It feels like we’ve blinked and somehow we’re already halfway through the year because we’ve been meaning to write this newsletter for a while…
So, here’s a little update from our corner of the music world. This one’s got a bit of everything- research, education, community, and a few exciting collaborations. We hope you’ll find something that sparks your interest, and even inspires you to get involved!
Most existing conversations about gender representation and experiences in Indian music rely on anecdotes, observations, and the occasional article, which are useful but not enough to build real policy or industry change on. Additionally, almost none of it accounts for gender minorities beyond the cis-binary, or for how caste, religion, geography, and class shape who gets to participate in music-making and decision-making around it at all.
Despite growing conversation around gender equity in music globally, India has had no comprehensive, cross-sector data on this issue - until now.
Supported by UNESCO’s international fund for cultural diversity and led by Anahad Foundation, with TINNUTS as the project partner, we’re excited to be the research partner for this national-level R&D project advocating for gender representation beyond just the optics.
The project aims to build the first comprehensive picture of gender representation across India's music ecosystem, documenting experiences across roles, regions, and identities to help inform future industry practices and policy, and follow up with direct action through mentorship and skills development programs based on the initial findings.
At Neon, we’ve always believed that a stronger music ecosystem starts with stronger systems. Research like this helps move conversations beyond assumptions and towards action, which is exactly the kind of work we support and actively contribute to.
Whether you’re on stage, behind the scenes, in a studio, at a label, or anywhere else in the industry, your voice & experience matters.
The survey is anonymous, takes about 8-10 minutes, and is available in English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.
And if you know someone whose perspective should be part of this conversation, please share it with them too.
We’re excited to be a community partner for OOTB Soundboard 2026, which is taking place in our home city, Bangalore!
This is the second edition of the event organised by the Out of the Box (OOTB) Educators Community, emerging from the work of OffSet Education. The symposium brings together music educators, artist-educators, and arts practitioners to explore what the future of music education in India could look like.
This year’s edition will feature conversations with leading voices in arts education, interactive workshops, a fireside chat, and the first public insights from the OOTB Music Education Survey Report 2025; all centred around one question: How can we collectively reimagine music education in India? We have been sitting in on some of their planning and curation meetings and trust us when we say that this is a day you will want to clear your Sunday for!
If you’re a music educator, run a classroom or studio, or are simply interested in the future of music education, we’d love to see you there. Happening on 2nd August 2026 at The Humming Tree, Bangalore.
As part of Soundboard 2026, there’s also a Teacher Showcase, giving educators the opportunity to perform and share their practice with the community.
Performances can be up to 10 minutes long, and applications are open until 26th July.
Apply for the Teacher Showcase
Working across research, education, live experiences, and community reminds us that music is about so much more than what happens on stage. It’s also about the people behind it, the spaces that nurture it, and the communities that help it grow.
If you’re building something in this space, or are simply curious about collaborating, we’d love to hear from you. We’re always looking for meaningful work to support. Whether you’re looking for research support, a community partner, thoughtfully curated live music experiences, or someone to help turn an idea into something real, we’d love to explore it together. From research and education to live experiences and community initiatives, we’re always excited to work with people building things in music.
If that sounds like you, let’s talk. Neon is always open to new conversations, ideas, partnerships, and ways to support the people and communities shaping the future of the Indian music and culture industries.
We’re a little over halfway through the year, which felt like the perfect time to pause and look back at the music we’ve discovered so far.
Last year, we spent each month listening through submissions from artists across the country, discovering incredible new music and building our Neon Curated Playlists one release at a time. It remains one of our favourite ways to support independent artists through thoughtful, human-led discovery. We’ve now brought together all of last year’s selections into a 2025 Playlist Archive, making it easier to revisit old favourites or discover artists you may have missed the first time around.
We continue reviewing new releases & submissions every few months, so if you’ve got music you’d like us to hear, keep sending it our way. Beyond playlist consideration, standout submissions may also be selected for a dedicated artist feature. The aim remains simple: to create a thoughtful, human-curated discovery space for independent music.
Whether you’re an artist looking to submit your work or a listener searching for your next favourite independent artist, we’d love for you to explore our playlists.
Also, if you haven’t already, check out Play It Back, a newsletter series that features essays, reviews, and cultural commentary that examine the music industry a little more closely.
This year, guest writer Asmita has contributed a series of sharp, thoughtful pieces that are well worth a read:
The Big Concert and the Small
Is Indiewood the Newest Thing?
Whether it’s through supporting research, bringing people together, or creating new opportunities, we’re grateful to spend our days working alongside people who care deeply about music and the ecosystems that help it thrive. We’re excited to keep building, learning, collaborating, and seeing where these conversations take us next.
Thank you for being part of the Neon community- we appreciate you.💛
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