Time to go ra ga

In a country like India where Bollywood is king other segments like indie and classical music often have to work doubly hard to attract listeners and groom talent To encourage other genres of music Prime Minister Modi launched the Pandit Jasraj Cultural Foundation on the occasion of the 92nd birth anniversary of Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj on January 28PM Modi urged alternate music startups to now think big and go global ldquoOur gurushishya tradition should be maintained but there should be value addition through technology We can see a technological revolution in every sphere likewise it should be brought in music too and contribute to global outreach of Indian musicrdquo said PM Modimidday got in touch with three software entities in the Indian classical music space to discuss the future of the genrelsquoI canrsquot let an investor distort the journeyrsquoAditya DipankarAditya Dipankar cofounder of Ragya started working on the app in 2014 as a hobby project However it was only in 2019 that the freemium freepremium version was launched with the help of his cofounders Samyukta Shastri and Chaitanya Nadkarny The premium version offers a full catalogue of classical music renditions and customisable features The app was designed to solve the problem of playing raga music since each raga is best experienced at a particular time of the day ldquoRagya is quite intricately designed for Hindustani classical music The Prahar Sanskrit term for a unit of time player is the simplest listening and discovery experience for Hindustani classical music It aids listening for an amateur but also aids discovery for any levelrdquo says Dipankar He believes that popular streaming platforms canrsquot do justice to this genre as they have a billion songs of all genres Ragya streams Hindustani classical music However despite having a few thousand regular users and around seven lakh unique listeners getting a robust subscriber base and earning profits has been challenging for them As a young modern venture Dipankar believes that Ragyarsquos growth is paved differently ldquoBig labels have been in either content acquisition business or they have been in the business of promotion through the organisation of events But we Ragya are still articulating ourselves as we are a tech and design first startup and have our ear to the ground from an artistersquos perspectiverdquo Starting this year they are going to give half of their revenue to the artistes even though it is not feasible as they are a bootstrapped startup ldquoWe have more than 100 artistes who have supported the platform with their content and the community has been extremely supportive and this is our way to give backrdquo says Dipankar Despite getting investors they are bootstrapped because ldquoI canrsquot let an investor distort the journey We want to take it slow and are in no hurry to make moneyrdquo According to Dipankar ldquoIt the industry is taxing to work in but I am doing it for the love of classical music You can build a social business and not a profitable businessrdquolsquoBiggest problem is piracyrsquoArvind DeshpandeSwar Systems an Indian music software has been around for close to 20 years and has a number of websites and apps each serving a different purpose Tanpura Droid iShala SwarShala SwarPlug their Virtual Studio Technology software are some of their many initiatives that are used by Bollywood music composers producers musicians students and educators Their software is thoroughly used by AR Rahman ShankarEhsanLoy and Amit Trivedi along with modern EDM artistes like Ritviz and Nucleya as well ldquoThere is a huge demand for such an apprdquo says Arvind Deshpande its business head While the Tanpura Droid app has around 10 million downloads iShala has over five lakh users The biggest hurdle they face according to Deshpande is piracy ldquoMost music directors and composers in India use our software but a lot of them have the pirated onerdquo he says They are currently in discussion for tie ups with schools organisations and institutes like Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Lalit Kala Kendra AR Rahmanrsquos institute KM Academy Shankar Mahadevan Academy and Whistling Woods where the students can get the software at a discounted price Assistant Professor Indian vocals and music history at True School of Music Vijaybhoomi University Pranita Pandurangi who is also an independent classical singersongwriter has been using iShala for over two years While she prefers having a live musician play for her recording because it is the bestcase scenario she also points out how programmed instruments which are available on SwarPlug Swar VST can sometimes be a better option ldquoThe budget doesnrsquot allow us to have a live musician so one is forced to use the programmed instrument Moreover if the live recording needs to be layered with electronic samples a programmed sample works betterrdquo she saysPranita Pandurangi has been using iShala for the past two years PicShreya ShettylsquoItrsquos for those who donrsquot have formal training in musicrsquoGopala Krishna KoduriRiyaz a Hindustani and Carnatic classical music learning app has over over two million music learners and downloads Gopala Krishna Koduri founder and CEO launched the app in 2019 and currently they have 50 plus Hindustani classical courses and around 24 Carnatic courses available Their free model gives 10 minutes of free singing practice time and later if the users want more they can opt for a monthly subscription ldquoThere is a huge market for selflearning which is not served by any existing service providers So Riyaz is for people who have a deep passion for music but are not under any formal education for musicrdquo says Koduri They are targeting two segments namely college students above the age of 18 from tier two and three cities and working professionals between the age of 24 and 35 from tier one and two ldquoCollege goers from small towns donrsquot have access to recourses to learn and if they are interested they can do it through this app Itrsquos also for the working class who canrsquot afford to spend time every week in attending classes and can learn at their own pacerdquo he says Operationally they are cashpositive which means that they have more money moving into their business at any given point Their annual recurring revenue ARR is a subscription economy metric that shows the money that comes in every year for the life of a subscription is about one crore According to their estimate there are about 240 million across the world who are classified as causal or selflearners ldquoWe see potential in the selflearner market and Hindustani and Carnatic music is the startrdquo They have consciously steered clear of schools and institutes until now ldquoTechnology has a role to play but not in every sector Children need to be handheld and motivated and that can only come from a guru That is why we are targeting only 18plusrdquo Koduri believes if therersquos a new player in the market they should identify a niche and serve a hitherto untapped purpose