Thaindian News

Mumbai, June 16 (IANS) Bollywood playback singer Shaan is ready with another album after four years, and is mulling how to promote it as he feels that “regular marketing vehicles” are not so easy to tap for non-film music.
“I have an album ready, but right now I’m planning how to promote it well, since album sales are not very encouraging right now,” Shaan told IANS in an interview.

“The regular marketing vehicles for albums are not working so well. TV doesn’t promote non-film songs anymore; radio doesn’t promote them either now, so how do you market a song?” he asked.

“Thus, I am looking at various options to promote the album. Once the album is out, it’s out, then you can’t take it back if the sales are not good. So I’m trying to give my album very good promotion since it has shaped up very well,” he added.

Shaan, who has belted out various popular Bollywood songs like “Woh pehli baar” (”Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi”), “Koi kahe kehta rahe” (”Dil Chahta Hai”), “Chand sifarish” (”Fanaa”), “Kuch toh hua hai” (”Kal Ho Na Ho”) and “Behti hawa sa tha woh” (”3 Idiots”), among others, released his first album “Naujawan” in 1996.

He later went on to churn out many hit albums like “Q-Funk”, “Loveology” and “Tanha Dil”, among others, with “Tishnagi” being the last one in 2006.

Today after over a decade in the industry, the 37-year-old singer has worked with almost all music composers, but his favourite remains Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

“I like Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy a lot. I find their songs catchy as well as musically interesting,” he said.

Talking about the industry these days, Shaan, who recently won an International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) award in Colombo, Sri Lanka, felt that it’s easier to get into the industry nowadays “but it’s very difficult to sustain yourself”.

“When I started off, it was tough breaking in but at the same time there weren’t so many people to compete with so it was not tough to sustain yourself. Now, it’s kind of tougher. Getting one song is not the trick, but to be able to hold and maintain your career in music is very difficult,” Shaan said.

When asked whether he would like to be in front of the camera too, like many singers nowadays, Shaan revealed that he was not averse to it.

“If I get a good offer with a good director, I’m not averse to it but it should be worth my time,” he said.