The number of music stores has decreased in the capital, clearly showing that the business is not good. But on the other hand, the number of people listening to Bhutanese songs has increased. Bhutanese music is broadly divided into two categories – the traditional genre comprising zhungdra, boedra, zhey and zhem, and a modern genre called rigsar.
The origin of rigsar songs date back to the late 1960s. The tune of the first rigsar song, Zhendi Migo, was directly picked from the popular Bollywood film song “Sayonara” from the film Love in Tokyo.
Rigsar’s popularity grew steadily in the 1970s when the genre’s modern form developed. By the early 1990s, the rigsar industry grew considerably as more electronic elements were used.
However, the fan base was mostly middle-aged. Youth were more interested in western and Indian music. As new and younger singers came in the market with modern remix rigsar songs, the more youth turned to rigsar songs.
Gyamtsho, a music store owner in Thimphu, said that earlier it was middle-aged people who mostly bought Bhutanese music cassettes. “Now it is the youth who mostly come and buy,” he said. He added that, a few years ago, boedra and zhungdra songs sold better than rigsar. In seven years that he has been running the music store, Gyamtsho has observed that rigsar film song albums sell better. He said that today most people come for Namgay Jiks’ or Dechen Pem’s songs, while a few years back, Kesang Dorji, Duptho Zangmo and Jigme Drukpa sold better.
However, he said that the cassette business is drowning because of the internet, radio, television and mobile phones.
Meanwhile, popular folk singer and musician, ethnomusicologist Jigme Drukpa, 40, said that making zhungdra and boedra popular would be a difficult task. “Youngsters don’t even understand the lyrics,” he said. Apart from performing live, Jigme Drukpa never sang for the Bhutanese audience because Youth turn to home-grown music there was no market.
His zhungdra albums are mostly bought by foreigners. In view of the increasing popularity of rigsar songs that relegated the traditional songs to institutional and occasional performance, observers say that Jigme Drukpa could probably be one of the last modern-educated zhungdra and boedra singers.
Today, the performance of zhungdra and boedra are mostly institutionalised with the Royal Academy of Performing Arts leading the show. Jigme Nidup, a hugely popular rigsar singer, said the number of young fans has increased. “I think the youth are interested in Bhutanese music because we use the latest equipment, and the quality has improved a lot,” he said.
U gyen, 23, a modern rigsar singer, said he sang Bhutanese songs with a modern touch, blending western music with Bhutanese songs, so that youngsters would listen to them.
Kencho Wangdi, also a modern Bhutanese singer, said the Bhutanese youth are so used to listening to western and Hindi songs that, once in a while, they would want to listen to our own songs. He sings rock, punk rock and modern Bhutanese songs. “I want to let the youth feel that there can be Bhutanese music which they can listen to and feel,” he said.
By Tandin Pem
