Pashto artists turn to social media as music companies fail to sponsor their work

Finding no other option, the artists and folk singers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chose social media including Facebook and YouTube to reach out to their fans and entertain audience as most of them consider it a modern tool to earn both earn money and fame.

The young artists and folk singers, who are familiar with use of modern digital gadgets, have launched Facebook pages and private YouTube channels to market their talent and fetch handsome money.

Almost all the noted Pashto singers have released trailers of their solo performances on their private YouTube channels as not a single full-fledged audio or video album was being released on Eidul Fitr this time around because no music company was available to sponsor any such project.

Therefore, social media was the first and last hope of many young artists and singers across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Anchor persons of private radio and TV channels and even popular Pashto poets have started airing their contents on the social media.

Gone are the days when top folk singers would book the recording studios days before Eid festivals and music sponsor companies would release their albums, mostly audio cassettes.

The digital wares including CDs and MP3s and other tools followed by the powerful and overwhelming social media have overtaken the entertainment industry by storm.

Now the artists and folk singers don’t need huge amount to invest, nor they go after local sponsors to release their productions, what all they need to book a studio and get recorded an item and shoot it outdoor at a scenic location and finally put it online after running its brief trailer.

The senior musicians and folk singers are on the receiving end as they are unable to use social media and their works are also uploaded on social media without their permission.

Originally published in Dawn, June 10th, 2019