Development Divison For British Asian Music & Arts

In 2009, Shaanti had reach an epic milestone in its tenth year, a milestone for music and a milestone for the UK, as it also hit a recession, the worst since 1979. The recession impacted the whole of the creative industries, unemployment rose, budgets were cut following a slump in industrial industry. A once flourishing music scene that produced some the best British UK talent, lost its investment. Mainstream record labels stopped signing and spending cuts were inevitable. The British Asian scene stepped back, right back into the roots of the community, a step back from the mainstream and a step back for development as capital stopped to support emerging talent. Official data showed the recession deepened in the first three months of 2009, and the economy shrank by 1.9% during the quarter.

Fully knowing the scene they once helped build was rapidly declining, Shaanti thought of the future: the future of British Asian music and its cultural imprint. In 2010,  Shaanti 11 was launched, a music development division and The Eastern Electronic Festival, the UK’s first British Asian new-music and digital-arts festival was born.

If you would like to know more about Shaanti 11, why don’t you drop us a line on music@shaanti.co.uk