From Zomato to boAt, top brands tuning into India's first all-AI band Trilok and virtual influencers

Vijay Subramanian, the creator of the AI music band compared the trend to when social media first emerged on the scene. "…it is also a huge move towards understanding innovation with brand marketing. I see it not too differently from what happened when the social media revolution happened and when people started using social media handles of creators. This is the next phase of evolution of content creation."

Subramanian confirmed that more conversations are happening with brands. "We have a pipeline that goes all the way to March, April (2026) with some of our existing brands that are locked in for associations across everything that we are doing on AI."

Along with Trilok, brands have also struck a chord with Collective's virtual influencers - an AI-based beauty and wellness creator called Kavya Mehra who has over 4,112 followers, a travel influencer called Radhika Subramaniam with 7,195 followers and Kabir Manja who has 2,066 followers.

All the three virtual personalities along with the AI band were created and launched between December 2024 to June this year and are witnessing a growing appeal among younger audiences.

In terms of brands, Kavya has in her portfolio Zoya Gin, Mama Earth, Uppercase, The Pravasi, Lohono Stays, W for Women, Casa Nova, F2 Flavours while Kabir has Cinthol, Woodburns. Radhika has collaborated with Magic Moments Vodka, Spirit of Kashmyr, SuperYou, Freakins Jeans, Campus, Lays, Social, Uppercase, Bruised Passports.

"It's one of those markets where growth has just started. So, growth will be high and fast. We are seeing exponential growth (brand partnerships) on a month-on-month basis," Subramaniam said.

However, the value of these brand collaborations is at a nascent stage with deals ranging between Rs 10-15 lakh and going up to Rs 60-70 lakh. "We are more in the awareness building stage," he said.

Relying on Reach

Brands are collaborating with the AI influencers for the reach, Subramaniam said, adding that this offers them the opportunity to speed up content generation.

"In a given month, a band can produce a maximum of two or three songs. Trilok in the last 60 days has released about seven songs. We are also doing one song for Navratri, and we are most probably going to take all these songs and release an unplugged version during Diwali. It's going to be jam-packed this festive season in terms of content."

The Collective founder noted that the band's Achyutam Keshavam song which was released two months back recorded a reach of 10 million across social media platforms, with over 80,000 views on YouTube.

With 79 posts between July to September this year, Kabir Manja has a total reach across social media of around 35 lakh, while Radhika Subramaniam has a reach of 26 lakh across 101 posts. Kavya Mehra with 97 posts has a reach of nearly 15 lakh.

The Next Chapter

So, why are AI personalities trending? These virtual influencers are digital characters, and for brands or audiences it is like following any famous personality. "How people were fans of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) characters or superheroes like Batman or cartoon characters like Scooby-Doo. People are continuously making mistakes between AI and humans. I am not building technology. Technology for me is an enabler. What really works is the crafting of the story telling."

The stories of these AI influencers are on to the next chapter. "All four now have their own OTT (over the top platform) shows that will be launching soon. Two of the OTT shows are going live next month," the founder said.

As for Trilok, they have turned music producers for Collective's new and upcoming content.

"Our first theatrical feature film Hanuman will have background score by Trilok along with all our mini-series, with the first being Mahabharat. Trilok is our in-house music producer for everything that Collective Media Network produces."

The company is creating mini-series, or popularly known as micro dramas, all via AI.

Their first micro drama - Mahabharata - will go up to over hundred episodes which will be three to five minutes long. "Mahabharata will be one of the ten micro dramas which will be released in the next three months."

Subramaniam said that they are using AI to create content faster and cheaper, and plan to monetise the micro dramas through brand and platform collaborations.

Band's Genesis

On the genesis of Trilok, Subramaniam said it all started when he lost his mother.

"On April 6 this year, I lost my mother. On May 26, a music producer in the company was messing around with a couple of AI tools and he created Aigiri Nandini. May 26 serendipitously happened to be my birthday and Aigiri Nandini happened to be my mother's favorite song. So, it was literally a triangulation of the most perfect scenario."

Subramaniam's music background was also instrumental in the creation of the AI band.

"I know what it's like to be in a band, what it's like to express through music. I had personal experiences with me in terms of how a band operates, what band dynamics are, how the relationship between a vocalist and a guitarist or a drummer and a bass player works. It comes to me naturally because I have spent a lot of my growing up years playing drums for a heavy metal band."

But what about concerns of copyright Infringement? Subramaniam said that they are taking public domain songs. "None of the songs are copyrighted."

The creation of the songs is teamwork involving both humans and bots. "Someone figures the melody and then we program on top of it like any other piece of music. There are a lot of human brains behind the songs. The computer is not by itself generating it. It's like back in the day when music directors used 50-member orchestras in the studios. That got condensed to sound software. It's a similar transition," he said.