Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma used the stage of Meghalaya's first-ever Hello Meghalaya Music Awards on Saturday to lay out a bigger ambition for the state: a dedicated Film City and Film Institute in Shillong, meant to give the next generation of local artists somewhere to actually build a career.
A Night Timed to World Music Day
The awards ceremony itself, held at SRTG Ground in Polo on the evening of June 20, brought out musicians, performers and content creators from across Meghalaya for a night that felt as much like a policy pitch as it did a celebration. The timing was deliberate: the event was held a day ahead of World Music Day, an international observance marked every year on June 21, when countries around the world hold concerts and public performances to celebrate music in all its forms. First started in France in the early 1980s, the day has since spread to cities worldwide, and the Shillong ceremony was conceived as Meghalaya's own contribution to that calendar — a chance to spotlight homegrown talent while the government laid out where it wants the state's creative economy to go next.
Sangma's Pitch for a Creative Ecosystem
Sangma, who has spoken before about his own background in music, told the gathering that experience had given him a closer look at just how hard it is for young artists in the state to break through — and that it had shaped his thinking on what kind of support actually helps. He was careful to frame the government's approach as more than a handful of grants or one-off schemes, describing it instead as an attempt to build out an entire ecosystem where young people in Meghalaya can realistically pursue careers in music, film, sport and other creative fields.
Film City Announced as "Next Mega Project"
As evidence the approach is working, he pointed to Hello Meghalaya, the state's own OTT platform, which he said has now crossed half a million downloads while giving local creators both a shop window for their work and a route to financial backing. The Film City and Film Institute, he said, would be the government's "next mega project" — purpose-built infrastructure for filmmakers, musicians and other creative professionals who currently have nowhere comparable to work from.
He also pushed for more investment in music education and professional-grade recording studios, arguing that artists in the state need affordable access to quality production if they're going to put out work that can compete beyond Meghalaya's borders. At the same time, he urged musicians not to lose what makes the state's sound distinctive, encouraging them to draw on local tradition even as they absorb influences from further afield. Awards like these, he added, are worth treating as an investment rather than a cost — a way of giving the next wave of artists something to aim for.
Awards Across the Spectrum
The night handed out honours across a wide spread of categories — folk, pop, gospel, hip-hop and rap, collaboration, music video, original soundtrack and inspirational music, along with recognition for the state's leading male and female artists, independent performers, emerging talent and rock acts.
Reble Named Icon of the Year
But the evening's standout moment belonged to rapper and songwriter Daiaphi Lamare, better known as Reble, who walked away with the night's top honour, Icon of the Year. Sangma felicitated her personally, telling the crowd she had "taken the entire country by storm" and stood as proof of what's possible for the state's young artists. Reble, for her part, used her acceptance speech to push back gently against any sense of limitation, telling the audience that Meghalaya's talent remains underrated and that artists often only realise their own potential once they step outside what she called their "small bubble."
The night closed out with live sets from the Tarari Kids Choir, Steve Jyrwa, Ahaia, Reble herself, the Khmih Creative Society and the Bending Waves Band — performances organisers hope will mark the start of what becomes an annual fixture on Shillong's cultural calendar.
