Saavn, Gaana tie up with independent artists to market original tracks
BENGALURU: Online music streaming platforms such as Gaana.com (Gamma Gaana Ltd) and Saavn (Saavn Media Pvt. Ltd) are turning to original music production, distribution and artist management through tie-ups with independent and non-film artists.
Saavn launched its first original track in February this year in collaboration with rapper Naezy under its ‘Artist Originals’ initiative. It now has four tracks from five artists which have generated more than 14 million streams, Saavn co-founder and executive chairman Paramdeep Singh said.
Gaana has a similar initiative called ‘Gaana Originals’, which was launched in September. It generated more than 20 million streams within five weeks, with six original tracks. Gaana selected 11 artists for Gaana Originals, which includes both established and new artists, and plans to release more tracks this year, Prashan Agarwal, business head and chief operating officer of Gaana said in an interview.
It’s important for streaming platforms to diversify revenues because online advertising isn’t picking up as quickly as they had hoped and few online shoppers are taking out subscriptions.
By spending money in original music production and distribution, streaming platforms are trying to fulfil the role that typically belongs to music labels. However, Saavn and Gaana said that they are only helping cut costs for the artists by producing and marketing tracks, and not looking to compete with music labels.
Both Saavn and Gaana build their music inventory by buying music rights from leading labels in India such as T-Series, Yash Raj Films, and from foreign labels. Big labels in India cater to the Bollywood and regional movie industry with very little presence in non-film music. With original music production, streaming platforms provide a differentiated medium for promoting independent artists.
“Bollywood releases 300 movies in a year, which produce 1,500-2,000 songs. But that is way too low when compared to the international and western market, where you see more than 100,000 songs in a year. There is a huge gap (in India), and that gap exists because distribution platforms for independent artists are missing,” Agarwal said.
On Gaana, Bollywood’s top five tracks generated 27 million views in a five week period between September to October 2017. Gaana Originals came close with 20 million streams with six tracks during the same timeline, indicating that indie artists can generate the same degree of response as Bollywood music, according to Agarwal.
Gaana does not have an in-house music production unit but actively invests in distributing original tracks on radio and TV stations, and on other online platforms. “We basically help the artist with support from a couple of our labels, to be able to provide the cost of production and support for production. We are kind of enablers in that, and we don’t actively invest or look to compete with labels,” Agarwal added.
Saavn, on the other hand, has in-house audio production and post-production facilities for artists. It also works with thirdparty aggregators to distribute these works globally with DSPs (Digital Service Providers).