Lebanese - Canadian music composer and pianist Steve Barakat who performed earlier this year at The Royal Opera House in Mumbai, got his chance to perform at the iconic venue through an All About Music connection. This is the impact All About Music, India's premier music industry conference can create for artists whether Indian for from overseas.

In their ninth edition this year’s theme focused on ‘Momentum – Turning Moments into Movements’, and explored how we can convert today’s breakthroughs into long-term change.

This year AAM introduced two new sections, ‘Open Chair’, where one member of the audience can be the one to drive the conversation with industry experts and share their perspective, ask questions to the panel and in turn co curate the dialogue around all things music. The other new offering was ‘Pitch to Investors’, a brand-new platform for early-stage startups working at the intersection of music, tech, and culture. 

The ninth edition of All About Music began on 20^th August with Chandni Soni, Business Head of Create and Collab who set the tone with a welcome note focusing on the theme, ’Momentum- Turning Moments into Movements’.

Later, in his keynote address Vikram Mehra, MD Saregama India spoke about the insights on the Indian music landscape. In a later Fireside chat, Vikram Mehra and David Shells discussed Saregama’s vision of becoming a modern entertainment powerhouse.

In the session from “Past to Future;” The enduring legacy of Indian music’, Bollywood composer Javed Akthar spoke to the audience very strongly regarding the importance of keeping Indian music alive and relevant to new listeners.

IFPI Chief Executive, Victoria Oakley stated in her keynote speech to industry leaders, that IFPI has been included Indian charts. She sees potential in the Indian music market while also mentioning about the government back up to music industry respect to K-pop and practicing it in India will work wonders.

In his conversation with Bobin James in the discussion on taking India to the world and into the future, singer Sid Sriram offered advice to new emerging artistsstressing that music is not Indian or western, but international. He stated that one should explore their sound to the core. He also mentioned that Indian music is not meditative, but diverse music, coming from a diverse country.

In the ‘The Art of Vocal Production’ Masterclass with Sunny MR, he talked about the ease in creating a track as song durations these days have been mineralized which is great for music producers.

In the Panel discussion – Levelling up the Art of Live’, singer Kavya spoke about visualizing the color, the design, the choreography of light and sound when performing live. She believes that collaboration is the key to independent artist.

In his session Gaana – Home of True Fans’, Udit Tyagi and Indira Rangarajan highlighted that if you listen to a song, you have to pay for it as the creativity of an artist work is not for free. The duo also explored the new features of Gaana informing the audience that Gaana is the first fully paid Indian based music streaming platform.

In his Spotlight session, Raghav Anand, Partner, Ernst & Young, LLP,  presented a case study of EY – Bookmyshow Coldplay report on the immense success the concert generated from turning Ahmedabad into a tourism and economic state overnight, getting a makeover never seen before. With 2, 20, 000 attendees attending the Coldplay concerts, the event he says ended up with good sales figures for shopping, hotels and travel industry. “If you don’t have government agencies, its difficult. Coldplay was done in partnership with Central Government agencies and so the coming together of all these people, from hotel, transport and other sectors all contributed to making it a grand success”. He also said that pre planning with government agencies helped a lot to make the event a mega event and the biggest in the country.

With so much happening on Day One, music lovers were eager to see what Day Two offered.

So after a power packed musical showcase on day one that saw upcoming singers like Pratiksha Vashishta, Deedar Kaur and all girl band WiSH, perform and with the rains having moved on, attendees at the annual All About Music conference were back for a second day, looking for more invigorating panel discussions, workshops, and most importantly networking and forging connections.

Day Two opened with a Conversation between music composer and musician Mithoon and Karan Grover. Sharing his journey, Mithoon said that he prefers to be mentally focused on not knowing what may happen next. “Life is full of failures, if your music excites you, that is all you need. I have never chased a hit. When I worked with Mohit (Suri), we never chased a hit, instead we look at creating a melody, creating a feeling.”

In a Fireside Chat: ‘Opportunities for Artists in Asia’ between Cyrus Chen, Head of Southeast Asia, Tunecore and Akhila Shankar, Head of Asia, Tunecore, Chen stated that Indian artists should check out countries that have Indian population. “In countries like Singapore, Malaysia, there is a large Indian population and so if you sing Punjabi, chances are it will be lapped up by such people living there.”

