Chief Minister Conrad Sangma pledges Film City, music institutes, and affordable studios as the state’s inaugural OTT music awards celebrate a half-million-download platform
Shillong, June 20: Shillong’s SRTG Ground, Polo, rang with live performances and award presentations on Friday evening as Meghalaya staged its first-ever Hello Meghalaya Music Awards — a ceremony timed to coincide with the global celebration of World Music Day and anchored by the state’s own government-run OTT platform of the same name.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, himself a former musician, delivered the keynote address and used the occasion to sketch out an ambitious roadmap for the state’s creative economy. Drawing on his personal history as a struggling artist, he described how that journey now drives his administration’s push to open doors for young Meghalayan talent. “It is not always about winning — it’s about enjoying the process and the journey,” he told the gathering, urging musicians to value the creative path as much as any trophy.
The Hello Meghalaya platform, which hosts music and film content produced by local creators, has crossed 500,000 downloads since its launch. Sangma announced that the government intends to expand the initiative into a full creative ecosystem, providing content makers with both a distribution channel and direct funding for their projects.
The centrepiece announcement of the evening was the proposed construction of a Film City and a Film Institute in Shillong — described by the Chief Minister as “the next mega project to support local talent,” though no timeline or budget figure was offered.
A CALL FOR TECHNICAL MUSICIANSHIP
Sangma reserved particular emphasis for what he called the technical foundations of music-making. He argued that Meghalaya’s musicians need formal training in reading and writing music, and that a network of recording studios available at reasonable rates across the state is essential to that goal. He also encouraged artists to blend indigenous musical traditions with national and international influences to forge distinctive new work.
On the purpose of the awards themselves, the Chief Minister was direct, framing the programme not as government expenditure but as a real investment capable of producing game-changing moments for the industry. He called on the wider community to support the creative sector positively and dismissed any narrow interpretation of the government’s role, saying its approach is not limited to specific schemes but aims to serve all stakeholders — particularly the young.
SIXTEEN CATEGORIES, ONE NIGHT
Prizes were distributed across sixteen categories spanning the full breadth of Meghalaya’s music scene. The first half of the ceremony honoured the Best Folk Song, Best Pop Song, Best Hip-Hop/Rap, Best Gospel Song, Best Collaboration, Best Music Video, Best Original Soundtrack, Best Inspirational Song, and the Icon of the Year. The second half turned to artist recognition, with awards for Best Rock Artist, Best Independent Artist of the Year, Best MGMP, Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, Emerging Artist of the Year, and the coveted Song of the Year.
ON THE STAGE
Between the award presentations, the evening came alive with performances that drew sustained applause from the crowd. The Tarari Kids Choir opened the musical programme with characteristic warmth, followed by sets from Steve Jyrwa, Ahaia, and Reble. The Khmih Creative Society and the Bending Waves Band rounded off the night’s entertainment — a lineup that, taken together, illustrated the very range of styles the awards had set out to celebrate.
The awards arrive at a moment when the state government has been broadening its investment beyond traditional sectors, with youth-focused programmes in music, film-making, and sports all running in parallel. Friday’s ceremony marked the most public crystallisation of that agenda yet — set, fittingly, to music.
