Like fashion, food habits or even the weather for that matter, music keeps changing, whichever part of the world you are in. It all depends on what people are ready to listen to at that particular time and that depends on the trend that is predominant then - drums and bass or trance or hip-hop. I believe, there's good music and there's bad music. Technically, there was a stage in the '80s when the music was terrible.

The industry was besieged by lyrics with double meanings and cheap dance sequences. We are still suffering the results of that phase. There was such bad music in Bollywood that people lost faith in Hindi film music. We are now trying to repair what can only be described as a smashed car. Now people have become more aware. There is easier access to international music. On radio and TV, suddenly your song will be played after Sting's. I am talking about talented musicians who want to make a difference, who want to maintain the melodic aspect of Indian music.

Which brings us to the singers. In today's age of experimental and young, open music minds, playback singing is much more accessible than it was in the yesteryears. Learned singers are going to prosper. Singers who are trained and can sing in 'sur'. When I mean learned, I don't mean experienced. There are many experienced singers who've made it big with one hit but sing like they're searching in the dark, not knowing what they're doing. They are the real strugglers, because they struggle in the studio, where it takes them hours to get in a line. We listen to every single demo that comes to us. We encourage new talent. Yes, the stakes are high. We have to fight to convince the producers and directors to trust us when we put forth a new voice. But now after 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho', we have credibility. I believe that a fresh voice adds freshness to the melody. You know, in 'Lakshya', the chorus in 'Mein aisa kyun hoon', is sung by our studio engineers and technicians. It's a mad song... and it demanded a note of madness. I say, listen to all kinds of sounds. Today's young playback singers should listen to music other than from Bollywood. They should learn to listen and adapt the best of all sounds. Every sound is music. Listening is today's guru.

Shankar Mahadevan

Name: Mahalakshmi

Claim to fame:

'Baahon mein chale aaon' - (Remix)

'Kabhi shaam dhale' from 'Sur'

'Ishq khudai' from 'Rudraksh'

'Pakhi pakhi' from

'Dil Se'

'Hindustani' from 'Dus'

'Chalka chalka' from 'Saathiya'

'Yeh dhuan' from 'Charas'

'Tum kaho to' from 'Shaadi ka ladoo'

'Pyar mein sau uljhanein' from 'Kyun Ho Gaya Na'

Advertising V/s Movies: "My first professional assignment was a jingle for a commercial. In the advertising world, they are always on the lookout for fresh talent and more accepting of it. I am not saying it is not so in the movie industry - it's just that the film industry tends to play it safe because the stakes are higher. There's so much money involved, no one wants to take chances. So they stick to people they know will deliver. I feel that every singer has something fresh to offer and the ad world respects that.

I sing along to : Ghazals and jazz, another passion.

My mantra : I learn whatever I can and put it into my music. I listen to a lot of music and am able to grasp subtle things that I hear and incorporate them into my work. I try and give each song my perspective. If the director likes it, he can put it in, if not... it's his call. If I'm working with Shankar (Mahadevan) or Vishal (Shekhar) or Rahman, they always welcome your take. Rahman is so spontaneous himself, he'll always say, 'Try something'. Shankar usually knows what he wants but if I give it my twist, he'll say, 'Hey that's nice'.

My best : 'Kandukondein kandukondein' (Title track). 'Kabhi shaam dhale' ('Sur'). 'Dhuan' ('Charas').

Training : I've learnt Hindustani classical from the age of 12.

Versatility : I can adapt to foreign language songs easily. I've sung in French, Russian, Nepali, Arabic, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Assamese, Bengali, Khasi, Bhojpuri, Garhwali, etc. I've sung with Deep Forest for a single called 'India' and with Talvin Singh for 'Ha'."

Name: Sunitha Sarathy

Claim to fame:

'Khuda Hafiz' (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) from 'Yuva'

'Fanaa' (Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) from 'Yuva'

'Habibi' from 'Tehzeeb'

'Seduction Saavariya' from 'Boom'

'If the show fits' from 'Bollywood Hollywood'

'Warriors of peace' from 'Warriors Of Heaven And Earth'

'Thoodu Varuma' from 'Kakka Kakka'

No conventional rules: "I have no formal training in music. I come from a musical background... my talent is the Lord's gift to me. I have never wanted to get voice trained either as I feel that certain characteristics in the voice could be lost by specialised training. And I never was the type to get pinned down by rules and classes... I was busy playing in the dirt and climbing trees.