Mayur Jumani in his session Red Talk, explained how even news reporting has a melody to it. He said that one can play with few random chords and make music. He further spoke about his enthusiasm for music and how a YouTube channel made a difference in how his music grew.

In the panel discussion ‘Scene Starters: Breaking through in the Early Years’, music artists Kushagra and Sudan stressed on doing what you think is right, for until and unless you connect with the audience your way, nothing else matters. Adding to the same topic, Vidya Venugopal from Atti Culture that promotes Tamil music said that patience is the key to success.

In a Fireside Chat titled ‘The Future of In Car Entertainment’ curated by Manjari Upadhye and Neil Shah and joined by moderator Karan Grover, the discussion focussed on the experience of listening to music while driving. The panellists stated that with the sound systems available nowadays, if someone was stuck in a traffic jam, watching a movie with a good audio system in your car would kill time. Upadhye stated that India is poised to be a music driven market soon.

In an interesting conversation with Atul Churamani of Turnkey Publishing, titled – ‘Lift Kara De’, singer Padma Shree Adnan Sami shared his musical journey from a young boy taking to the piano to becoming one of India’s hottest pop stars during the 90s. He also spoke about autotune and his connection with Michael Jackson. He was defensive of auto tune and said that everyone does it, so don’t be afraid, as its been done for over 20 years now. “Its like being with makeup and without make up”. He also stated that he is open to working with new musicans as new musicians bring a mix and match that some don’t see. The conversation got many cheering to Adnan’s musical endeavors and film showcase.

DJ and music producer Kratex in an off-schedule session said that a music video should not be what your music lyrics are talking about, rather it should reflect about storytelling. He also announced about a music festival that is set to take place in Pune in October titled ‘Marathi Vajla Pahije’.

In one of the final sessions for the day, singer Shreya Ghoshal was in conversation with her father Biswajit Ghoshal about how failure is the root cause to success, and that there is no politics in the industry if you have talent. Her father stated that if you worship Saraswati, Laxmi will automatically come along and not the other way around.

Other interesting sessions were ‘Impress the Press: The Right way to make an EPK’ by music journalist Amit Gurbaxani, Music Ally, South Asia, with inputs by Prashin Jagger. Gurbaxani guided artists on building impactful press kits to send out to music journalists. ‘A Musicians Guide to hearing Care’ by Vier Mulraj and Dr Krishna Vora. The duo explained through visuals the importance of taking care of one’s ears, given that every second person today sports earphones for long periods of time that in the long run can damage earring.

For the first time, All About Music brought in a sign language interpreter translating the spoken word to attendees with hearing disabilities.

‘In Memoriam’ honoured the life and legacy of maestro Zakir Hussain, who inspired generations. Curated by industry veteran Atul Churamani with composer Salim Merchant, the panel also discussed the impact the tabla genius had on other musicians.

Electronic artist Anish Sood better known by his stage name Anyasa shared his musical journey in a Conversation session. He also spoke about his new album to be released next year in which for the first time he is singing one song. He also played his new track Just a Feeling  in which he is heard singing a part of the song.

Social and antiSocial have been hot places for young people to hang out and a panel discussion on this very happening place in Mumbai and other places was the ultimate in opening the story of how this entity came about. Riyaaz Amlani, Founder and MD of impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt Ltd was in conversation with Girish ‘Bobby’ Talwar Founder, Rebellion Management and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, and took a deep dive into the journey of Social and antiSocial talking about the visionaries behind it. Speaking at the event that had a huge gathering, Amlani stated that he made Social to keep away from social media space, where culture moves forward and you come over to interact with one another. “AntiSocial on the other hand was made purely made for the music aspect of it, for musicians to come together and interact and party. He also stressed the need for musicians to support venues and not the other way around, and both musicians and venues should work together for the good of all.

The evening musical showcase saw many independent artists vying for attention, with the top slot going to Shriya Rao who gave her best with an all girl band in attendance. Other acts included Khosla Raghunath, Yari Rd, Aksomaniac ending the night with Komorebi.

With the last day unfolding, attendees were more than happy to meet and greet not only members from the music industry, but catch on old friends from Mumbai and other cities.

The final day at All About Music saw attendees in large numbers moving around the span of the conference area attending panel discussions, workshops, master classes and if they weren’t in any of the massive halls, they were networking with other attendees, many of whom from across the country and the world.

