Prateek Kuhad on Indian musicians in the West: There is no disparity anymore

Prateek Kuhad’s career has taken a major upturn in recent years after becoming the first Indian artiste to sign with a major American label. The singer-songwriter says the West is really opening up to the idea of working with great talents from India.

“Everybody is trying to be fair. I guess there’s no disparity anymore. I got signed despite the fact that I was an Indian,” says Kuhaad, adding that three or four decades ago, it wouldn’t have happened even if his music was really good.

“A lot of people would’ve been hesitant to sign me in the US, someone who’s from India. The fact that there were so many challenges obscurities, not knowing cultural differences, etc, it was a different word then. Now, people are so much more connected and open. A lot of cross culturalism is happening,” he adds.

The 31-year-old broke out in the North American music scene after his cold/mess EP debuted at number one. Even former US President Barack Obama featured the song on his 2019 Songs of the Year playlist. Last year, Kuhad took it a notch higher and became the first Indian to get signed by the American record label, Elektra Records.

Talking about the differences he sees in the music industry in India and the West, Kuhad, who’s currently in the US, says, “It’s just that everybody is a lot more professional as compared to India. Things happen more on time, they’re a bit more reliable. But that’s also not because of how the people in the music industry are in India. In our country there are multiple issues with support system around. You’ll be late for a meeting because of traffic and, that causes cascading effect and causes inefficiencies, which just aren’t happening here.”

The singer, who recently launched his new Hindi EP Shehron Ke Raaz, notes that the work environment in the US is smoother and everybody is a bit more relax and professional.

“Operating is way easier. Also the music industry in the US is so much older. There are many people who’re exceptionally good at what they do. The kind of producers, sound engineers, live music engineers, agents and tour managers, all support that an artiste needs is way better than in India. Also, the music industry is India is very nascent, especially the indie music scene,” he says.