It sure is fun to chant along to ‘Run This World’, especially when you know what makes your life tick. But for struggling artistes who are yet to get there, Femme Music by Sanoli Chowdhury and Vinod Gadher, has their back.

In 2024, the duo launched Indie Grrrl, a community for female artistes in India. “Our idea was to provide a space that was safe and accessible for women whether it was posting about shows, hosting workshops and the like,” says Sanoli.

Though they started out to build a community, Sanoli adds they soon realised the need of the hour was, “a system and structure that would back them up with investment and support”. “When you are an independent artiste, your main goal is to be able to sustain your career for a long period of time.”

That is how the record label Femme Music, came about in 2025. Sanoli says Vinod was always interested in promoting women talent in India. “That is how we became acquainted. I’ve been playing the guitar since childhood and I knew music would be my career, even though I was unsure of how I would go about it. When I was in college, I got into music production, and would post my demos on SoundCloud. Vinod heard my work and in 2019, he signed me on to his label. ”

Following her graduation, Sanoli went to audio school, undertook a diploma in audio engineering and is currently involved in music production and audio engineering. “Until then I had no idea about what the music industry entailed. Running a label full time has taught me a lot about how it operates.”

Over the past year, Femme Music released Nyima Volume 1,a compilation album, featuring 11 female artistes, mostly singer-songwriters on most streaming platforms. At the beginning of every year, Femme Music opens for submissions and music by the selected artistes form the compilation album. Sanoli says though they began with indie artistes, the label is not genre restrictive and the upcoming album comprises works that could be categorised as pop music.

According to Sanoli, Femme Music works on two different types of contracts at the moment. “One is distribution deal where the artiste gives us their song as a finished product, and we promote it and handle its PR as well as other post production requirements.”

“The other contract is where we exclusively sign on an artiste, and invest in their entire project from start to finish. All our sub-labels are divided between the genres.”

Their sub-labels are Nyima Records, Tala Root Records and 34 Beat Records. Recently, Tala Root Records re-launched Jyotsna Srikanth’s 2015 EP Bangalore Dreamswith the Jyotsna Carnatic Jazz Trio.

The label is now branching into a series of live shows called Femme Power which will showcase upcoming and established artistes. Their first edition on June 7, will feature Mumbai-based multi-disciplinary artiste Ro Maiti, singer-songwriter and classical vocalist Sahana Naresh from Chennai and Sanoli.

Ro’s music “draws from soul, RnB, electronic, and alternative worlds”, while Sahana blends indie pop and Indian classical sounds to explore “themes of identity, womanhood, and emotional honesty, often weaving storytelling with sonic nostalgia.”

Femme Power will be held at The Humming Tree in Bangalore on June 7, from 9pm. Tickets starting from ₹499 on Skillbox. Updates on forthcoming events on @femmemusicglobal