What is the future career wise for singing show participants?

Hi , I was wondering what the future career pathway is for these young talent in the music industry. Is playback singing the only avenue for them to earn a living? How many are able to sustain themselves in this industry as full time career Singers? What are their goals? And how successful are they in this career or should music be a hobby or side income earner for them?

After winning or becoming runner-up, some finalists might get a few songs in Bollywood, either as singers or as music composers. Some take off, some don't. Sreeram Chandra, Bhoomi Trivedi, Shivam Pathak, Swaroop Khan, Antara Mitra are a few who have done substantial work in Bollywood. The Season 10 finalists worked with Anu Malik on a promotional song for Sui Dhaaga called "Sab Badhiya Hai" (the chorus and background vocals). A few child artists like Nahid Afrin, Ananya Nanda, and Nityashree get oppurtunities too. Of course, popularity varies for each. For example, bigger names in the industry who have participated in such shows include Armaan Malik, Neha Kakkar, and Monali Thakur.

Some go on to do other TV shows (musical or otherwise). Salman Ali and Ankush Bharadwaj are doing Pro Music League on Zee TV right now. Meiyang Chang is a popular TV host. I've seen him hosting Indian Idol and Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya. Some have acted in movies and TV; some have done reality TV like Big Boss. Some have even dubbed for movies.

Other avenues for these singers are regional music or title songs for TV serials. Ankush Bharadwaj has sung for the title song of "Isharon Isharon Mein" and Antara Mitra has sung a song for YRKKH called "Ek Duje Ke." I know Sreeram Chandra has sung many songs in the Telugu and Tamil film industry. I'm from Gujarat where Bhoomi Trivedi and Parthiv Gohil are HUGE names. They sing for movies AND folk music. I'm sure other ex-participants are popular in their own state's cinema or music.

They also make independent music like singles and covers. Darshan Raval from India's RAW star is very popular for his singles (music videos) along with his songs from Bollywood. Even current Indian Idol participants have and are making their own singles and covers like Sireesha Bhagavatula, Anuskha Banerjee, and Mohd Danish. Most of the participants this season are experienced singers.

Many go on to do live shows. Sayli Kamble has done some with Suresh Wadkar. I went to a Bappi Lehri concert once in USA and the female vocalist had been a finalist or winner of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Nachiket Lele's Instagram page shows that he sings in Marathi live shows. Bhoomi Trivedi sings for Garba shows during Navratri festivals in Gujarat. I know a lot about her because of my Gujarati background.

Lastly, their luck can shine if a prominent musician decides to take them under their wing and teach them. I think Ankush Bharadwaj has assisted Amaal Malik on some of his albums before he even came on Indian Idol.

This is what I know from all the singing reality show contestants that I know. Still, a great number of them haven't made it big in music, be it national or regional (according to my knowledge). I think the biggest problem is the over saturation of reality singing shows. This is the 12th season of Indian Idol, which adds up to a lot of participants over the years. Then when you count the many seasons of other shows like Superstar Singer, The Voice, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, X Factor etc. then that adds up to soooo many singers. How many can the public keep count of? Plus the credibility and standards of these shows are not as high as they used to be. Years ago, there were shows like Meri Awaz Suno and Sa Re Ga Ma which were judged by legends like Kalyanji-Anandji, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Lata & Usha Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Jatin-Lalit, Jagjit Singh, Pyarelalji, and others. That's how we got gems like Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan, and you can see how long they have lasted in the industry.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, even Arijit Singh and Jubin Nautiyal had participated in singing shows (Fame Gurukul and X Factor, respectively). But they didn't get widespread recognition until years later. Who knows, maybe one of the former or present contestants might surprise us years down the line?

Thank you Aditi for the detailed clear insight 🙏🏽

Originally posted by: Aditii

Lastly, their luck can shine if a prominent musician decides to take them under their wing and teach them. I think Ankush Bharadwaj has assisted Amaal Malik on some of his albums before he even came on Indian Idol.

Ankush is the only one who's worked the most in Bollywood/music industry apparently. He participated in a radio singing show that was judged by the Mallik brothers, they loved his voice and called him to Mumbai. Ankush has assisted Ammal on various projects...after which he got on Idol. He's still working with Ammal coz he assisted him on his non film single debut.

