Front of House: Sanoli Chowdhury on the Challenges of Growing a Female-Focused Indian Indie Label

Sat at a coffee bar in main Bengaluru, Bengaluru artist, sound engineer, and Femme Music co-founder Sanoli Chowdhury states there’s a particular type of predisposition she wishes to chip away in the music market. “Even when somebody is impressed by something a lady does, it constantly originates from a point of, ‘Oh, however for a female, you’re terrific,'” she informs Wanderer India“Those examples are so subtle, however so driven into us that we do not recognize we do it.”

Chowdhury states she has actually been spared the harsher variations of this herself and is grateful for it, however she explains the conditioned, primarily unmentioned predisposition as still really present. It’s the issue Femme Music was established to resolve. “It’s not truly about leaving out females or leaving out any person. It’s more practically offering more of an area to females.”

The concept of the label was started by skilled U.K. artist supervisor Vinod Gadher, who has actually dealt with the similarity Talvin Singh. He originates from a generation, Chowdhury states, that has actually enjoyed females battle even more to be heard, and he brought her the strategy a couple of years back, influenced by the Riot Grrrl motion for femme punks. The business was officially established in 2025, introducing sub-labels like Nyima, Tala Root Records and 34 Beat for various musical designs while likewise hosting gigs and, more just recently, signing singer-songwriters Tabitha Kagoo and Ro Maiti.

Chowdhury confesses she had not pictured herself as somebody who might do something for the higher good. “I simply didn’t wire my brain to think that I might be that individual,” she states, including that running this label has actually altered what she thinks she can do for the neighborhood.

Nyima Records– which just recently put out a 2nd collection of 11 artists called Nyima, Vol.2 — is for singer-songwriters. Tala Root Records, on the other hand, is for jazz and classical, just recently reissuing violinist-composer Jyotsna Srikanth’s trio EP Bangalore Dreams in April. 34 Beat, which will have a release out in the coming months, leans towards electronic and hip-hop. “The only factor we have the sub-labels is since it’s simply much easier to arrange categories,” she states.

The label likewise uses 2 type of offers. A release offer covers circulation and marketing, and possibly mastering, with the artist keeping control of the music. Chowdhury calls it simpler for both sides: “You do not actually have much to lose,” and it lets the label construct a brochure. Unique offers, like the ones they’ve got with Ro Maiti and Tabitha Kagoo, indicate the label deals with whatever from pre-production to post-production. “We’re going to be purchasing these artists from start to complete,” she states.

Nyima, Vol.2launched on Oct. 2, 2026, follows the Collection in late 2025which included Maiti, Sahana Naresh, Kagoo, Tiana Tara, Aanchal Bordoloi, Meera, Aadya Jaswal and more. In both circumstances, the label put out an open require female singer-songwriters. Chowdhury states about 250 applications can be found in from throughout South Asia, and she listened to all of them herself. She selected around 30, then 15, then called those artists. Some could not satisfy the due date, so the last count concerned 11.

This time Nyima broadened its scope beyond English. “The broader we want to choose language, the more skill, fresh voices we have access to,” Chowdhury states in journalism release. The collection opens with “Theera Kadal,” a Tamil tune by Chennai-based Shruthy Parasarathy, whose music relocations in between Carnatic, pop, jazz, funk and soul. Priyanka Shinde’s “Uljha Jia” is Nyima’s very first Hindi release. The collection consists of brand-new product from Sangeeta Mardur, Zui, Mirael Lia, Ivy Sood, Soumya Jha, Nandini Jiva, Blue, Chaitra Kalakrishnan and Disha. For the majority of them, this is a launching release. Meant as a location for artists to start, Nyima, Vol.2 is among the uncommon Indian indie music collections at a time when songs are the default mode of artist discovery.

That stated, there are obstacles in the collection format when it pertains to fitting into the streaming environment. Chowdhury concurs she “absolutely needs to play the video game “in regards to pitching for playlists and more exposure, however she’s careful of dealing with streams as the objective.”Numbers truthfully do not matter to us,”she states. She’s fast to include that it’s about how to transform streams into a genuine fan base and a sustainable profession. “I inform artists, do not run behind numbers. Do not even run behind significant labels, for that matter.” She states some artists have actually pertained to the label thrilled that somebody at a significant was interested. Her action is to ask whether it will really lead anywhere sustainable. She states, “It’s so simple for an artist in this world to be a short-term whatever. Even if you end up being popular– let’s state if popularity is your objective– it’s extremely simple to be forgotten the next day.”

Her design is a long profession instead of a viral minute, and she indicates John Mayer as an example. He is heard by individuals as old as her dad and as young as teens, and she does not believe his profession will ever pass away. “To reach that point is what the objective is.”

The path there consists of live programs, though Femme Music had its own display trip in November 2025 called Femme Power, which took a trip to 4 cities with combined lead to regards to ticket sales. Chowdhury states she and her group were “a little dissatisfied” and hoped a minimum of her online in Bengaluru would draw more individuals. “I was likewise sort of positive that we would pluck least 150 individuals. I do not understand how numerous revealed up that day. I do not even think of 100, possibly 70-ish,” she shows. A calendar clash with another big-ticket occasion might have been among the factors however she confesses there’s a great deal of experimentation to discover what’s working and what isn’t. “For now, it makes more sense to do programs in the cities the artists originate from,” she states. Still bullish on live programs as the primary source of income for the artists (and by extension, the label also), when their artists have music out, a European trip is likewise on the cards in January 2027.

On the studio release front, Ro Maiti’s full-length album– co-produced by Chowdhury– is likewise slated for release. With a double function as a studio engineer however likewise the label representative for the release, Chowdhury states she would not” take cash from my own business “for her production services. “Those are things like it’s a huge endeavor, however I likewise wish to do it due to the fact that I believe her music is fantastic,” she states. Chowdhury, who worked 12 to 14 hours a day on Femme Music through the majority of 2025, has actually likewise moved more of her focus to her own music and engineering profession, with Femme Music as the other concern. The label hasn’t taken a rear seats, she states, however the plan has actually altered. Gadher has actually handled more obligation, and they’ve likewise employed a label supervisor and a social networks supervisor.

The marketplace itself is another difficulty. Gadher, who is likewise still Chowdhury’s supervisor, is utilized to operating in the West and has actually been irritated by how in a different way things play out in India. Chowdhury states she informs him not to take it personally. “Being ghosted, not responded to, simply not speaking with somebody permanently is such a typical thing here, although it should not be.” She and Gadher still think that India is the next huge market for the West to take a look at, something he started stating about 7 years back and she states that’s beginning to occur.

In the meantime, she states, the work has to do with comprehending that market and gradually hoping things reverse. She sees one artist breaking through as an advantage for the entire lineup. “People would resemble, ‘Oh, alright, this artist. What is this label? Let’s go take a look at other music.'”