Shreya Ghoshal: True Song Success is Live Audience Singing Along, Not Likes

For her, a song's real achievement is determined when she performs it live in concert, and the audience remembers it, sings along, and connects with it wholeheartedly.

"Those likes and views are very skewed because har cheez kharidi jaa sakti hai. The success of a song is when I take that song to a concert, and people are singing it along. That's all. I think that's the measurement of a song's success," Shreya told ANI.

"Aur agar yeh maine pehli baar bhi perform kiya ho, aur jinko ko pata nahi hai, but doosri baar wo yaad rakhenge ki woh gaya tha na aapne, can you do it again? So song's success is from the multiplicity effect which happens in a concert. For an artist, that's the biggest win (Even if I've performed the song for the very first time, and some people in the audience may not know it yet, true success is when the next time I perform it, they remember it and say, 'You sang that song, didn't you? Can you sing it again?'," she asserted.

While Shreya doesn't pay attention to chasing the number of likes and views, she fully acknowledges that social media has had a highly significant impact on the music industry.

"Big time social media has signficantly influenced the music scenario. Just look at how 'Dil Kaa Jo Haal Hai' from the 2013 film Besharam suddenly started trending 10-11 years after its release. The same thing happened with 'Jugraafiya' song from 'Super 30'. Ye jaadu hai social media ka," she said.

Shreya feels that the music landscape has become far more democratised now.

"This is all created from that one person who believed and thought ki, 'is tukde mein kuch hai baat. Let me make something.' It starts connecting. So it's a very community-driven age. It is about building your community around you. It's not what I want to tell you ki yeh music acha hai. Tum chuno kya acha hai. Tumko kya acha lagta hai, wohi decide karta hai the fate of the popularity of the music and how it's consumed. It's not bad. (Today, it's not about telling people, 'Yeh music acha hai, you must listen to it.' Instead, the power lies with the listener.) It has democratized music. It's not just social media. Audio streaming platforms have also played a major role.They have given you the medium to be democratic about," she added.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shreya is gearing up for 'The Unstoppable Tour', which she will take across several cities in India as well as internationally, performing for her fans worldwide.

On what fans can expect from 'The Unstoppable Tour', Shreya shared, "For Unstoppable, we are revamping our entire concert. The 'All Hearts Tour' actually started back in late 2020 and continued through 3-4 years. In 2024, we went on a full-fledged world tour, wrapping it up in India by 2025. Altogether, we covered nearly 50 cities, and every single show was sold out. We're incredibly grateful for the impact it's had. But now, we knew we had to do something drastically different, something that would truly feel unique. That's where 'The Unstoppable Tour' comes in. Its story is very personal, rooted in my journey of becoming a singer. This time, I want to explore that journey through the songs, keeping the experience fresh and completely unexpected".

Dates for 'The Unstoppable Tour' have not been disclosed yet.

- ANI