Spotify honours music legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

KARACHI: To celebrate Pakistan’s 76th Independence Day, music streaming company Spotify revealed that it would be introducing an upgraded version of a playlist dedicated to the country's legendary qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

"A befitting tribute in the form of an enhanced and updated version of ‘This is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’ playlist, that showcases some of his evergreen hits that even to this day, was being spun with a touch of modern genres to create stunning compositions for audiences to enjoy,” stated a press release issued by the music company on Friday.

The “Shehnshah-e-Qawwali” continues to feature as one of Pakistan’s top streamed artists globally even after more than two decades of his passing, the music streaming service said.

“As per Spotify’s data, he is ranked as the 4th most streamed Pakistani artist on the platform this year, with his tracks inspiring generation after generation of listeners and singers alike. Songs like ‘Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hae’, ‘Afreen Afreen’, ‘Mustt Mustt’, and ‘The Long Road’ that features Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Veddor are some of his most listened tracks, along with his work with international producer Peter Gabriel.”

The music platform added that the extent of Khan’s influence on a wide variety of musical compositions could also be gauged from the fact that covers and remakes of his original tracks are being made even today.

Modern renditions include ‘Lut Gaye’, ‘Mere Rashke Qamar’, ‘Kali Kali Zulfon Ke’, ‘Mere Baad Kisko Sataoge’ and ‘Dekhte Dekhte’ were the top five-most streamed remakes inspired by the original Khan tracks.

“Data from Spotify shows that the youth continues to drive the trend of keeping Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s legacy alive,” the statement read. “A substantial 37% of his listeners are between 18 and 22 years old.”

It further stated that the second largest segment was 23 to 27-year-olds with 24%, while 28-34 along with those under 18 years of age make up 14% of his audience respectively, on the audio streaming service.

“Overall, the number of monthly listeners of Nusrat’s songs has increased to more than 5 million this year. Also, the top countries for streams of his tracks include India, US, UK, Canada and Australia,” the communique added.

The music company also said that a tribute video featuring a host of modern artists would be released on August 14 where they would talk about how Khan and his tracks influenced their musical journey.