“I do not want to pinpoint on any individual but would want to talk about the trend that has been continuing for long and gaining commercial benefit. Over the past few years, when a song releases, it is not about its emotional connection with the listeners any more, it is about how many hits and clicks it is getting. For us, back then recall value mattered. Now, it is not like that anymore, and that is why some composers are taking old songs and presenting with new instrumentation. Why old song? Because these have recall value,” Hariharan told IANS.

He added: “If you are not a musician, and call music a product for selling, how will you sell it? You should have the knowledge of the product that you are selling. You should know how the product is consumed. How can the knowledge of a musician, who has been learning and practising music for 30 years, be lesser than the one who does not know music, and can market the music? They release one remix song and play them across all radio stations repeatedly. Obviously, people are forced to listen. Then they say, ‘see, people are listening’. New songs and new talent should be promoted. However, I think it is a topic that requires an elaborate and nuanced discussion. I won’t say more than this.”