A lot of my film work has been with Rahman : He's a genius (Gosh! I know I sound like every other person talking about him). He's also a wonderful person - simple, devout, and funny. He knows exactly what he needs. I knew 'Fanaa' would be a hit. In fact in that song, I do vocal bits over Rahman Sir's voice. I felt like I was gliding over a beautiful place. He lets you experiment and at the same time, knows how to get that 100 per cent out of you - even if it's at four in the morning.

Knowing what's good for me: With experience, a singer will know what's good, bad and ugly for her voice.When I eat, I avoid cold stuff; I don't like ice cream anyway, so I don't have to fight any temptation. But a careless lifestyle can show damaging results in the next few days. I wish I could rest my voice more though.

I sing along to : Rhythm and Blues (R&B) and Soul and Hip-hop. That doesn't mean I didn't listen to pop. But my influences are strongly R&B. I like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Barbara Streisand - there are so many wonderful voices out there, I can't name them all. I love George Michael and Michael Jackson.

My work mantra : I am picky about my songs. When it comes to picking tunes, I would rather do 20 songs and have six hits from the lot than do 100 songs with six hits.

Some music directors assign songs that do not suit a person's style, range and vocal capabilities. It's important for the voice to be apt for the song. There's no use singing a song and hating it later."

Name: Sowmya Raoh

Claim to fame:

'Aiyyo aiyyo rama' from 'Jungle'

'Roundhe hai' from 'Pyar Tu Ne Kya Kiya'

'Aankhon mein raho' from 'Company'

'Jeena' & 'Dil hi dil mein' from 'Dum'

'Charas' from 'Charas'

'Bheegi bheegi' from 'Girlfriend'

'Kesariya Balam' from 'Mitti'

'Khoobsurat hai tu' from 'Now That's Sandeep Chowta'

'Hai re hai tera ghunghta' -

Leslie Lewis

'Zara zara' - Jackie V

Waiting my turn : "I'm waiting for that big number that will catapult me to stardom. Being in Mumbai has been great, but sometimes it tests your patience, and drives you to frustration. I feel that the music industry is going through a slump - I am sure that situation is a temporary one, but then all the work goes only to the top bracket of singers and newcomers like me get only the remnants. That's tough. But I know I'm on the right track, and am doing the right thing, so success is not far from where I'm standing.

No raunchy stuff here : I don't believe in grabbing attention by doing raunchy video numbers because then the viewers don't know whether the girls in the video are singers or performers - I will wait for my big moment.

I sing along to : I love the old timers - Noor Jahan, Mohd Rafi, Mukesh, Lataji, Ashaji, and S Janaki from down south. I've grown up listening to Indian Hindi film music and ghazals and I listen to a lot of Ghulam Ali and others from his generation.

I know what's good for me : I love the versatility that my singing has. I like to sing depending on the character, the ambience and the lyrics. The mood and sense of feeling is very important to me. I also believe in doing 'riyaz' every day - sure some days I don't feel like it so I don't push myself too much, but I listen to good music and practise. Like I said, I hope to make it big one day."

Name: Madhushree

Claim to fame:

'Kabhi neem neem' from 'Yuva'

'Naina milaike' from 'Saathiya'

'Tumhe aaj maine' from 'Kuch Na Kaho'

'Maahi ve' from 'Kal Ho Na Ho'

'Yuva' inspired me : "My favourite and most challenging assignment has been 'Kabhi neem neem', from 'Yuva'. For this song I had to stay in Chennai for 13 days and once the Hindi version was approved, Mani Ratnam asked me to sing the same song in Tamil and Telegu. I did my Masters in music - Sangeet Praveen and Sangeet Visharat. I was born and brought up in Kolkata and have studied classical music. I practise every day for two hours."

Name: Gayatri Iyer

Claim to fame: 'Mohabbat hai mirchi' from 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne'

'Maar gayo' from 'Sandhya'

'Dildaara' from 'Chupke Se'

'Baiman mohabbat' from 'Ek Aur Ek Gyarah'

'Saiyyanji baiyyan' from

'Masti'

'Yeh Sard', 'Bhoot hai yahaan koi' from 'Bhoot'

'Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai' from 'Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai'

'Bride And Prejudice' (Anu Malik)

'Shikddum' from 'Dhoom'

Trained in: Indian classical

The doors opened : With a chance demo and the break came with Ranjit Barot "who gave my career a push. Through his studio, I came in touch with a lot of composers and I started a full-fledged singing career."

