MUMBAI:  Keeping pace with the constantly evolving digital technology, the independent digital music platform Artist Aloud has now launched its services across various Web, WAP, Voice, App and DTH platforms. Aiming to further its reach, the platform is also aiming to expand by synergizing its services with other companies.

The company aims to create a global one stop destination for digital music content, by offering innovative content and fresh properties in each of its verticals. Through this, they also want to establish independent musicians at a new level and increase traffic towards their music.

Also aiming to drive traffic to the destination, Artist Aloud is looking at creating more syndications with television broadcasters as they had with TGIRF for Big CBS network. They also aim to develop more on-ground events and are in talks with a company to co-create a property for the space. Apart from that, the company is in talks with another digital service OK Listen to synergize both the companies’ assets and build the market further.

Also trying to create a win-win situation for the artiste and the platform, they will also promote the artiste by trying to get them an on-ground gig and in turn marketing their product.

Currently, on the voice platform the company has built the product with the help of Hungama Voice and has created a brand extension by being amongst the only app on Voice in India. The app is officially available for customers of Vodafone, Uninor and MTS, who can access content by dialing a short code.

Every new subscriber on mobile will be charged a fee of Rs 30 for the first 30 minutes, after which they can select a pack of Rs 5, 10 or 30 for the same amount of minutes being used by them. The new subscriber will hear a random song from the platform’s repertoire to give them an overall feel of the service. Users then get the option to choose between top 10 songs, videos and interviews with various artistes. The company has created special products for each of its platform, and the voice platform will feature a special voice blog of Ehsaan Noorani for customers.

Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, Artist Aloud AVP Soumini Sridhara Paul said, “The content is unique across all the platforms and we have built the products on our own. We have tried to highlight the key features and our voice app is one such platform. We have Ehsaan Noorani’s voice blog especially for mobile and we are in talks with a few other artistes for the same as well.”

The app is also available as a PC app specially developed and funded by their partner Intel. It allows users to stream and download music from the website through an alphabetical, language and genre led search mechanism. The app also includes a radio which plays unlimited playback of randomly chosen songs upon loading the app and fades into the background while using other features.

Mainly a free app, certain sections of it are available to users only upon upgrade which is priced at $0.99. Amongst the premium feature is M Zone, which enables users to listen to the top 10s of songs, videos, language and artistes. Apart from that, there is also a Listeners Room where users can create their own playlist and share, invite it with friends. It also comes with a calendar giving access to musical concerts through geo-tagging and video recording facility to upload videos.

Aiming to push for more downloads instead of just allowing users to stream songs, the price point has been a major factor for the platform and thus the radio was only featured on the PC app, and not on the website.

“Certain sections in all the applications are priced as we wanted to push for music downloads too, instead of just being a streaming service where people can listen to music. We need to tickle the consumers a bit through the content so that he purchases it. Thus, even on radio we are only playing selected content and on upgrade, you can access other things,” she elaborated.

The radio currently features a playlist of 50-100 songs playing back-to-back, and the company will also introduce special radio programming at a later stage.

On the other hand, the DTH platform features a syndication led arrangement and will showcase differentiated content. The company’s VOD subscribers are touching a new high and they aim to take it forward by providing content based on the same. Artist Aloud is presently in talks with Tata Sky regarding the launch slated for March, and Paul claims that it will be subscription based too.

Revenues have been a major cause of concern for most digital services and Paul highlights that word of mouth publicity does help a lot in the long run.

“Being in the space of niche content, word of mouth publicity and sponsorship driven activities have helped in generating revenues. Apart from that, doing on-ground events for brands also helps and we are looking to do more in that area. We have seen the downloads increasing through all this, and for these platforms too we will post a special report online where its easy to check the progress,” she stated.