Spotify pays tribute to legendary qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

KARACHI (Monitoring Desk): Music streaming service Spotify announced that it would honour Pakistan’s legendary singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the occasion of the country’s 76th Independence Day celebrations by introducing an upgraded version of a playlist dedicated to the Sufi music maestro.

According to a statement issued Friday, 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.

“Even after more than two decades of his passing, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan continues to feature as one of Pakistan’s top streamed artists globally,” the press release stated. 

“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.”

Spotify said 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.