'It's a myth big labels don't support new talent'

British-Indian singer Kadam Verma, who released his debut single "Billo ni" under T-Series earlier this year, says it's a myth that big record labels don't support budding artistes.

"There's a myth about big record labels... That they don't support new talent. I believe if you have an 'industry standard' product which is commercially viable, no record label will let go of you," the 25-year-old told IANS.

"So it's very important to have a song which is mixed/mastered by professionals and then its video is shot by industry standard production teams. T-Series was quite supportive. After going through the audio and video samples, 'Billo ni' was given a thumbs up," he added.

The urban Punjabi song has been written and composed by him. Why did he pick the genre?

"As I am a singer based in the UK, where people love Punjabi music, I decided to release an urban Punjabi track as my first song. Moreover, the way in which Punjabi music is making inroads in Indian cinema, with every mainstream commercial movie having a hit Punjabi number as part of its album, it made more sense to go with the current trend," he said.

He says "Billo ni" is not a song to showcase his vocal skills.

"The intent was to make a catchy tune, which can be sung by even non-singers and can be enjoyed by the vast majority of urban Punjabi music listeners," he explained.

"The idea was to make a song more 'Bollywood Punjabi' rather than 'typical Punjabi' so that the song could be more acceptable by even the Hindi music lovers worldwide."

A few weeks ago, he even visited India.

"I started the tour from my hometown Shimla, where I was invited to perform at the International Shimla Summer Festival. I was one of the headliners where I performed in front of about 10,000 people," he said.

Verma then headed to Chandigarh, followed by Delhi for "some meetings with producers and choreographers for my next track".

Finally, he visited Mumbai to promote the single.

He promises to return with another song soon.

"The next project will be coming this year for sure. I've already recorded two new songs, written and composed by me. The next track is expected to release around August. It again has a 'foot-tapping' tune," he said.

--IANS

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