income by selling compact discs and albums.

With the streaming services that are currently available, a band’s exposure can increase exponentially, being able to reach an audience that they would not have been able to do otherwise. The downside, however, is that the payment is minimal and royalties from streaming do not amount to much unless it’s an A-lister.

“To make a living purely off royalties, you’d need to be right up there like a very popular singer or music director. Most bands can’t sustain themselves just from royalties alone,” says Tony Das, guitarist for the band Thermal and a Quarter, based in Bengaluru.

Financial constraints often limit bands’ ability to invest in marketing and promotion. As a result, while rock music persists, it struggles to gain the visibility it once had.

Back in the Groove

“The key is to adapt and engage with the audience effectively. This involves not just creating good music but also understanding and catering to the changing tastes and preferences of the audience,” says Joint Family’s Mehta.

Music journalist Tagat agrees. “They [bands] need to also speak to a wider audience through their lyrics and sound in a way that will appeal to wider audiences. If someone is singing about wearing leather pants and biking on a highway in an American English accent, that’s still a niche subculture they are tapping into,” he says.

But the music is not over yet. A new generation of bands like The Local Train and The Yellow Diary is proving that rock still has a strong presence and can draw significant crowds. Tagat lists a number of acts that have surfaced in recent years including Long Distances and The Earth Below (in Mumbai), Purple Cassette, Zyakuni in My Backyard and Raman Negi (in Delhi), Alva Kuuto and Rascals of the First Order (in Bengaluru), Shillong’s Murder in Space, SNARM (in Guwahati), Sutej Singh (in Himachal Pradesh) and Hyderabad’s Peekay among others.

Rock music might not be mainstream or popular—it's a fact globally and in India. But it is still early to write the genre's obituary. Till then rock on.