I think both Ankush and Rishabh Chaturvedi have done some project with Sajid-Wajid too (not IPML) because there were insta stories of them with singer Muskaan at Taleem studios.

Then of course he's sung for Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein...I think he did a version of Gayatri Mantra for the Ganesha tv show on Sony. Then he's done Times of Music, Voot Shout Out and finally Indian Pro Music League; along with 2 independent singles.

Imo he seems to be the most popular out of recent Idol aluminis...this just goes to prove you don't have to win in order to be bankable.

Kamal Khan was the winner of SRGMP 2010 ( Sugandha Mishra was also in this season). He was in Vishal - Shekhar's Team. They made him to sing Ishq Sufiyana in The Dirty Picture. The song became superhit and even he won some award for this song. But after that I don't think he has done anything significant in Bollywood. May be he is active in Punjabi industry. So the thing there is no surity. If someone after winning a big show and debuting with a hit song is not being considered by the industry then there is some problem. Only being talented is not enough. Luck and connections are also important.

Aditii has given a very good answer to your question.

Not everyone makes it big, Infact only a handful do. For most others it’s live concerts or singing scratches and assisting music directors.

Originally posted by: ~Raina~

Not everyone makes it big, Infact only a handful do. For most others it’s live concerts or singing scratches and assisting music directors.

Maybe one of the reasons for this could be that it's hard to find singers with an extremely unique voice. Look at this season's contestants. Many people compare Sireesha to Chitraji, Arunita to Shreya Ghoshal, Nachiket to Sonu Nigam, and Danish to Sukhwinder Singh. They are called the "next so and so" rather than being appreciated for having a unique voice.

On the other hand, take Ayushmann Khurrana for example. If you have heard him singing, you can tell how unique his voice is. I can't think of anyone who has a voice like his.

Many sings in weddings, functions and festivals and charge >1 lakh per day

Originally posted by: Aditii

Maybe one of the reasons for this could be that it's hard to find singers with an extremely unique voice. Look at this season's contestants. Many people compare Sireesha to Chitraji, Arunita to Shreya Ghoshal, Nachiket to Sonu Nigam, and Danish to Sukhwinder Singh. They are called the "next so and so" rather than being appreciated for having a unique voice.

On the other hand, take Ayushmann Khurrana for example. If you have heard him singing, you can tell how unique his voice is. I can't think of anyone who has a voice like his.

Anushka has a fairly unique voice, as do SMP and Sawai

Originally posted by: Aditii

Maybe one of the reasons for this could be that it's hard to find singers with an extremely unique voice. Look at this season's contestants. Many people compare Sireesha to Chitraji, Arunita to Shreya Ghoshal, Nachiket to Sonu Nigam, and Danish to Sukhwinder Singh. They are called the "next so and so" rather than being appreciated for having a unique voice.

On the other hand, take Ayushmann Khurrana for example. If you have heard him singing, you can tell how unique his voice is. I can't think of anyone who has a voice like his.

Thats a major problem. And Vishal always says things like "If this song was recorded in today's time then you could've sung at least one version of it". That doesn't help either. Why make a Part 2 of an already popular singer?

Thats exactly the reason why Salman Ali and Ankush Bhardwaj have bagged another show...true they have been compared to other singers but they are individual identities, I will recognise their voice form a distance too. Thats a very rare quality to have.

These days publicity is a must, even for a talented personality. So I can understand why Salman and Ankush are doing one more reality show, they come in "logon ki nazar" once again and can move away from their Idol image. I mean I was so surprised to see how the two have evolved. Salman seems to have changed in some ways and he sang well but Ankush really became a rockstar. He's lost all his inhibitions and his voice has improved greatly too; which just adds to his looks.

I remember coming across this group photo of Idol 10 finalists in 2018. I never watched the show but recognised Salman since my mom would watch occasionally. My jaw dropped when I saw Ankush...like who is this handsome guy and how do I not know about him yet ? 🤣 Lol made me look up his instagram. 🤣 I didn't hold onto my thoughts...but in 2020 I saw Ankush in Times of Music and that made me watch the entire season in quarantine...I realised why he was called Dilon Ka Shooter. 😆

So its really made me happy to see this journey and growth. At least one of my favourites is in mainstream media and if he plays it right, he'll be a known singer-songwriter soon.