Bhuraria, Devaansh
Heritage School
31 May 2024
There is no denying that music is something that is close, special, and beloved to everyone. Unfortunately, in the modern day and age, it is getting harder and harder for budding musicians, artists, and producers to create a reasonable income from their passion for music despite their undoubtedly incredible talents. Like a beam of hope, an NGO based out of New Delhi named Manzil Mystics is hard at work trying to change these unfavorable circumstances for musicians across India. Read on to learn about how the NGO is impacting the lives of hundreds of artists through its various initiatives and innovative approaches.
Most musicians don’t have a retirement plan. Music is open for all ages and demographics to create and perform. In this day and age, most musicians have to diversify and rethink their livelihoods in ways that help them to earn more. Musicians are pivoting to spaces such as music education, production, and engineering. It becomes extremely important that these struggling artists have platforms to perform on and financial aid in their musical pursuits. Moreover, it is also important to understand that musicians who are just starting out are asked for demos, and prior experience to perform – the impenetrable employment system of “to gain experience, you need to first have experience”. Manzil Mystics supports artists by providing platforms and shows for these musicians to perform so that they can create a profile and get bookings.
Manzil Mystics through various events and gatherings attempts to create a community of music lovers, where they can gather and discuss music, create connections, meet people to collaborate, and leverage a professional stage to showcase their musical talent. Events such as Chai Kaafi Music create a gathering for music and tea lovers, Safaranaama provides a platform for the annual showcase of various projects of Manzil Mystics aiming to showcase the journey of its students, and Delhi Kabir Festival a unique musical festival to celebrate music and messages of Kabir provide the students a chance not only to perform but also learn beyond music through volunteering in sound, media, food, stage, artist management departments.
After speaking to a representative, teacher, and fellow musician from the NGO – Mr. Mohit Kumar, I learned about the various initiatives that Manzil Mystics has taken to promote and teach artists about the music industry and the process of creating music itself.
Manzil Mystics also provides production classes for free so that producers can make music for other artists and earn a livelihood. They also provide high-quality equipment to budding musicians. It’s important to keep in mind that musicians can use various methods such as performances, teaching, creating jingles for companies, composition, etc to earn an income. The NGO also has a music business course that they offer to artists teaching them the ins and outs of the music industry. This music business education course highlights aspects such as writing a song, composing, recording, monetizing, IPR, branding, and marketing as well as learning how to perform. It is significantly important that an artist that is about to join the industry takes time to understand these principles to not be taken advantage of by major record labels and organisations through unfair contracts.
A testament of the program – is Asish, an aspiring artist who was eager to carve a path towards expanding his artistic prowess and career opportunities. Throughout the MBE program, he immersed himself in the comprehensive curriculum. Following completion of the course, Asish applied for and secured a coveted residential externship with the New York-based organisation, “Thematic.” During this internship, he dived into advanced topics such as nuanced copyright practices, detailed analytics, outreach initiatives, and music marketing. Asish greatly attributed his success to the Music Business Education course.
Moreover, the organisation uses the initiative of the Music Bus – a mobile recording studio furnished with cutting-edge equipment so that artists can record and engineer music with extremely low costs. Mohit sir also mentioned one of his students Parth Grover – who was taught audio production through ‘KalaCar’, KalaCar is a project and initiative of Manzil Mystics, a three-month program for artists who want to learn how to produce a song and how to promote themselves on different platforms. The organisation has worked with 28 artists from low-income communities and partner NGOs and helped them earn a livelihood. Parth was a student of the first-ever batch, became a senior teacher connected with Manzil Mystics, and is now an entrepreneur.
Another student named Rohan similarly got into audio production and is now employed full-time at a music studio. Audio production is an underrated space for artists in terms of generating income. The modern-day age is all about generating income from different aspects of music-making. Audio production is a sphere that is untapped for most artists and can be a great source of income. For Rohan, the pivotal hands-on experience came via the Music Bus—the mobile recording studio—where theory seamlessly merged with practical application. Reflecting on the impact of the course, Rohan expressed, “From relying solely on fragmented knowledge gathered from online sources, this course laid the groundwork of audio production from scratch. It furnished me with the confidence to venture into the field and secure employment.”
In 2020, Anuradha joined Manzil Mystics as an audio production student, which led to managing sound at various events, giving her hands-on experience in sound management.
Using this newfound knowledge, she promoted and shared the music from different choirs and schools within Manzil Mystics. Additionally, she took charge of the fundraising team at the Delhi Kabir Festival in 2023. This course helped her develop skills to connect with people and organisations, enabling her to market herself as an artist. Following the course, she performed in multiple shows and collaborated with various individuals for more opportunities. After completing Kalacar, Anuradha also enrolled in the MBE course to expand her learnings. Currently, she is working as an HR manager in a Gurugram-based organisation earning 2x than what she was earning as an intern at Manzil Mystics.
It is very clear that these courses are of great aid to these artists in helping them land opportunities of income generation.
Initiatives like ‘Kalakaar, ‘Music BUS’, ‘Chai Kaafi Music’,and ‘Safarnaama’ are only some of the many initiatives that Manzil Mystics is taking to help musicians, artists, composers and producers to achieve success in their careers and help them earn a livelihood out of their talents and their passion of music. If you like the work they are doing, you must spread the word so that the world learns about their generous and immensely supportive approach to budding musicians.