Bridging generations and experience, music producer and audio engineer Sanoli Chowdhury and music industry veteran Vinod Gadher have come together to launch Femme Music. It’s an independent record label built to foreground female talent from India and across South Asia.
Positioned as the first India-based label dedicated entirely to women in music, Femme Music aims to build a long-term infrastructure for female artists to thrive both creatively and commercially. Its mission: to redefine the South Asian female artist narrative and create viable pathways into the global music ecosystem.
Rooted in the feminist ethos of the 1990s Riot Grrrl movement, Femme Music’s vision is one of ownership and sustainability where female voices lead their own stories and participate equitably in the business of music.
“The vision of developing female indie artists and helping them build sustainable careers really resonated with me,” says Sanoli, who is based in Bengaluru. “So often artists are judged purely by numbers or lack access to professional management. Femme Music will focus on every layer of development — from management and bookings to publishing and copyright support.”
To strengthen its global footprint, the label has partnered with AWAL for worldwide distribution and PRS for Music in the UK. It will also oversee the mixing and mastering of all releases in-house.
“Vin (Gadher) and I want to build a transparent ecosystem,” adds Sanoli. “We’re always open to sharing what we’ve learned — whether that’s helping artists build their live tech riders or refine their sound. It’s all about giving them the tools to grow.”
The label’s debut project, Nyima Vol. 1, releases on November 28 under Nyima Records, one of Femme Music’s flagship sub-labels dedicated to English-language singer-songwriters from India. The compilation features artists looking to connect with both Indian and global audiences.
Femme Music plans to operate through a series of sub-labels, each exploring different genres and scenes within India’s independent music landscape. “There are no boundaries to what we want to explore,” says Sanoli, who will also release a new EP next month via Arden Records.
The first compilation features a diverse line-up of singer-songwriters, including Aanchal Bordoloi, Aadya Jaswal, Anjali Manoharan, kokum, Meera Desai, Ro Maiti, ruhdabeh, Sahana Naresh, Tabitha Kagoo, Tiana Tara, and Zahrah — representing varied regions, sounds, and levels of experience.
“We’re drawn to artists with a distinctive voice and perspective,” Sanoli adds. “It’s not about genre or scale, but about authenticity — the individuality that makes each artist’s relationship with sound uniquely their own.”
With Femme Music, Chowdhury and Gadher hope to move beyond token representation and instead build a self-sustaining ecosystem for female-led artistry — one that balances creative independence with professional structure, and amplifies South Asian women’s voices on the global stage.
