Singer Shreya Ghoshal has said that likes and views on social media don’t define a song’s true success. Speaking with news agency ANI, she shared that for her, a song’s real achievement is determined when she performs it live in concert, and the audience remembers it, sings along, and connects with it wholeheartedly.
Shreya Ghoshal on what defines a song’s success
“Those likes and views are very skewed because har cheez kharidi jaa sakti hai (everything can be bought). The success of a song is when I take that song to a concert, and people are singing it along. That’s all. I think that’s the measurement of a song’s success,” Shreya said.
“Aur agar yeh maine pehli baar bhi perform kiya ho, aur jinko pata nahi hai, but doosri baar wo yaad rakhenge ki woh gaaya tha na aapne (Even if I’ve performed the song for the very first time, and some people in the audience may not know it yet, true success is when the next time I perform it, they remember it and say, ‘You sang that song, didn’t you?’), can you do it again? So the song’s success is from the multiplicity effect, which happens in a concert. For an artist, that’s the biggest win,” she added.
Shreya talks about social media
While Shreya doesn’t chase the number of likes and views, she fully acknowledges that social media has had a highly significant impact on the music industry. “Big-time social media has significantly influenced the music scenario. Just look at how Dil Kaa Jo Haal Hai from the 2013 film Besharam suddenly started trending 10-11 years after its release. The same thing happened with the Jugraafiya song from Super 30. Ye jaadu hai social media ka (This is the magic of social media),” she said.
Shreya on music nowadays
Shreya feels that the music landscape has become far more democratised now. “This is all created from that one person who believed and thought, ‘Is tukde mein kuch hai baat (There is something about this part). Let me make something.’ It starts connecting. So it’s a very community-driven age. It is about building your community around you. It’s not what I want to tell you, ‘Yeh music acha hai. Tum chuno kya acha hai. Tumko kya acha lagta hai, wohi decide karta hai the fate of the popularity of the music and how it’s consumed. It’s not bad (‘This music is good.’ You select what is good. What you like, that decides the fate of the popularity of the music…). It has democratized music. It’s not just social media. Audio streaming platforms have also played a major role. They have given you the medium to be democratic about,” she added.
Shreya on her upcoming tour
Shreya is gearing up for The Unstoppable Tour, which she will take across several cities in India as well as internationally, performing for her fans worldwide. On what fans can expect from it, Shreya shared, “For Unstoppable, we are revamping our entire concert. The All Hearts Tour actually started back in late 2020 and continued through 3-4 years. In 2024, we went on a full-fledged world tour, wrapping it up in India by 2025. Altogether, we covered nearly 50 cities, and every single show was sold out. We’re incredibly grateful for the impact it’s had. But now, we knew we had to do something drastically different, something that would truly feel unique. That’s where The Unstoppable Tour comes in. Its story is very personal, rooted in my journey of becoming a singer. This time, I want to explore that journey through the songs, keeping the experience fresh and completely unexpected.”
