This will come as music to the ears of talented, but unrecognised, singers and artistes: a wider audience, and possible stardom, is near at hand.

Technology platforms such as the Hungama-backed ArtistsAloud and the Shekhar Kapur-promoted Qyuki are signing up new music artistes in the way that only traditional record companies did. It’s a win-win proposition: while this gives a platform for lesser-known talent, the online platforms themselves benefit from more original content.

“There were several artistes who had content, but didn’t know how to monetise it. When we started out, we were only aggregating artistes on our platform. Now we look at the entire gamut — from curating content to music distribution,” says Soumini Paul, Vice-President, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment.

Musicians have to pay a registration fee to sign up, and a a commission fee on any deals that the online platform gets them. Gaanabajaana.com, for example, charges an annual registration fee of ₹6,000. Once the company signs up a musician, it takes care of everything from talent management to distributing the album to a wider audience through music-streaming applications like Wynk Music.

ArtistAloud, which has close to 900 artistes on its platform, gets a significant chunk of its revenues from the services it provides: music distribution, social media traction and even helping the musicians cut their own album.

Gaanabajaana.com, which has signed up over 3,500 artistes, also helps them get offline gigs. “We are looking the mass market as there is a huge demand for artistes. These may be for small events, or even bigger entities that need greater commitment. We upload the work of an artiste on our platform, following which they get enquiries,” says Sachin Bhandari, Director of Gaanabajaana.com.

Happydemic, a platform launched by singer Shaan, his wife Radhika Mukerjee, and entrepreneur Amar Pandit, has roped in 150 artistes, who can be hired for fees ranging from ₹15,000 to ₹2 lakh. The primary revenue for the company is through bookings and commissions, which could range from 10 to 15 per cent.

For the artistes, forking out a registration fee and the commission is no big deal, given the exposure they get. Gaurav Kotian, a 19-year-old glass harp player, says getting on to one of the platforms has given him access to a wider audience. “As an artiste, it is difficult to create content and promote yourself at the same time. A platform like this has increased my visibility.”

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