Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 21
Connecting fellow musicians and stakeholders of the music and arts industry in Nagaland on the occasion of World Music Day on June 21, Theja Meru, advisor Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA) today said that despite the very difficult and depressing times in the wake of COVID 19 pandemic, “our Naga musicians and artists have risen to the challenge, and have been extraordinary in terms of creativity and content-especially through digital and social media.”
In this, Meru applauded and acknowledged the Naga musicians and artists.
“I would also like to add that, the private and public sector alike, no one was ready for this situation, but over time, we are all learning new ways of dealing with the situation and adapt to new normal,” he said.
TaFMA, since last year, has worked very hard to engage with musicians and artists, and created numerous opportunities on the digital platforms for them to participate in and also earn.
TaFMA is also using this time to help “our empanelled musicians get their music on steaming platforms through our partner TuneCore, India.”
TaFMA is actively networking and reaching out to corporate and music houses to continue to support our artists in the present situation and beyond, Meru stated.
On another positive note, the pandemic has not only given TaFMA but many of our artists and musicians the time to be more creative. Many new songs and contents have been written and released and our musicians have proven to be very strong and motivated. They have in many ways shown the way of hope and calm in the midst of the storm, the advisor stated.
Music is all about the energy that comes through the meeting of people. The novelty of online streaming can be very unpredictable and many times the response has not been encouraging, Meru said adding that digital concerts are also expensive to produce for individual artists and highly competitive, “so to help our artists make greater impact online and earn well, TaFMA is gearing up with a in-house studio at Regional Centre Of Excellence For Music & Performing Arts (RCEMPA), Jotsoma to help our artists produce well-curated digital shows, the space is near completion and will be inaugurated soon.”
Meanwhile, Meru conveyed sincere appreciation to Nagaland’s Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, “for all his support to our fraternity and confident that under his leadership and patronage we will meet better days and yes - “meet the better days” with greater vigor and enthusiasm for what we love doing the most-creating music and the arts.”
