Bindu Subramaniam on a mission to democratise music education

On a bright sunny day, on a cool breezy night, or when raindrops transcend one to a carefree world, music is the next thought that crosses one's mind, besides food, to cease this pleasantness. While listening to a favourite tune or while humming the lyrics, music holds the power to motivate and unleash emotions. Working towards fostering a vibrant music community and democratising music education are third generation musicians, sister-brother duo, Bindu and Ambi Subramaniam, as the Co-founders of Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa) in Schools (SiS). Bangalore-headquartered SAPA has its centres in Chennai and Mumbai, in addition to a centre in partnership in Hyderabad. Along with a combination of traditional and modern method to teach music to students in 18 countries, SAPA also conducts teacher training and certificate courses. SaPa has its presence in a number of schools across India through its curriculum researched and introduced by SiS, in line with the National Education Policy. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Bindu Subramaniam, Dean of SAPA and Co-Founder of SiS, explains how SaPa is democratising music education for children and creating employment opportunities for music teachers

Why is Bindu bent on democratising music education?

There are plenty of researches to support the benefits of music which speaks of helping a child in social, emotional learning, communication skill, comprehension, and more than anything music brings joy. And when there is joy the ability to express oneself, whether a performer or not, is a positive skill. And in a country like India, the new National Education Policy is a move towards having music education for all children right from anganwadi, kindergarten to all the way up. Music is definitely important for all children and they should be given access to it.

How are SaPa and SiS contributing towards your effort?

While we started with 1,000 students in 2014, from across all private, government schools and NGO’s, now, we are teaching 40,000 students. We are looking at doubling these numbers and we have our plans in pipeline to achieve it. Children are learning to sing in 15 languages, be it, English, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, French, and so on. Coming to music teachers, most of them are women reentering the workforce which is traditionally an underrepresented demographic in employment. So, we work really hard to make it easy for women to enter the workforce after a break. Another large demographic of our music teachers is young engineers who are keen to pursue a career in music and need to find a way to make a livelihood. The third demographic is young people from underserved communities who are looking for employment and are interested in arts.

Tell us about the presence of SaPa and SiS in Hyderabad…

Our programme is going on very well in this city. SiS works with many schools in this city. We have about 10,000 to 15,000 students learning music and that number is easily doubling next year. We will be expanding our reach by entering new schools. Besides our presence in the numerous schools, we also have a partnership with a music school in Hyderabad from where SaPa functions.

What is Bindu working on these days?

There are many things that are happening. We have entered an interesting collaboration with a University, we are releasing more music and the new launch this year in Bangalore is SaPa in School for Dance, as a pilot. With Dance, we want to give children the exposure to different dance forms from across India and the world so that they understand dances like classical, folk tradition, global styles. The whole idea behind this launch is that for children both music and movement are important. And by giving them an understanding of culture, and body movements, it helps them with all round development. SiS for Dance will be launched next year in various schools of Hyderabad, for students starting from the age of three. We have also launched sampler course where young children from the age of four to 10 get the opportunity to learn a number of different disciplines in the same course.

How was the experience of transitioning from offline to an online platform?

We now work in hybrid mode. We have continued with the online platform as the growth we saw during pandemic period has continued. We are online in a number of territories and we work with students in 18 countries and number of cities in India which is not the case prior to the pandemic. Our offline centres were closed during Covid but now they are open and functioning again. In schools, although our programme is completely offline, we give students access to our online materials. Our curriculum is always being improved as every year we revise our school curriculum and every year we look at what new can be added. A big take away for us during the pandemic was to add in social, emotional learning so as to make music education meaningful for children. We started using technology, song writing, music production and all of these are part of the innovation that has taken place.

How different is your online platform in comparison to others?

We have our own learning management system through which we teach students music online in India and around the world. What differentiate us from the others are the quality, interdisciplinary, and the variety that we bring. Our retention rates are very high as people see value in what SaPa offers. And we are the only music school to consistently provide quality across South Indian classical, Carnatic music, Hindustani, North Indian classical music, Western both classical and contemporary. We also teach a variety of vocal styles and a variety of instruments. So across a spectrum, we are able to give a variety of offering irrespective of the age level of the child. As for a child of 18 months we can start with the parent toddler programme, while for an adult we have courses that cater to them as well.

How is the business of music in India faring as against the global music?

Like most of the industries, the music industry is growing faster than many other economies. If you look at Spotify they seem to have higher percentage growth in India than they would have in say Europe, or the US because market penetration is increasing now. The largest method of discovery for music in India is through platforms like YouTube where we get to see lot of streaming taking place and that’s the facet of affordable internet and smartphone penetration that has led higher number of people to discover and consume music. The market for music education again is large and growing, both in schools and out of schools. As India’s middle class grows and as they tend to have higher disposable income the parents are trying to make sure their kids have the best. Also, India now has a generation of middle class who want to give their children the opportunities that they missed and are keen on letting their kids explore and pursue passion that includes music.

Is K-pop overpowering Indian music forms?

If you look at the numbers the market for music is overall expanding. Yes, they listen to K-pop and it is the global phenomenon but that does not take away the fact that children are still learning classical and different types of Indian music. Audiences and concerts are much higher for Indian music compared to five years ago. It is time to acknowledge that there are audiences for many types of music and just because there is audience for one does not mean that there is a short of audience for others.

How has the landscape of challenges changed since your entrepreneurial journey began?

A decade ago, the challenge was that of finding the need for music and that is something that all of us faced. For me personally, the challenge I faced was being a young female entrepreneur as people do not take you seriously. The thing that has changed from then to now is that people understand the need and the value of music. The only discussion now is around how it can be integrated properly. Our constant focus is on how to create that pipeline for more music educators. If we look at the new National Education Policy mandating music in all schools, if we have to backfill that exist in schools, it could take 25 years, so our biggest challenge now is not about scaling but how do we find the trainers and train the teachers who want to do this.

Your recommendation has made its way into the NEP let us know more about it…

With the new NEP the whole point was to break down the differences between curricular and non-curricular subjects. And when it came to music the need was a good way to implement music at all levels. There were conversations that were around how and when music should be implemented, whether it should be for all or some set of kids, how do we create the teacher pipeline, what would the children need to learn in class, basically how music should be integrated in school and higher education. The NEP draft policy was around 400 pages and the final one was a fraction of that. It was amazing that the committee took the time to consult so many people and see how music could be integrated well. A number of my recommendations made their way in like that of how and when music should be taught, and what are some of the example of activities around how music works.

Is glamorization of music creating a ripple effect?

People who choose to participate in reality show is a small subset of those who are learning music. I think there is a large audience for music and that is great. I do not agree that some children do not have the art in them, and that is the premise we are working on, music is for all and everyone should have the access to music and art education. Whether we want to take it up as a profession is a different thing, I don’t think everyone should be a musician but I think everyone should learn music. The positive trend is allowing more children to experience music, dance or art to understand that it helps them with overall development. Learning music needs a good teacher, methodology and then if you want to take it up professionally, it requires consistent hard work.