Name: Reena Bhardwaj

Claim to fame:

'Yeh rishta' from 'Meenaxi'

She says : "I have many memories attached to 'Yeh Rishta'. It was my first commercial recording in a professional studio. And I am grateful for the support and encouragement I received from both (AR) Rahman Bhai, Owais (Hussain) and MF Husain during the recordings! It's not the run-of-the-mill 'filmi' love song. It's more about the internalisation of emotions rather than an overt declaration of love! The lyrics are beautifully written and it was all about experimenting with different vocal expressions of the lyrics until the melody was born. "I am touched by how well the song has been received! I recently began training with Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, to whom I was introduced to by Rahman bhai in London."

With inputs from Meenakshi Doctor and Madhuri Velegar

The New Divas On The International Scene

Folklore' was like coming home, says Nelly Furtado Claim to fame: Huge! Started with critically acclaimed album, 'Whoa Nelly' and came back with the immensely popular 'Folklore'.

I've always felt music to be my ally: Whenever I am writing my songs or getting into making music, I feel that I am extracting from my soul. I feel about music on a very spiritual level. It's a path to connecting with a higher power.

I grew up after 'Whoa Nelly': I finished my first album at a very young age and everything was happening so fast. It was my first record and it was such a huge success... it was an exciting time and I felt like my dreams were coming true but everything was suddenly different. My lifestyle was so much more hectic. And then I thought to myself, 'Well, this is my life' and I have to get used to the changes. Now there's so much more in my life... I've found love,

I have a daughter now. For a while I had run away from who I was. I was traditionally this simple, working class girl and I had travelled away to see the world. But I realised that that was the most special part of me... the part that I had left behind. So 'Folklore' is like returning to that place... I came home with 'Folklore'. Fame is hard, but you get used to it. It's a price one pays. When you start on this path of fame, there's no going back to that time of innocence. I was talking to my daughter's father the other day about how I would feel if she grew up to hate my music!

I usually draw from my life's experiences when I write my music: It's like meditating on your life and the world. There is a song in 'Folklore', which talks about immigration. It's a lot to do with my father's experience. See, this is what I always want to do. To be more honest with my lyrics. When I am on stage, I feel so terribly lucky to be able to be honest about my experiences so I can connect with my audience and be able to share all my emotions through my music. I've always felt different from the others. A bit of an outsider.

I've never been to India: But I have a lot of friends in Canada who have always encouraged me to listen to Indian music. I don't know why I feel this connection with India and its music; it reflects a lot of my kind of sound. I've heard lots of Indian stuff. There's the remix of 'I am like a bird' and now 'Josh' is featured in 'Folklore'. I would love to come to India.

I was so nervous about 'Forca': To be part of the Euro 2004 theme song for football. It is a Portuguese folk melody. In Portuguese, people use it as a kind of slang. It literally means 'strength to you' or 'keep going'. When I was there, my friends would say to me, 'Forca Nelly' when they said bye.

I am someone who lives in the moment and that's what 'Forca' is about. It celebrates the moment that so many people come together to cheer the game. There's so much positive energy in that song!

Dido

Debut : 'No Angel' with the record-breaking follow up album 'Life for Rent'.

Dido shot to fame when she appeared in rap king Eminem's 'Stan' with excerpts from her award-winning 'Thank you' playing in the background. Her lyrics set her apart - refreshing, simple and deep.

Like so: 'This land is mine, but I'll let you rule, Let you navigate and demand. So find your home and settle in, I'm ready to let you in, as long as you know this land is mine...' from 'This land is mine' from 'Life For Rent'.

Norah Jones

A sell-out debut : 'Come away with me', following it up with the popular 'Inspiration'. She may be Ravi Shankar's daughter to Indians, but Norah Jones is an international celebrity in her own right. When she said, 'Come away with me', she meant it - her music literally carries you away. In the age of the in-your-face attitude generation singers, she stands apart with her meaningful lyrics, her effortless style and her soft-spoken elegance. She's given 'cool' a new meaning.