The Music Stories with Suchitra Krishnamoorthi

ABBA changed the sound of popular music forever. More than just a chart-topping pop group, they combined impeccable songwriting, lush harmonies, and groundbreaking production to create songs that continue to resonate across generations. From their Eurovision-winning breakthrough with Waterloo to timeless classics like Dancing Queen , Mamma Mia , and The Winner Takes It All , ABBA proved that great...

The incredible true story of Charanjit Singh—the Indian musician who unknowingly created acid house music years before the world gave it a name. From his roots in a family of instrument makers in Bombay to shaping the sound of Bollywood as a pioneering session musician, Charanjit Singh was always ahead of his time. In 1982, he released Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat —an experimental album blending Indi...

Playback singing — a uniquely Indian phenomenon — has shaped the soul of our cinema for over a century. From the musical roots of Nautanki to the first talkie Alam Ara , this episode traces how actors went from singing their own songs to giving way to legendary voices like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and Kishore Kumar. A quick, fascinating look at how playback singing began, evolved, and why it...

Music Stories welcomes one of the architects of India’s iconic 90s pop era. From discovering and nurturing stars like Baba Sehgal, Shaan, Shweta Shetty, and Adnan Sami to shaping a golden age of storytelling through music, this episode dives deep into how pop music was created, why it faded, and what today’s artists can learn from it. We unpack what “good music” really means, the myth of independe...

Music makes billions. Artists make peanuts. Who really makes money from music—and who doesn’t? Streaming, Royalties & Digital Rights: The Contracts That Keep Artists Poor In Part 2 of this series on music copyright, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is in conversation with Sanjay Tandon, a leading advocate for performers’ rights in the Indian music industry. Sanjay Tandon played a key role in shaping th...

Music makes billions. Artists stay broke. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi pulls apart the uncomfortable truth behind music copyright—who controls it, who profits from it, and why the people who actually create the music are often left with nothing. From outdated laws and one-sided contracts to the quiet transfer of artists’ rights to corporations, this episode exposes ho...

In this episode, Suchitra sits down with singer, songwriter Kaveri Kapur for a refreshingly honest conversation about growing up creative, finding your own voice in a noisy world, and choosing authenticity over expectation. Kaveri an alumni from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, made her acting debut in the film Bobby aur Rishi ki Love Story which released on Valentines day 2025 on Jio Hotst...

In this episode, Suchitra unpacks the wild relationship between lyrics and music — where they come from, why they matter, and how they hijack our brains. She travels from ancient Greek lyres to Kabir, The Beatles, Guru Dutt, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Honey Singh, and the entire roller-coaster that is Bollywood’s lyrical history. Expect spicy commentary on hyper-sexualized tracks, poetic gems, accidenta...

This episode takes you on a sonic journey from the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll to the heart of Bollywood. Elvis Presley — the poor boy from Tupelo who shook the world with his hips and his heartbreak — meets R.D. Burman, the royal-born prodigy who fused Indian melodies with global grooves and rewrote the rules of Hindi film music. Suchitra dives into their parallels: their meteoric rise, their inn...

This episode steps right into that mysterious space where science and soul casually high-five. Music isn’t just a “nice background vibe,” it literally tweaks your brain chemistry — in the best possible way. It can slow you down, fire you up, pull memories you forgot you even had, and help you process emotions your mind quietly shoved into storage. We chat about why some songs feel like emotional l...

In this opening episode of The Music Stories, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi traces the mystical roots of melody — sharing intriguing anecdotes about the origins of music. From the very first documented song to the deep spiritual significance of the sound "Om," Suchitra explores how melody, rhythm, and sound have shaped our world. She also uncovers the profound connection between music and nature. Whethe...