Opening the day’s proceedings was Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Music Commission, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Pacifico gave a glimpse of the music scene back in Saudi and mentioned that live shows were banned in 2017, but a change was taking place since 2024. “The country marked a beginning of a creative renaissance. Earlier music shows were attended only by males. We witnessed a jazz festival and later hip-hop star Eminem performed last year.” He also that back in KSA, they concentrate 50% on Arabic music while the other 50% is kept for music from other genres and other countries while adding that they recently held for the first time an International Jazz Festival.  

Keeping with the theme of ‘Moments in Momentum’, Samit Garg, MD and Co-Founder of E Factor Experiences spoke about the growth and future of live experiences. Citing examples through videos of ABBA Voyage, he recounted his visit to London when he went to watch this production. “When I was watching the show, I thought I was watching the band live, it was only after it ended that I realized it was an ABBA virtual concert. They had recreated the whole band. I thought to myself, why can’t we have something like this in India, maybe a Kishore Kumar voyage?” He then went on to showcase a virtual concert of Kishore Kumar that left the audience baffled seeing a realistic Kishore Kumar come alive…. virtually.

In a Fireside Chat, ‘Beyond the Mix, Immersive Audio, AI and Creator Rights’, singer Ankur Tewari spoke on the threat perception of AI, saying that AI does solve the job of a musician by saving his time, but we need to protect it too, as it can be good and bad. Sawanand Kirkire said that while AI cannot be copied, no one really owns it and that it is there for anyone to use after someone uses it.

In the panel discussion ‘The Cultural Renaissance of North East India’, Shyamkanu Mahanta said that North East festivals can attract a lot of people when we introduce ourselves as part of India. This statement should strong, especially after a furore that took place a few years ago sidelining people from the North East of India as not part of India. Through visuals Shyamkanu showed the work the North East region had done to take their music to the Far East, while not only taking the music, but also the food and culture of the region. The Rongali festival he says, brings together three things – hip hop, Ghazals and rock music and its one of the biggest festivals. Mahanta also stated that Music Connect, a North East Festival held in 202, was held to discuss and connect with music.

Songwriter Natasha Lalwani in her presentation ‘Art of Songwriting’, stressed the need for keeping the lyrics to a song simple, to be your own A &R person, believe in what you are making and lastly try to build your own relationships.

Other interesting panel discussions were ‘The Sound of South Cinema, Why do we need Music Industries Education? and ‘Pitch Your Music to Filmmakers’ among many others.

The evening showcase on the last day saw many acts like Karsh Kale and Raghu Dixit.

The regular Connect Corner a platform for record labels, artists, artist managers, brands, and other IPs, was an out and out hit with the place swarming with attendees to network and build relationships for the future. www.musicunplugged .in was Media Partner and was at the Connect Corner represented by its Founder Verus Ferreira who briefed attendees on the portal. Kiran Holkar a regular contributor was also lending support in explaining the portal to all who walked in at the counter. This year, All About Music increased the duration of Connect Corner from 60 minutes to 90 minutes which was a great step to offer more time to meet and connect.

The 3 day conference of All About Music brings together music artists, publishers, TV channels, radio stations, aggregators, streaming platforms, artist managers, music labels, consultants and legal music consultants to support artists, distributors, and brand and ad agencies.

The event that brings together people connected to music from all parts of India and abroad, also showcases regional breakthroughs, music policy, AI innovations, artist development strategies, and brand-music collaborations brought to life through immersive case studies, expert-led conversations, and curated showcases.

AAM that draws over 3000 attendees remains the place to network, discover, and imagine what’s next with the voices that matter and when you have speaker panelists like Shreya Ghosal, Javed Akhtar, Adnan Sami, Sid Sriram, to Salim Merchant, Nikhil Chinappa, to many front running music artists who are making waves across the country, it is the place to be.

The much awaited conference was a super success that brought together voices, stories, collaborations and new connections, to anyone connected with music.The three days saw attendees take home a wealth of knowledge and a hope of returning for All About Music 2026.  

AAM addressed many issues that anyone connected with music was looking for. However, considering the huge crowd factor, the curators would do well to decide on a larger venue, make sure important panel discussions don’t overlap each other and address the issue of finding nearby eating houses for attendees to have a quick lunch.

The All About Music conference was held on the 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd August at the Grand Hyatt, Kalina, Mumbai.

By Verus Ferreira