We constantly strive to ensure that the artists' technique
and presentation is always tasteful and refined.
In the last two years alone our performers have opened
for Arijit Singh at the Gaana Music Festival, the Prime
Minister at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Besides
performing at TEDx, Lincoln Center, IndianRaga London
Festival, Jacob’s Pillow and other iconic platforms.
The music industry is extremely competitive, India, so had
it been difficult for you to find a larger Indian audience?
It definitely is challenging. We are constantly working with
the YouTube, Facebook and Instagram teams to see how we
could develop best practices for our niche. However, the repeat
viewership for our channels are high, this is helping us to build
a strong core following. We are also launching our music on
platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Saavn, Amazon Music,
besides we’ve also launched our own series of merchandise.
As a content creator how motivated are you with the
analytics, graphs, and figures from your channel?
We obsess with data all the time. With the explosion of affordable
data in India recently the majority of subscribers have shifted from
the United States, UK, and Singapore to India. A large majority
of our subscribers and viewers are in the 12 to 30 age group.
One of my biggest goals was to take classical music to younger
audiences, and I’m delighted that we are being able to do so.
After the digital revolution, there are many independent
artists on the internet. Most of these talents believe in doing
cover music tracks. Indian raga had also come up with
covers in the past. So how do you see this trend?
At IndianRaga we do raga covers to showcase how versatile an
Indian classical musician can be. The Carnatic Mix of Shape Of You
today drives new audiences to our channel despite being 2 years
old. So, it’s a great way to get new audiences to our channel.
What are the kind of problems you have faced in setting
up a brand in the mix of the tons of classical indo-folk,
fusions etcetera already available on YouTube?
The biggest challenge has been the prevalence of strong stereotypes
about classical music. We had a few people discouraging us on
the Shape Of You Carnatic Mix. Though, we are grateful that we
had other audience responding and convincing them on why this
was a great way of introducing classical arts to new audiences.
What kind of music and musicians keep you light?
I listen to music right from viral pop hits to folk music
from East Europe, to opera. I’m especially intrigued by
how pop music makes one want to listen on loop.
Also, to be honest, running a start-up across multiple countries,
don’t leave me with a whole bunch of free time, so inspiration comes
to me both from my ‘work’ as well as what I hear outside of it.
How are you planning to take-off from here in the future?
2019 is going to be a crucial year for us. We are planning to expand
our Fellowship in many more cities. We are also exploring City
Chapter launches in many new countries. Besides doing many
live concerts this year like the 4000-seater concert in Muscat
this December. The launch of IndianRaga brand partnerships
will see us collaborating furthermore. So stay tuned!
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
31