Telecommunications services firm Bharti Airtel has announced on August 11 that its music streaming app Wynk Music has launched the Wynk Studio to help artists launch and monetize their music on multiple platforms. The company said in a statement: “Wynk Studio is Airtel’s leap towards accelerating the music ecosystem in India."
Wynk has set aside Rs 100 crore to support and facilitate the identification of local talent on the app.
Wynk Studio, which aims to help independent musicians based in India and abroad release their music on various channels, will be a part of Airtel's portfolio of digital products that include Wynk, Airtel Xstream, Airtel Ads, and Airtel IQ.
In the next year, Wynk Studio intends to introduce 5,000 independent artists to the site and help showcase undiscovered talent. According to the company, the launch of new talents has been hindered by the three biggest issues facing the music industry at the present -- discovery, monetization, and analytics -- together which define success or failure in the Indian music industry.
Airtel said in a statement that on average, Indians listen to music for 21 hours per week as against the global average of 18 hours. Further, nearly 30 percent of the top songs in India currently across all music platforms are by independent musicians, and such artists are "set to propel the industry's development by 50 percent, from about 2,000 crore at the moment to 3,000 crore by 2025".
Wynk Studio already has over 100 artists on the platform from India, Singapore, and the United States with some such as Nishad Patki from Pune, a professor leaving their job to pursue their passion for music full time. Mumbai-based Prateek Gandhi (34 million streams) Gagan Baderiya from Bengaluru (17 million streams) and Harsha Prawin from Hyderabad (20 million streams) and small-town sensations Ajay Nagarkoti from Haldwani and D-Shaw from Vapi are some of the artists doing over a million streams each.
Commenting on the launch, Adarsh Nair, CEO, Airtel Digita,l said, “The creator economy for music is at a nascent stage but poised to grow significantly. With Wynk Studio, we are building a platform that allows an aspiring musician to pursue their passion and earn income at the same time. Airtel’s experience in music streaming, ability to achieve scale, and long-standing relationship with over 350 million customers will ensure that all stakeholders in the industry have an equal and rewarding journey. We are looking to attract talent from across the world and scale the platform to 5000 artists in the next one year.”
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