It has been a long-standing Indian habit to clamour for what Ogden Nash calls the "good old days that never were". Connoisseurs of Indian classical music have often bemoaned that the purity of this art form is being diluted.

But even in the past, musicians transformed and recreated their music to fit into the patronage of their times. For example, the gharanas, or schools, of music were partly a result of whimsical princes looking for a distinctive style that they could brandish in their courts.

Music in the earlier decades was largely based on the legacy of individual stars. Concerts were announced as 'Recital of Ameer Khan' or `Ravi Shankar live'. In the 80s and 90s, music ceased to be about towering musicians and was more about categories - so you had the Gharana festival, or Komal Rishabh Festival. By the turn of this century, enlightened patronage had dwindled and classical music featured in broader festivals with gimmicky names like `the Sufi Mystique', which would feature all genres of music, including fusion and folk, points out musicologist Deepak Raja.

Looking forward in the next decade, music must clearly find its space in the crowded entertainment era. Technique and purity have to bow down to creativity and immediate appeal. As Geeta Sahai, programme director of Radio Gandharv, the Indian classical music channel at Worldspace, says, "Classical music is reaching the masses now in newer formats. Bands formed by classical musicians like Shastriya Syndicate are experimenting within the format and familiarising the masses with this genre." So, while arguably the quality of music may be compromised, it is becoming more popular. You have more free concerts being hosted in parks and amphitheatres where anyone, from the connoisseur to the panwallah, can enter.

The artistes that will survive are those who can break boundaries and not be shy of participating in a more global entertainment space. As Raja puts it, "Having to address audiences attracted by such packaging strategies, the musician is not only free, but obliged to flout the disciplines of raga presentation if he wants the audience to remain in its seats, and to return for the next concert."

The superstars of the next decade are those who can move fluidly from classical to massical. Clearly, the reigning vocal star in that category - one who can present a lilting film song (Aaoge Jab Tum from Jab We Met) with as much ease as a potent Bhairavi - is Rashid Khan. Ulhas Kashalkar and Ajay Chakraborty have also established themselves as strong voices. Among female vocalists, Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande's music is transparently sincere. She is recreating traditional compositions to suit current tastes.

The sitar players uniformly named by music lovers as their favourites are Shahid Pervez and Shujaat Khan, who has reshaped music for his times as much as his late father Vilayat Khan did for his generation. And after Zakir Hussain, who? The next in line is deemed to be another student of the late Allah Rakha, Yogesh Samsi.

Tejendra Majumdar is the emerging sarod maestro in the generation after Amjad Ali Khan. An unusual contender is Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, who has recreated the guitar in an Indian avatar as the mohan veena. Among Carnatic musicians, U Shrinivas stands out for his genius with the mandolin. Sudha Raghunathan and Aruna Sairam are among those who are breaking new ground within the tradition.

There is an astonishingly long list of much younger hopefuls, quite contrary to the notion that this is a dying tradition. Kaushiki Chakraborty and Jayateerth Mevundi have already made a mark. Singer and critic Amarendra Dhaneshwar presents his list: Among singers, he sees a future in Manjusha Patil, Kausiki Desikan, Savani Shendye Sathe, Pushkar Lele, Manjiri Asnare, Apoorva Gokhale. In the instrumentalist category, his picks for tabla are Satyajit Talwalkar, Aditya Kalyanpur, Ojas Adhia, Amit Kavathekar Praful Athalye and Prasad Padhye. Upcoming sitar players include fusion king Niladri Kumar, Chirag Katti, Ravindra Chary. In sarod he likes Abhisek Lahiri and Milind Raikar for his violin.