MUMBAI: In an exclusive interview with Radioandmusic.com last month , Hungama’s Siddhartha Roy informed about the company’s latest initiatives to enhance its tactics concerning live music space, and the organisation has indeed explored an opportunity that could potentially set a trend.

Music streaming services, in an emerging market like India,  sooner or later foray into other forms of elements to provide that ‘an added advantage’ over its competitors. Brand integrations, original programming, aggressive offline marketing, digital packs and other variants have been entrusted for the services’ growth. Consumers look for reasons, apart from the usual audio services, to continue with an app or platform, and Hungama Music believes ‘live entertainment’ could play a key factor to provide that ‘additional advantage’ or edge over other existing players.

Noted music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman, along with several other artists, will perform live on 11 September for a tribute concert remembering the thousands of people who lost their lives or affected due to the horrifying terrorist activity in New York.

The concert, conceptualised by Live Concert World, will be live streamed on the Hungama Music app, thus ensuring the first of its kind effort ever executed by an Indian music app. “For the first time, we are streaming live content from outside India to the Indian consumers, and the world,” informed CEO of Hungama.com, Siddhartha Roy. “We have a video platform. We started venturing into live events from music perspective as an added value of content for the consumers.”

Venturing into music streaming environment at a time when the country lacked the infrastructure to support the cause, Hungama managed to not only sustain but grow despite the emergence of several players in the last couple of years. The company, once again, will venture into a path that other players have hesitated to explore, and provide the consumer beyond-the-audio services through live music gigs or concerts.

Hungama’s recent movements into the concerned front found an early associate in the form of ‘Khazana – A Festival of Ghazals’, and the success with the partnership only encouraged the company to aspire bigger. Live streaming a concert for the consumers from a local gig has been tried and tested, and Hungama will now focus on transcending borders through a medium that further boosts the cause – music. “We started from a basic audio streaming service to a full-fledged integrated live experience and stream through our digital portals,” added Roy.

Hungama recently live streamed The Vamps’ live performance at Hard Rock Café to its customers all over the country.

Speaking on the two-hour peace concert featuring Salim Sulaiman, Roy said, “We have been working with them for ages. We released ‘Shukran Allah’ song during Eid exclusively on our platform. Hungama has the ability to transcend borders. We had to wait for the confirmation to announce about Hungama’s association. In the last 2 months we stitched the entire initiative together. The performance will be live on Hungama music. Not just fans back in India, we have initiated a lot of interaction for fans on the ground there too.”

Hungama also associated with Asia’s biggest Bollywood Music festival – BMP – in the same capacity, and Roy insisted that the company will continue its association with several upcoming live events, across genres of entertainment, and create a serious dominance over that front. “Wait for some big announcements soon. We have partnered for a mega live music event to be held in Chandigarh. Hungama would be present wherever we see a potential of good content,” concluded Roy.

Salim-Sulaiman’s concert on 11 September can be streamed live on Hungama Music app and the Hungama Music Facebook page at 5 p.m. IST.