Nagaland: TaFMA envisions one-stop place to promote all musical genres

Kohima: To promote local musicians, Nagaland’s Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA) now envisions a one-stop place where the works of Naga musicians covering all genres of music can be featured and the artists get the recognition for their works.

TaFMA Adviser Theja Meru, in a conversation with EastMojo on Thursday at his office at the Regional Centre of Excellence in Music and Arts (RCEMPA) in Jotsoma, revealed that a proposal to develop a Naga Music App has been made to the state government.

While the discussion to develop the App is still ongoing, he said that such a mobile application will provide a platform for all kinds of music, including folk songs and songs sung in Naga language. 

According to Meru, the Naga Music App will promote local dialect songs while providing a platform for native musicians. “For now, we think that an App like the Naga Music App will help our musicians. It will be a big project for which we have made a proposal to the state government,” he said.

Meru informed that as per a research conducted by TaFMA, the App will be “serious business” as it estimates revenue generation which in turn will help the musicians to earn, besides promoting them through the platform.

Although the music industry in Nagaland is at an early stage, he said that it is heading in the right direction. He informed that there are more than 100 music schools in Nagaland which indicated that there is a focus on music education and the growth of an economy around it. He informed that a survey is also been conducted to grade music institutes in the state. 

Despite repeated lockdowns in the past two years due to COVID-19, musicians in Nagaland were undeterred in their quest to share their love for music. Although another lockdown is Nagaland may not be imposed immediately, he advised the musicians to utilise their time to join online classes and upgrade skills if a lockdown is imposed again.

He said that the department is “heavily networking” with festival organisers across the world so that when the right time comes, musicians from the state can participate in music festivals.

Should a lockdown be imposed, he said that TaFMA is in the process of procuring more musical equipment to create world class curated shows for professional musicians at the recently inaugurated music space- Musify, where the works will be streamed and sold online.

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