MUMBAI: Indian singer-songwriter Ananya Birla has a strong-willed for music, where she signed with Universal Music India in 2016. She has recently added a new collaboration with Maverick management.

Ananya Birla was the first Indian artist to be signed by Maverick, “It feels like a really big step forward for me. Things have been going so well back home, now it is time to try to reach out to more people with my music and I couldn’t have had a better team behind me for that”.

“Maverick has such an incredible roster of artists, from G-Eazy to The Weeknd to Miley Cyrus, it is pretty overwhelming and amazing! It motivates me to push even further” she adds.

“I’ve been spending most of my time in LA since the end of last year, working on a bunch of new songs. I nervously played Greg, the president of Maverick, some of the music and I was thrilled when he saw the potential for this to go global” the “Hold On” singer expresses about her collaboration with Maverick management “The vibe has been amazing since the get-go and it feels amazing to now officially be a part of the Maverick Family!”.

The music industry is changing so quickly all the time. It is so different now to when she was a kid, when she used to buy cd’s and get most of her music from MTV. 

The 25-year-old singer doesn’t think there’s ever been a better time to be a musician. Because of streaming platforms and social media, your reach is basically infinite! It also means you can have a much more direct relationship with your fans than ever before. For some artists who are in more remote parts of the world, and working on more niche styles, it gives them an opportunity to access an audience that they would never have been able to before. In India, it has given rise to a load of super talented independent musicians and we are seeing more diversity than ever before - which is amazing.

Further, she emphasised that music is so much more international - look at the rise of K-pop, or the fact that non-English tracks like ‘Despacito’ are getting massive acclaim around the world. “For my debut EP Fingerprint, I recorded my track ‘Blackout’ with two of Nigeria’s biggest rappers, Vector and WurlD. I love working with artists from all over. I’m a big believer that music is the ultimate universal language”.

With all the technology as well, the possibilities are endless. Loads of people are talking about VR at the moment and how that will change things like concerts, it’s a really exciting time.

Forecasting the year to come and taking stock of what 2019 had to offer, the “Better” singer exclaimed about the music trends in 2020. She predicts a lot more genre crossover for 2020. she met Lil Nas X recently, who is also managed by Maverick, his blend of country and hip hop went to the top of the Billboard charts for the longest-running number 1 in history. It is something she want to do more of too – with ‘Day Goes By’ they mixed pop and reggaeton, and ‘Blackout’ had a strong hip-hop angle to it too. The days where we pigeonhole music into categories are long-gone.

“Music is also getting a lot more ‘real life’, tackling subjects such as mental health, politics and female empowerment” said Ananya. “Lyrically, Billie Eilish has been incredibly frank about her struggles with depression, Mabel’s massive debut OK tackled anxiety. Artists like Lizzo and Megan Thee Stallion are singing about gender equality. My song ‘Unstoppable’ was inspired by women and girls who broke the rules to seize hold of their own destinies and achieve amazing things”.

The “Meant To Be” singer wants to carry on doing what she loves and hopefully make people smile when she does it. There’s a lot of new music coming out that she is super excited about.

“This year 2020 I am really focussing on my personal growth, which is in turn helping me grow and evolve as an artist. I am also focussing on becoming a more balanced person to ensure I can do my bit to make the world a better place” the young pop singer signs off.

Maverick is home to a lot of reputed international artists, with that Ananya has thrown a few hints that it is going to be a really exciting year.

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